Well... shades of Taggart and Florida State.... can't blame a guy for wanting to go home to his dream job, and I'd like to say Cristobal left Oregon in a hell of a lot better place than ol' Willy, but the rash of De-Commits are coming, and we'll see what's left after the rubble.
I could see that. Thought about Wilcox myself. But Duck supporters will have to be REAL Patient if that happens. I don't see Phil having that kind of time. Luke Fickell fits everything that Oregon is about.
We’ll be fine! I told you guys all year Cristobal is a trash coach. Doesn’t develop QBs, x and os game is shaky, all he was a fantastic recruiter who happened to have a head coach title. Let’s go get Chris Peterson!
Im sure he will have opportunities to stay in the NFL or jump to college. The Raiders job would be a good job for him though.
I'm not so sure about that. Eugene is just not a destination location, no matter how much money Phil Knight can throw at someone. If we are happy with the 3-4 year turnaround at coaches who leave Oregon for better or more comfortable surroundings, then get Urban Meyer on the phone and Venmo him a bank. He'll still only be here 4-5 years max even with a ridiculously huge buyout clause. And then the Ducks will have to do it all over again. Do we really want to be on this wheel of coaches forever?
I've been told that the Canzano story about the offer to MC being pulled is pretty accurate (I used to have better inside source(s) than I do now, but still have a couple of ancillary ones) Mario is a good coach and great recruiter. What is also apparent is that he's a bullshitter too because he didn't walk the walk he preached. I think a big reason for that is just the landscape of college football. And honestly, the landscape is trashed because of the obscene amount of money being thrown around. It's only going to get worse because it can't be regulated in any meaningful way. ************************************************** So, what now? well first, there will be de-commitments from this year's recruiting class. There has already been one, and there will be others plus several opening their options back up. The class will likely lose several, perhaps including some of their top recruits. There will also be at least a few players quickly entering the transfer portal, and more players jumping in over the next couple of months. the timing is bad for Oregon because the early signing day is Dec 15, only 9 days away and I doubt the Ducks will have a new coach in place before then. It's going to be a rough time for Oregon on the recruiting front. I think they'll lose a lot of talent from the class. They might be able to make up for it some in the 2nd signing day in Feb. But they'll likely need to score some wins in the transfer portal too ************************************************** Head coach candidates? I have a pretty good idea that when Chip left, Oregon reached out to a lot of big names and received very little interest back. They did the same thing after firing Helfrich and got the same lack of interest. Big name coaches want to coach a lot closer to recruiting hot-beds than Oregon. They don't want to fight against the distance from a recruits home that Eugene represents. so, if you're thinking about coaches like Dave Aranda at Baylor, or Luke Frickell at Cincinnati, or Matt Campbell at ISU, those guys are probably pipe dreams unless Oregon offers up crazy money. And those kinds of coaches would almost certainly have one foot out the door when they arrived anyway. I've heard some chatter about Kalani Sitake at BYU, but he's already coaching at his Alma-mater. a lot of Duck fans have a big passion for Chip Kelly. Or rather, they have a passion for the Oregon ghost of Chip Kelly...a mirage at best. Funny thing is many of those fans like Kelly because they think Mario was a bad game-day coach and Chi was a great game-day coach. They have amnesia about the fact that Chip is 0-3 against Mario. I'd hate if the Ducks went for Chip again. I think it would be a big mistake I've heard a couple of hints that Phil Knight (and other big Duck donors) are really sick of hiring coaches who have dream jobs somewhere else besides Oregon. It kind of sounds like they want to try and re-create the stability of the Bellotti era. Which explains why I've heard there may be mutual interest between the powers-that-be at Oregon and Justin Wilcox. Wilcox does not have a great record at Cal, but he's an Oregon native and a Duck alum, and his dream job may be Oregon. He has had poor resources at Cal (there's minimal commitment to the football program there) so the thinking is that he'd do much better with the resources Oregon has. I'm pretty ambivalent about it. I'd hope Oregon could do better, but knowing how little interest big name coaches have shown in Oregon in the recent past, Wilcox gets default elevation...I guess
Fickell just made the playoffs coaching at Cincinnati. No Pac-12 team has made the playoffs since 2016. He's an Ohio native and a Ohio State grad who is coaching in Ohio. He has never played or coached anywhere but in Ohio and he has no west coast ties. I think he's a pipe dream to be honest
It wasn’t all that long ago that Cal was taking a very serious look at deemphasizing sports in order to increase their academic reputation (the Academics felt that sports in general and football in particular took too many financial resources from academia). The success of the Jed Tedford era literally snatched the football program from their grasping hands. But my understanding is that the pendulum might be swinging back towards an emphasis on academics again (it takes crazy money to compete anymore). I guess my point is that Justin Wilcox is likely a better coach than the record might show. It could be interesting to see how he does with all the resources Oregon has at its’ disposal…….
from the little 'inside' chatter I've heard, that kind of sounds like the thinking of the Duck powers-that-be. Wilcox was one of the best DC's in the NCAA as an assistant coach. And his Cal teams have been physical. I have a hunch he'll at least get an interview, but the UofO will really want to hear Wilcox say some positive things about how aggressive he'll be hiring coordinators and coaches that have elite recruiting records. but again, I've had hints there is a desire at the UofO for the stability of the Bellotti era, adapted to the modern times in recruiting and coaching using the leverage of the Duck facilites and the Duck brand. Pretty good chance Wilcox would not view Oregon as a stepping stone but rather a destination
I like Mario. He's an insane recruiter. But just not really a great X's and O's coach. The team is lacking the same swagger that it had during Chip's era.