He hasn’t coached any games – or even conducted a practice session — yet, but I’m thinking most of us already have a positive opinion on the hiring of Head Coach Willie Taggart. As he, his staff, and players now prepare for spring practice in April, there seems to be a lot of rational enthusiasm being felt by almost all …
It’s now Friday morning, Jan. 27. With letters of intent due in a week, and Ducks fans then having their first opportunity to view, and evaluate the work of, Willie Taggart’s [possibly] entire new staff of assistants, it’s a good time to talk about how things are going for this coaching staff as we head into a very important final …
This article will be mainly conceptual – not anecdotal. I wrote a book with dozens of stories to illustrate the concepts I’m going to talk about here. But this isn’t the place to cite a lot of those anecdotes. Mike Morris (Grizzled Ol’ Coach) My concept is stated in my title. It’s based on 30 years of being a high …
Ever have one of those moments when you highly praise someone or something to a lot of people – and then when they see that someone or something, it’s, admittedly, pretty awful? As a highly opinionated [about most everything] old man, it’s happened lots of times to me. My most recent humbling experience came Dec. 29 in the Alamo Bowl [What …
My friends….the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, and I were pondering this point at a recent Skull Session in the FishDuck ManCave, as it gets to the root of many concerns Oregon fans have had–especially with all the seasons spoiled in the past by injured QBs at Oregon. This article lays the foundation for upcoming articles by the GOC and …
WARNINGS: 1. Most of this article involves “speculation” – some coaches named might eventually have nothing to do with Oregon football. 2. All of the speculated coaches’ names were stolen from the incredible research of Justin Hopkins at 24/7, Duck Territory. 3. This article is being written Wednesday morning, December 21. By the time it’s printed and/or you read it, …
It just hit me from out of the blue, and this revelation would significantly impact Oregon football. You see I was pondering about how the press conference is over and everybody’s had a chance to express their feelings about the new head coach for the Ducks. Coach Willie Taggart is on the road recruiting without any assistant coaches until today, …
Mr. FishDuck asked me to have some fun and have a speculative look at whom Willie Taggart’s new Oregon coaching staff might include from his current staff at the University of South Florida. This is definitely going to be fun for me as the naming of each new assistant – whether I saw it coming or whether it’s a big surprise …
The cool thing about a coaching search for your favorite football team is it tests what you as a coach, or fan, hold as your priorities for a coach. Generally, there are three types of coaches: The CEO type recruits well, sets the general culture of the program and delegates. A good CEO Coach hires coordinators they trust and then delegates the …
Charles Fischer asked me to share my thoughts about what to expect from teams coached by P.J. Fleck and Willie Taggart. While obviously what follows is almost pure speculation, there “could” be some interesting differences. Willie Taggart already has in place at South Florida what I would consider an “All-Star” offensive staff. Their resumes are far too lengthy for me …
He can be salty … he is highly opinionated, he knows his football, as he is the Grizzled Ol’ Coach (GOC) Mike Morris. He is a writer, a coaching consultant to FishDuck.com, a football mentor and personal friend. He is an amazing individual who has this massive curiosity to learn as I do. So when he sends me an email about a coaching candidate, …
Oregon football is having a down year, one the likes of Duck fans have not seen since 2004. College football is cyclical, competitive and a zero-sum game. So ‘down’ years, although tough to go through in present time, are going to happen. It is what a program learns and adapts to that make those downturns minimal. One program that has been …