These writers can post feel good stuff all they want, but at the moment the RESULTS in all aspects of recruiting have been very poor.

As per the link below, ANOTHER Oregon recruit has decommitted and a defensive player no less.

That extends Oregon lead in the Pac-12 as the school with the most decommits.

As that article also notes, last year Oregon had 19 blue chip recruits...today we have 4.

As per recruiting out of the transfer portal...Oregon transfers have helped other teams but what has Oregon brought in? An article on Yahoo suggested Oregon is one of the biggest losers in the nation so far with the transfer portal.

In a similar vein, recruiting the current roster to stay... after the OL, what? Virtually almost all our measurable scoring from this past season is gone... AB to graduation; Dye to USC; Verdell and Williams to the NFL Draft.

When the arguments about how great Oregon's recruiting efforts have been are based on quotes from recruits; that should be a red flag that the numbers to date don't match the hype. Plus do recruits ever publicly bad mouth any visit?

And that is all we know is what are the numbers TODAY?

Will they improve? I hope / assume so because if we can't out recruit oregon state, this coaching staff is short term.

If Oregon was scorching the recruiting trail the comment sections would reflect it. But the reality is that is not the case or even close to it so now its crickets. Or I read more and more comments on other platforms like, "Let's wait until the Spring Game."

Pretending that Lanning and his staff have had anything other than an underachieving start is to ignore reality.


https://www.oregonlive.com/recruiting/2022/01/gracen-halton-key-oregon-ducks-dl-pledge-decommits-from-football-program.html

DucksReign wrote:

Pretending that Lanning and his staff have had anything other than an underachieving start is to ignore reality.

I don't agree.  I think to expect any better than they've done for this year is to ignore reality.  This year's recruiting class is largely a matter of whether they get lucky or not.  A few high ranking recruits that haven't signed sour on their current relationships/plans and look around and Oregon looks good to them, we get lucky.  If it doesn't happen, we get unlucky. 

There hasn't been time for this staff to build relationships and a narrative/plan for recruits, and since Lanning wasn't a head coach, and since Georgia just won the championship, it's not too likely that the guys he was recruiting there would suddenly change their mind and come our way.

Recruits want to know how you are going to use them and, for those with a chance at the NFL, how you are going to prepare them and showcase their talents.  That's what makes them confident that it's the right place for them.  This staff was never going to be able to do that for this year before 50 other schools had done it.  

Hopefully we can steal a couple good ones this signing day, but if we don't we don't.  But the measure of this staff's recruiting will be seen next year and even more the following year.  You have to start early with the top quality players, who have their pick of where they want to go.  If we're bringing in 2023 and 2024 talent and getting their attention, I'd say that's a great start.
 

DuckInTheMountains wrote:

DucksReign wrote:

Pretending that Lanning and his staff have had anything other than an underachieving start is to ignore reality.

I don't agree.  I think to expect any better than they've done for this year is to ignore reality.  This year's recruiting class is largely a matter of whether they get lucky or not.  A few high ranking recruits that haven't signed sour on their current relationships/plans and look around and Oregon looks good to them, we get lucky.  If it doesn't happen, we get unlucky. 

To clarify...recruiting these days falls under 3 categories...

1) Traditional recruiting of high school players

2) The Transfer Portal

3) Roster retention... especially for new coaches but the reality now with the Transfer Portal is every coaching staff has to work on roster retention.

To date, Lanning and his staff have done a poor job in all three...not just one but all three.

Therefore...

A) Articles like the one starting this thread are ignoring the RESULTS TO DATE in each and every one of those areas. Anyone can write a feel good article based entirely on SPECULATION.

B) Just a few weeks ago Oregon message boards where overwhelmingly full of "it's all about recruiting" comments. Yet NOW that recruiting in those areas has been underwhelming...those comments have been replaced with a myriad of excuses.

If recruiting is so important when it is about 4* and 5* level players then it is equally important when it is NOT those results too.

But apparently for some Oregon fans, results are not important today(but they would be if the Oregon coaching staff had done well in any or all of those three areas) so we just have to wait until they improve and THEN it matters.

Last edited by DucksReign (1/28/2022 1:47 pm)

DucksReign wrote:

To clarify...recruiting these days falls under 3 categories...

1) Traditional recruiting of high school players

2) The Transfer Portal

3) Roster retention... especially for new coaches but the reality now with the Transfer Portal is every coaching staff has to work on roster retention.

Agreed.

DucksReign wrote:

To date, Lanning and his staff have done a poor job in all three...not just one but all three.

Not persuaded.  In my view, that's like blaming the British at Dunkirk for not holding the beach.  They never had a chance.  I don't see how the coaching staff had a chance to retain all the players, smash it on the transfer portal, or do traditional recruiting.

I judge the British Army for how they performed when given a reasonable chance, not when they were given no chance at all.  A bunch of these recruits decommitted, and a bunch of our players entered the portal, while Lanning was still working for Georgia.  You might blame the AD for that but you can't really blame Lanning & co.

DucksReign wrote:

A) Articles like the one starting this thread are ignoring the RESULTS TO DATE in each and every one of those areas. Anyone can write a feel good article based entirely on SPECULATION.

I do agree with that, 100%.  I don't understand feel-goodism with the results we've seen.  I'm not willing to give the new coaching staff an F, they deserve Inc (incomplete).  But they certainly don't deserve an A.  If they rope in a bunch of 4 & 5 star commits for next year over the next few months, then we might legitimately see a feel-gooder article.  But not now.

DucksReign wrote:

B) Just a few weeks ago Oregon message boards where overwhelmingly full of "it's all about recruiting" comments. Yet NOW that recruiting in those areas has been underwhelming...those comments have been replaced with a myriad of excuses.

Could be.  This is the only Oregon message board I read.

DucksReign wrote:

If recruiting is so important when it is about 4* and 5* level players then it is equally important when it is NOT those results too.

Well, you and I agree, I think, that coaching/player development, motivation, and game planning are all vital.  Recruiting is pretty important, too.  And if we're looking at this kind of results next year, I'll be right with you.  I just think the late start this year is a massive extenuating circumstance that makes it wrong to judge/evaluate the staff on this year's results.  That's not saying bad recruiting is ok.  It's just saying this year isn't the year on which to judge anyone.  It's more about luck and being in the right place at the right time, this year, than the hard work of building relationships.  There hasn't been the time to do that.

DuckInTheMountains wrote:

DucksReign wrote:

To clarify...recruiting these days falls under 3 categories...

1) Traditional recruiting of high school players

2) The Transfer Portal

3) Roster retention... especially for new coaches but the reality now with the Transfer Portal is every coaching staff has to work on roster retention.

Agreed.

DucksReign wrote:

To date, Lanning and his staff have done a poor job in all three...not just one but all three.

Not persuaded.  In my view, that's like blaming the British at Dunkirk for not holding the beach.  They never had a chance.  I don't see how the coaching staff had a chance to retain all the players, smash it on the transfer portal, or do traditional recruiting.

I judge the British Army for how they performed when given a reasonable chance, not when they were given no chance at all.  A bunch of these recruits decommitted, and a bunch of our players entered the portal, while Lanning was still working for Georgia.  You might blame the AD for that but you can't really blame Lanning & co.

DucksReign wrote:

A) Articles like the one starting this thread are ignoring the RESULTS TO DATE in each and every one of those areas. Anyone can write a feel good article based entirely on SPECULATION.

I do agree with that, 100%.  I don't understand feel-goodism with the results we've seen.  I'm not willing to give the new coaching staff an F, they deserve Inc (incomplete).  But they certainly don't deserve an A.  If they rope in a bunch of 4 & 5 star commits for next year over the next few months, then we might legitimately see a feel-gooder article.  But not now.

DucksReign wrote:

B) Just a few weeks ago Oregon message boards where overwhelmingly full of "it's all about recruiting" comments. Yet NOW that recruiting in those areas has been underwhelming...those comments have been replaced with a myriad of excuses.

Could be.  This is the only Oregon message board I read.

DucksReign wrote:

If recruiting is so important when it is about 4* and 5* level players then it is equally important when it is NOT those results too.

Well, you and I agree, I think, that coaching/player development, motivation, and game planning are all vital.  Recruiting is pretty important, too.  And if we're looking at this kind of results next year, I'll be right with you.  I just think the late start this year is a massive extenuating circumstance that makes it wrong to judge/evaluate the staff on this year's results.  That's not saying bad recruiting is ok.  It's just saying this year isn't the year on which to judge anyone.  It's more about luck and being in the right place at the right time, this year, than the hard work of building relationships.  There hasn't been the time to do that.

Man, I wish we had an upvote function: I would upvote any comment on a sports board that referenced the British Army at Dunkirk!!!