Some of our decisions in life are bad-or-bad such as the upcoming Presidential election. Yet some choices are similar to, “Who gives Royce Freeman a rest … is it Tony Brooks-James or Kani Benoit?” Now that is choosing from good-or-good, as both back-up running backs have done well for our beloved Ducks. Could many of you be in that decision mode when contemplating whether …
Coach’s Comments: The Oregon Culture Has Troubling Warning Signs
This was a very difficult article to write, as it runs contrary to my core beliefs about the Mark Helfrich/Oregon coaching situation. But like learning football and sharing it with you over the years, as I come into other opinions that make sense to me, I feel compelled to share them. We don’t know the truth, the inner happenings in …
Right and Wrong: Linebacker Leverage in a 4-3 Defense
Our beloved Oregon Ducks are going through some historic defensive difficulties, yet offer glimmers of hope that they will become better on this side of the ball. Today we look at the leverage of Oregon’s linebackers (courtesy of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris) and learn how their gap assignments can be solved by looking at both good and bad examples. A …
Firing Mark Helfrich Is Fool’s Gold
Imagine the horror: your team has patiently built itself from its historically-mediocre origins to become one of the nation’s elite, with a succession of conference titles and high NFL draft picks, when one year suddenly everything falls apart. Your genius coach is gone and his successor is suddenly, after years of riding the coattails, struggling just to post a winning …
Party Like It’s 1994!!
Had the streak against Washington ended last year, no one would have batted an eye. It would have been natural conditions for it to end: game in Seattle, the Huskies with a winning record, coming off a big win at ranked USC the week before. For the Ducks, it was the first season in nearly a decade where Oregon didn’t …
Mark Helfrich’s Quarterback MESS at Oregon
We have read the pundits in the media along with the opinions from the “experts” on the Oregon message boards; the quarterback recruiting in the past at Oregon has been a disaster after Marcus Mariota, and the present is a muddled mess due to the emergence of freshman QB Justin Herbert unsettling the usual quarterback rotation. These assertions would sound something …
What Went Wrong: Defensive Tackle Leverage in the 4-3 Defense
It is frustrating as fans to see gashes in the Oregon defense and know that something is going wrong, but not be able to pinpoint what it is. We are fortunate to have the guidance of the Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris, to help us understand not only what went wrong in the game against Washington State, but to help …
Coaches Comments: GOC Suggests a Coaching Change
The Grizzled Ol’ Coach, Mike Morris (a frequent contributor to FishDuck.com), has educated Oregon fans and me enormously with his wisdom and brutal honesty. He is suggesting a major change for the Ducks, but do remember that we have many guest coaches as writing contributors and their opinions could be different than the GOC as do the other writers and editors. Please …
Buckle Up: Time To Ride the Oregon Football Roller Coaster
It used to be that Oregon fans made light of the other teams in the Pac-12 for their roller coaster seasons. You know the ones I’m talking about. Where they have pre-season hopes, maybe some hype around a returning quarterback or running back, maybe even a pre-season ranking, then fall flat on their face against some middling competition. Only they …
Scathing Coaches Comments: “… It is a lack of discipline …”
My friends, this article might be the most informative about the current situation of Oregon football as you will read, yet while I wish I could take credit, I cannot as it comes from those who are currently or have retired from being paid to coach football. My reaction and feelings were published yesterday and look to learn in this article …
Forget Duck Season. It’s Open Season on Feet!
Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Any team this determined to shoot itself in the foot should not wear fluorescent orange shoes. It makes it just too easy. They should wear green shoes that match the color of the turf. Or if they HAVE to be exotic, they could go with camo. Anything to give the poor feet a sporting chance. Besides that …
Why You Hate the Oregon Ducks
This article is for the fans of every other Pac-12 team. These are the fans that hate the Oregon Ducks, even though the reason is different for each and every one. The dislike could be caused by Oregon’s sparkling facilities and uniforms, winning streaks or notable victories (at the cost of an embarrassing defeat for another team). Here at FishDuck.com, …












