When Chip Kelly left Eugene for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, he left two major voids in the Oregon football program. Kelly had not just been the face of the Ducks, he was also the play-caller for the renowned high-octane spread offense. As much as head coach Mark Helfrich deserves credit for leading the team to a national championship game in just …
For coaches, watching football broadcasts can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, we all love football, and enjoy watching the best of the best compete against one another. On the other, the guys doing the game on TV often are misinformed about what’s really going on down there on the field when it comes to the X’s and O’s. …
On January 12th, do not be surprised if you feel like you’re seeing double. Urban Meyer’s love of the spread option offense has been widely documented ever since his days at Bowling Green and then at Florida. Some people even claim that Meyer invented the read option play that we love to watch our Ducks run (Rich Rodriguez would dispute that claim). Regardless of who invented it, Meyer …
Oregon doesn’t use its long snappers — true freshman Tanner Carew and redshirt freshman Connor Johnson — as much as other teams in college football use theirs. The long snapper is a specialist center, a hired cannon that is accepted as its own skill position within special teams. It is a job that requires repetition above anything else, and dedication of countless hours to develop muscle memory, form, …
Note from Principal: Instead of the usual analysis I provide, I felt that Coach/Analyst Alex Kirby did a superb job explaining a blitz strategy never covered on FishDuck.com before, and would be something to watch for against Florida State. Enjoy learning as I did! Charles Fischer ————————————————————————————- There’s an oft-repeated maxim, especially among today’s football color commentators, that says, “Blitzing …
Oregon’s defensive performance against Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship ranks as one of the best ever at Oregon for a game of such importance. The majority of the credit goes to the Duck defensive line which shut down the inside running game of Arizona using techniques that we have barely covered before at FishDuck.com. Let’s take a look at the …
Time heals all wounds. That and good coaching. Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s decision to hire Chip Kelly as his team’s head coach was a blessing for linebacker Casey Matthews, one of Kelly’s former Oregon players who had struggled in limited game day action during his first two NFL seasons. Despite Matthews’s struggles in his early professional career, Kelly had …
Head Coach Mark Helfrich has brought new life to older plays in the Oregon playbook, but few are as odd as the Mid-Line Zone Read play. It seems to violate what we have learned about the Zone Read at Oregon, and it is a play that we rarely see. Readers of these Tuesday analyses are becoming as amused as I …
The coaches and fans are buzzing about Oregon’s new play unveiled against Oregon State last Saturday night. I was on the phone with one coach that evening and with three coaches the next morning from across the nation as we were all fascinated with Oregon’s new Wildcat Power Zone Read. Now that is a mouthful, but the good news is …
When people talk about Chip Kelly’s offense, one of the most common buzz words they use is mobility. Although mobility helps running back LeSean McCoy burst through the line of scrimmage or receiver Jeremy Maclin get wide open, it is arguably more important for the offensive linemen who keep defenses out of the backfield. Kelly has been fortunate to have …
Fans will not find football players listed on official rosters as gunners, wings or kick return blockers, but Chip Kelly went out of his way to ensure the Philadelphia Eagles have quality players at those positions. Newcomers Chris Maragos, Bryan Braman, Trey Burton and Darren Sproles are just a few of the players behind the transformation of the Eagles’ special teams …
Athletic directors at major schools all over the country are paid handsomely to know what makes a great college football coach, yet time and time again we see coaches fail — sometimes spectacularly — to bring success and a winning attitude to campus. So what’s the answer? Is it recruiting ability, X’s and O’s, enthusiasm, or something else? Some coaches …