As a general rule, nobody likes to be wrong. There’s a growing consensus that the 2017 Ducks are looking at a 6-6 season. In the past week, both Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News and Andrew Greif of Oregonlive have joined our own Mr. FishDuck, Charles Fischer, in assessing the Ducks as the acme of mediocrity. If the …
Every conference touts their league as great: SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC. We will examine why the Pac-12 is far and away the most difficult, challenging league of them all. Coaching. Pac-12 coaches have impressive resumes. First-time California head coach Justin Wilcox (defensive coordinator at Boise St., Tennessee, Washington, USC, and Wisconsin), second-year USC head coach Clay Helton (Duke, Houston, and Memphis), UCLA’s Jim Mora (San Diego, New Orleans, …
With 22 verbal commitments across ten states, it’s apparent that the new Oregon football coaching staff could sell Hummers during a gas shortage. Four months remain before the early signing period, yet there are only about a half-dozen slots to fill. And make no mistake, those who have committed are players with very impressive credentials. This is early quantity of high …
The dilemma I describe in this article is not Coach Willie Taggart’s fault. Oregon’s first-year head coach inherited a very difficult situation at receiver this year at Oregon. My belief is that the defensive line, while thin, is highly underrated, and it will become evident in 2017. So will the best depth at running back perhaps ever at Oregon. The …
Imagine if the Oregon football program had five National Championships in its history, with a legendary coach bringing in four of them in just ten years. The program would be elite, among the bluest of blue-bloods, and the coach — while not a god, would be worshiped by fans nearly as much. The Ducks actually do have this track record …
Innovation. Creativity. Transformation. It can all be applied to The Oregon Defense. “We have an extensive library of defensive schemes, formations and plays that are absolutely groundbreaking and virtually unstoppable.” Brent Pry, Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Penn State – from The Onion® VOL 52 Issue 47 12.2.16 The quote is not from Oregon. Sorry, but we’re not the innovators on defense. …
Willie Taggart and Company’s recruiting success is impressive by any measure. But once you understand how the NCAA stacks the deck, Oregon’s 2018 class ranking becomes jaw dropping. One of the reasons we love football so much is that there are clear rules about victory: the team with the most points wins. But even in athletic competition, the means of …
Coaches as Salesmen Coach Willie Taggart inherits the legacy of the past five coaches and, as explained below, his ability to sell the program will be a major influence on its success. Signs so far should lead you to be very optimistic. A football coach sells to sets of customers. Number one, the most important, is the fan base and is …
The top and bottom of the food chain is fairly easy to predict. The shark eats the minnow every time. Predicting what happens in the middle of college football’s food chain, however, is another matter. And this is the first season in ages that Oregon fans are entering with general expectations to be somewhere in the middle. Not a minnow. …
If you missed the inaugural Saturday Night Live July 29 in Autzen Stadium, you missed a great day for die-hard Ducks fans. Nevertheless, if you weren’t there, FishDuck.com still has you covered with some recruiting analyses of a few players and some other tasty tidbits. By now everyone has seen the fruits of Oregon’s SNL. Four players committed prior to the actual …
Oregon football has a legacy of accomplished receivers. Let’s examine the attributes they have had in the past and what this year’s group needs to continue a fine tradition. We’ll look at the talent side first. Speed Fast is always good. Stretching defenses is critical, and breakaway speed does that in spades! Patrick Johnson and Sammie Parker were past burners …
The Dawg Daze effect lingers. I’m getting a little panicky. We’re running out of time to grunt, groan, and gas about the past, before lightning strikes and our Frankenstein comes back to life. Obviously, I am still shaking my head at our not-so-ducky 2016 season. It’s not helping me lose the belly fat I added trying to cushion the blows …