Entering what is now the second spring of the Mark Helfrich era at Oregon, Chip Kelly’s influence remains visible across all facets of the Oregon football program. From the up-tempo style of play Kelly initially installed as a coordinator to the commitment to unique and cutting-edge preparation with a focus on continuous daily improvement – as well as maintaining the invaluable coaching …
The Oregon football program is not regarded as a defensive juggernaut. An elite defense wasn’t the catalyst behind the evolution of the Oregon brand. In this new era of Oregon football, where fans expect championship runs, the offense seems almost to have become an after-thought. Improving the defense has become the focal point of radio pundits and TV personalities. Let’s …
For the last half-decade, Oregon football has been one of a handful of teams that has been, at some point during each season, a true contender for a national championship. For a variety of reasons they have fallen short of attaining this goal. They have come very close on multiple occasions, but have failed to close the deal. In each …
Football Recruiting Visits Oregon’s fevered pitch along the recruiting trail hit a new high last Saturday as offensive line coach Steve Greatwood welcomed Shane Lemieux (3-Star/Yakima, WA) to Eugene. “Everything about the visit was great, really great,” said Lemieux. ”My parents and I came down late Thursday night and then went to see the entire program and campus Friday and …
With months to go before the start of the 2014 football season, we’re forced to feed our football addiction by taking a look at some of the returning talent. Throughout the Pac-12 this last year, running backs dazzled fans all over the conference and kept us on our toes. Though they lost some top talent such as Ka’Deem Carey, Marion Grice, Bishop Sankey …
While it seems like the 2014 class just signed their papers, the 2015 cycle is already well under way. Two of the common questions early each year are: “How many scholarships are available?” and “How will those scholarships be used?” Using a method I’ve used each of the past two years to predict upcoming class numbers to within one player, …
Football Recruiting Offers Less than a week into the 2015 recruiting cycle, Oregon extended a slew of offers to preps both near and far in an effort to get out in front amongst the newly-cultivated recruiting landscape. Local phenom and 2013 Oregon 6A state title-winning running back Cameron Scarlett (3-Star/Portland, OR) received his Ducks nod late last week and is drawing …
Oregon will never win any recruiting championships. While teams such as Alabama, USC and LSU tend to dominate in the rankings, the Ducks rarely crack the top-15. Year after year they bring in solid, but unspectacular recruiting classes, yet year after year, Oregon takes those same recruits and turns them into champions. Why is that? What is the key that allows teams without …
When the clock hits zero at the Super Bowl, it also serves as the conclusion to the football season each year. Seemingly long after all of the bowl games have been played at the college level, the NFL has a way of temporarily filling the void before dropping fans into the abyss of the long off season. Events like National …
A little over a month ago, Budda Baker, a prized recruit out of Bellevue High School in Washington, had Duck fans screaming with joy and Husky fans howling in agony when he announced he was going to play football at Oregon. It sounded great — here comes the next De’Anthony Thomas! But two weeks ago he made a U-turn that …
Months away from the start of football season, what’s a football fan to do to feed the addiction to college football than to look at the best returning players for next year. The Pac-12 has a lot of amazing talent coming back at every position for the 2014 football season, and wide receivers rightly make up a skilled part of …
DeAnthony Thomas’ time at Oregon was like one of his scorching touchdown plays: it went by in a flash. From his first game against LSU to his final appearance (if it can be called that) against Texas, DAT was the equivalent of a human meteor. He blazed a bright trail across Oregon football that will not be forgotten soon. He …