Kevin Cline With the dog days of summer behind us, the Ducks have officially begun their season, diving into fall practice. Comfortably installed in their new digs, Helfrich and company have high expectations from fans and the media for this upcoming season. This month of practice will be crucial for the coaching staff to identify talent and ultimately decide who will …
From Video The “Air Raid” passing attack is among the most popular offenses in college football today, yet you can actually see components of it at Oregon! It has a passing philosophy and scheme that can trace its roots back as far as San Diego Chargers Coach Sid Gilman and BYU Coach LaVell Edwards (and my college head coach Larry …
I had the opportunity of a Duck lifetime last Monday: I was able to tour the University of Oregon Ducks’ new Football Performance Center. And in about two and one-half hours of looking, snooping and talking with those who seemed to know, came away with two impressions. First, there was made a supreme effort in conceiving, designing and building a …
We are less than a month from kickoff and I am SO excited for football season, you?. So many questions will start to be answered once the ball has left the tee. Will the SEC win yet another national title or will someone else finally steal the spotlight? Will another Heisman winner show up out of the blue? Come the …
The Seven Wonders of the World – The Pyramids, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympus – were built with grandeur in mind. Move over Zeus, Phil Knight, Nike magnate and Oregon philanthropist, also thinks big. His latest wonder is a 100,000 square-foot temple to football, a $68-million dollar edifice intended to take Duck football to …
When the Ducks face a potent running game, how does the secondary adapt? In my first analysis we discussed the Cover 2 Shell and the coverage strategies that Oregon’s Defensive Coordinator Nick Aliotti runs in the secondary. Today, we will take a look at how Coach Aliotti injects the Single High Safety alignment into the secondary to stifle offenses with …
Featured image courtesy of Kevin Cline photography. As the summer months grind along, anticipation for the new football season begins to build among fans everywhere. Recruiting, pre-season watch lists, conference media days, and even the annual release of the football video games all have a way of adding fuel to the fire. At this time of the year, every team …
On paper, this Oregon Ducks football team looks strong. Marcus Mariota, DeAnthony Thomas and Josh Huff all return as starters. The offensive line looks tough, as does the defensive secondary. In fact, there isn’t a single position that looks particularly weak, yet there are some vulnerabilities that should be troublesome to Duck fans. One of the issues Oregon fans should …
“A day that will live in infamy.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke those words to the United States Congress Dec. 8, 1941, a day after the Japanese surprised the world with their attack on Pearl Harbor just the day before. Of course this had great consequences throughout the country and the world, but on the Oregon campus, it would dramatically …
There is a misconception in the pass game that the more wordy and complex the play call sounds, the more effective it is. Generations of fans and coaches grew up on NFL Films and remember audio of long and seemingly never-ending play calls by legendary coaches. These intricate sounding schemes allegedly created wide open receivers, yet this perception is quite …
How do the Ducks stop 1,200 pounds of defensive muscle with exceptional speed from crushing our quarterback? What are the tactics to stop blitzes? It is only fitting to give some recognition to the big boys up front, since this is not an easy assignment. The men who battle in the trenches every single offensive play are the reason big …
It’s summertime here in Eugene, Oregon, and that only means one thing to the Duck faithful; football season is looming right around the corner. Summer workouts have officially begun as the new highly touted freshman class flocks in from all over the nation to join one of the most dynamic and explosive teams in college football. Having lost key pieces …