All the rumors and change-ups in Oregon Football’s coaching staff over the past month had me making mental rankings of staff members and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. I was making list after list in my head based on coaching ability, recruiting chops, and yes even program loyalty. Now I admit these lists were mostly meant to make me feel …
My friends, you would think I would be wiser after having my head handed to me from my last ill-fated prediction about a coach. But I’ve been gathering some data and some thoughts, and while I would love to end up 50/50 on my coaching predictions, it may not happen. Yet … it could. Let’s look at some reasonable aspects …
This week has been a gut punch to the University of Oregon and its community. I know as well as any just how tough things have been with Willie Taggart deciding to take the Florida State head coaching position. I have defended Taggart a good number of times in my articles this season. I’ve defended his play-calling when it was …
It was only a year ago that Oregon fans might have just have had confidence in Rob Mullens‘ and Phil Knight‘s ability to deal with the challenges that were on the plate with the football program. After all, Mullens is one of the top athletic directors in the country. And Phil Knight is the most successful athletics-related businessman in the …
Takes you back to the old days doesn’t it? You know, Oregon scoring 45-50 points, the other team scoring 27 to 34 points and the fans screaming at Nick Aliotti for allowing that much? Boy, has our perspective changed! That was the biggest darn victory that I did not see coming, and yes … my perspective has changed, and I …
Isn’t this lovely? Writing and reviewing a game such as that one is truly like consuming the “Hair of the Dog” to offset the effects of it upon you. It is hard to not reach some conclusions, yet I am wary of over-reacting in either direction as I have in the past. It is difficult to be measured and reasonable …
After disposing of Utah 41-20, the Ducks travel to Seattle and take on highly-ranked Washington, boasting a defense that is coming of age. Defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and a staff of energetic, talented coaches have transformed a corpse into a fighting defense worthy of respect in the Pac-12. Despite inexperience, and in some instances limited athleticism, coaches have molded the …
I hope that readers understand the dilemma that I am in, because if I point out any negative at all — even when the majority of the article is positive — I am described as “bitter” and “going negative” on Oregon. Yet if I leave out the negative? I am regarded as a “homer” and “sunshine pumper.” Since I can’t …
I am going to write something that is dumber than my usual. In the comments of last week’s article, I expressed my concern about the Ducks getting their butts kicked against the Cougars. It was due to the loss of Justin Herbert at quarterback and how neither QB remaining had neither the skills nor the game experience to carry the Ducks …
It’s late in 2019, and another Oregon Ducks football season has just ended. The morning has broken gray and gloomy, rain flinging itself against the glass facade of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex as if delivering a million tiny blows from an angry sky. Willie Taggart swivels his desk chair to look out of his rain-dappled window onto the practice fields. The …
Have you ever had such conflicting feelings from an Oregon football game? Such despair at all the injuries and such pride in how the defense continues to improve in perhaps one of the greatest games by a Duck offensive line – when the team really needed it. Simply put … “I am pissed at the coaches, yet I am proud of what …
Can you adjust to the new FishDuck? The one that has transformed from a cheerleader (always) of our beloved Ducks to a publisher that has views both positive and negative about what he sees? I know it is hard, as the former is how he’s been for the majority of the six years of the site. But this new, balanced …