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1 of 1- DucksReign
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Does Oregon football have idenities?
I remember when Chip Kelly was asked to describe his first recruiting class at Oregon and he replied, "Speed, speed, speed. To play for us you need to be fast on both sides of the ball."
Likewise I once heard him define his goal on offense to be, "We want to get the ball as quickly as possible in the hands of fast players in open space."
Before him, I recall when Gary Crowton was hired by Bellotti as the OC to take over for Andy Ludwig, describe his goal with quarterback play to be, "Get the ball out if his hands within three seconds."
Even the now despised Cristobal had his "physicality" philosophy.
Listening to Kirby Smart after Georgia's narrow win over the luckeyes(🥳🙏🎉) talk about Stetson Bennett's struggles in that game being due to "going outside our system."
The point here is I get all those statements. I understand them.
What I don't know is Lanning's approach on offense or defense? Do any of you? Is it necessary to have an identity that defines each side of the ball?
What about the proverbial eyeball test? Oregon's offense looked better this past season than the year before...the defense not so much.
When Jim Leavitt was hired by Willie Taggart to be Oregon's DC, he inherited a defense from Helfraud's last season which was ranked #11 in the Pac-12 in Total Defense.
Leavitt's first year that improved to #4 and all done without the Transfer Portal as we know it today or NIL.
After 2 seasons Oregon's defense had gone from giving up 68 TD's in Helfraud's last season to 38 TD's!
Right from the start, Oregon's defense looked different/better under Leavitt.
While the offense was much improved this season, Oregon won a bowl game and they were more fun to watch... debatable whether this season was an improvement compared to last season i.e. 10-3 vs 10-4; reached the Pac-12 Championship Game vs didn't; beat uw and osu vs losing to both to name a few points.
Yes Lanning gets a first time head coach pass for this year BUT we are not like osu and a 5-year rebuilding process.
I wonder if what is needed begins with button down, well defined identities?
What does Lanning need to do to run a "tighter ship" if that is what is necessary?
There was a lot more to like than dislike this past season but watching those semifinal playoff games...Oregon needs a lot of work to get to that level.🙏
- oldretiredguy
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Re: Does Oregon football have idenities?
I think on offense Lanning wants to use multiple formations and score points. The O this year was entertaining, something we really haven't seen in some time. Like Georgia, Coach Lanning knows you need to have a good offense to win the big games these days. Defense is still TBD, but one thing I like is the fact he doesn't micro-manage his coordinators. This next hire will be interesting to me: does he simply hire a position coach, or someone with more/some DC experience.
- Duckball
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Re: Does Oregon football have idenities?
Identity will expose itself on the field of play, not by any labels or coach speak.
I think offensively, the identity has been firmly established, but let's see what happens with the new OC.
I'll admit the defensive philosophy or identity is a complete mystery. I think a defensive identity is much harder to establish when you don't have "your guys" to fit the system. I honestly think it will be 2 years before we establish the identity on defense.
- DucksReign
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Re: Does Oregon football have idenities?
Yes and no...I saw an offense which worked when Bo Nix was healthy; less so when he wasn't and not at all when Nix was not the QB. Oregon has a "Bo Nix Offense" which may be good enough for next season if he stays healthy, but beyond?
Between being an OC and then head coach, I saw Kelly's offense work great with Dixon, Masoli and Thomas as QB's...it didn't seem to matter.
As per defense...I guess I am looking at it in the context of some DC's love to use all sorts of blitzes while others don't; zone vs man to man...those types of distinctions.
Speaking of, despite fan frustrations...I have seen no indications that Lanning is going to get rid of Lupoi and we are what, 2 months away from Spring Camp?
Since Powledge left to take the DC position at Baylor, I don't think Lanning is going to hire a co-DC...I think Lupoi is THE DC now...unless HE takes another job.
Besides Oregon doesn't need 3 experienced DC's...2 co-DC's and Lanning...so maybe at the very least the position needs to be streamlined. MAYBE if he is as good as was advertised, Lanning needs to micromanage the defense a little more?
Players want to play AND be developed / coached up...which defensive players noticeably improved over the season?
I am not saying an identity is necessarily the answer but Oregon's defense reminds me of the saying, "If you don't know where you are going then any road will take you there."
There are indicators of where the offense is going, but the defense?
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Thread Starter- Duckball
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Re: Does Oregon football have idenities?
I wonder if Powledge wasn't in fact the real DC? If that's the case, good riddance! lol.
But seriously, this will be interesting to watch who Lanning decides to hire to replace him. I've heard past rumblings that Lupoi doesn't really have the chops to call plays and isn't a real coordinator? He's mainly there for recruiting. If Lanning actually hires a D coordinator and calls him the co-coordinator, I think we will have our answer.
This hire could have the biggest impact on our team next year? Our defense was a trainwreck and there really was no excuse for being so bad other than coaching IMO, but what do I know?
As far as any defenders that made any improvements last year? There was a grand total of one IMO: Trikweze Bridges. And that was only the last 2 or three games. Hopefully it wasn't just a mirage.
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