For you old timers, ever been to the Red Onion at about 12:30 at night? That's what we are looking at here as ducks right about now, slim pickings....in this case for potential head coaches.
As to who's next, the general thought is Justin Wilcox or Chip Kelly. The hope is it's not Wilcox, and I know a lot of our Bruin friends would gladly send Chip in an Uber up to Eugene.
To continue the analogy, there you are sipping on your JD & coke and you see, Justin, a girl you knew from high school, a little more mature, but not really all that attractive. And next to her is Chip, your ex-girlfriend, used to be super hot, got famous, got haggard and is currently a bit skanky-looking and being banged by your friend down in LA, who doesn't really want her anyway.
Either seems unappealing, although I do love me some Chip, it's almost never the same when you try to get the band back together (as Bill Walsh and JR II showed us).
Me, I think the best way to go is to give a one year contract to an existing assistant like Tim DeRuyter (our DC and former FSU coach), and be looking for a new head coach all next year. We sacrifice most of our recruiting class for 2022, but maybe we end up with a Dave Aranda or someone.
Unlike some of my fine feathered friends, I'm not upset with Mario at all. He showed Oregon CAN recruit well to podunky Eugene. Plus we no longer have to put up with someone who can't manage a game.
I do know Phil Knight is hoppin' mad, though. And Mario wasn't yet worth more than $85M over 10 years, like the offer that was extended by Oregon.
I do feel sorta bad for Miami, though. You don't need a top-level recruiter in the middle of Florida. But you now get one, great! But at the sacrifice of solid game-day coaching.
But, boy, I sure do miss the good times at the Red Onion!! 😁
Oregon has done a great job (with the one exception) of finding great coaches. Have confidence. They will pick a winner.
Matt Campbell is probably the best option, assuming Aranda is not available. As I understand it Campbell has no agent -- he apparently slow-played USC, probably by just doing his own job -- and Riley's agent swooped in and stole the job in the middle of the night.
Yes timing sucks. I think most ducks saw the good and bad with Mario--and like me would gladly put up with the bad (poor game management) to get the good (great recruiting).
The key is Mario showed you can recruit to Eugene. So that's really his real lasting accomplishment from his time at Oregon. Now we need a more well-rounded coach.
Yes, the two Utah losses sting--first loss from too many injuries in key positions plus poor QB play. The second was due to basically the same, plus likely a general feeling by the team that Cristobal was out the door.
Speaking of the state of Utah, good suggestion: Blake Anderson might not be a bad hire....not a great one , but at least not Justin Wilcox....lol
The Red O was very good to me. Much better than some of my favorite football teams lately. You guys are in a tough spot to say the least. Why would Utah be able to trounce you Ducks twice in a row like that?
might want to take a flyer on Blake Anderson...his team took it to San Diego St last weekend...seems to have put together a nice program..8years of coaching and 4 Confernce Championships....guarantee he wouldn't cost $80M
I was never sold on Cristobal. You could actually end up with an upgrade
So what's the consensus opinion amongst the quacks on Mario leaving? Last year or early this year would have been sack cloth and anger, but now, following two spankings at the hands of the utes? Does that mitigate the pain a bit? Still has to sting though, ESPECIALLY given the timing. So many good coaches scooped up already.
The Kelly rehire seems a little, I dunno, desperate? I sort of like your idea of the full season interim. It gives the quacks a year to take a look and assess.
Good post. Obviously Aranda would be the home run hire at this point. I would question the fit and how well he’d recruit in Eugene, but I’d take him in a second if I were Phil. Who knows, it could be a name (big name) that no one has mentioned yet.
Hell I GOT to the red onion at 12:30 Am to start the hunt . West Covina with them Latinas was my favorite. Good times. Oh about your coaching sitch: you guys are fawked. Live look at Oregon campus this morning: