For once and for all, STOP THIS ARGUMENT!

[OregonFan4Life]

I'm not an old timer, I'm 26 years old and was born a duck. My first game was on Thursday, 9/4/97 when Oregon beat Arizona 16-9 after Saladin McCullough returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. I know that Oregon used to be awful, and I know there was a lot of hard work to put Oregon into the national spotlight. I remember watching the Vegas Bowl that year and how great it was that Oregon crushed Air Force. I get it, Toilet Bowl, horrible days, I understand that. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE NEED TO ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS TODAY! I just heard Joey Harrington call out fans for wanting coaches fired because we need to honor all the work that was built by this program. I'm sorry, that is complete BS. I respect all the work that Oregon has done to get where they are today, but that doesn't mean we should be satisfied with whatever result is put out because of what the program used to be. We shouldn't consider the past when building expectations now, and we should let the past be the past, and focus on what Oregon can and should be now. We don't have to beg a 3 star athlete to come to Oregon, we have 3 star athletes begging to come to Oregon. What Bill Musgrave, Rich Brooks, heck even Belotti did are irrelevant. Don't get me wrong, we should be thankful and honor them, but we shouldn't have expectations based on what they did. That stupid idea that those who have high expectations for Oregon are spoiled fans are ridiculous. If you're one of those living in the past fans, then do me one favor, never insult a Husky fan again for doing exactly what you're doing, living in the past. Oregon is now built off of innovation, hard work, dedication, and flash, nothing we saw last Sat. We shouldn't let the coaches let this program falter because of what they may have done in the past, or because a line of good coaches led them here, like being hired by Chip Kelly. If you're a true fan, you'll always put the PROGRAM first, not names first. And simply letting coaches ruin the program through insufficient coaching because of what they used to be or because Oregon used to suck truly makes you less of a fan. Truly honoring the past greats is done by making tomorrow better from the foundation they set, and please, ask yourself, are the coaches at Oregon making tomorrow better or worse?

On a sidenote, while I want Oregon to get better, that doesn't mean my passion will falter. I will cheer for my Oregon ducks every day I'm alive, and watch every game I can, and if possible, go to the game. If you're a season ticket holder and your fanhood has lessened after Saturday and you don't want your tickets anymore, give them to me, I'll still make sure every Sunday morning after a duck game I have no voice when I go to Church. But just because one wants the program to take what they believe are the necessary moves to improve the future of the program and the program's current state does not make one a spoiled or less of a fan than those who are accepting of the current situation because Oregon used to suck.

[greenyellow]

But when has a firing in the middle of a season actually worked? You could probably count the number of times it's been beneficial on your own hand, which shows that it's likely better to wait until after the season to do such a drastic move. If anything, midseason firings are a sign of overreaction and shows your organization to be unsteady and dysfunctional, which are never the best recipes for success both on the field and out recruiting. That's why I am not one of those fans who'll get all worked up and call for a firing after only a few losses.

[duckfan22]

Wow I'm now an old timer and meaningless. Well at least i have a title now. So all the zero degree weather games.
0-0 tie games mean nothing i set thru yelling my self horse. I get it. Its not like i dont get what your saying and most
is correct. But you dont all of a sudden have success. Its built. I was there during the Rich Brooks era. His brand of
football was boring and predictible. But slowly he turned things around. Belotti if nothing else carried on and kept up
the momentem. We started to get more donations, the facilities started to improove. Chip comes along and things
blow up. But along comes expectations including from an old timer like me. And i will also call coaches out but you
know and i know they are not going to fire coaches now. May ask a couple to move on after the season but not now.
The success of this program is a result of a lot of work not just recent but from years past and you can argue about
that all you want but i have watched the ducks play since the mid 60's ive seen it. Thats why i appreciate the great run
weve had the last few years even more.

[OregonFan4Life]

I can definitely agree with not firing coaches now, mid season firing usually doesn't work unless it's a complete disaster, but you have to admit that might be the defense right now. I'm not saying don't honor what has built Oregon today, but as fans we shouldn't settle for the type of performances we've seen this season because of the past, it's a new era and new expectations come with a new era. Believe me, if you lasted through those days, I respect you a lot! There some days that were tough to sit through and if you did, that's truly awesome and you deserve respect. But that doesn't mean Oregon should not have high expectations right now because of the past. And I also hate being called spoiled because I want the program to be as good as it possible can

[Bigwaved]

No, spoiled is melting down when you do not get what you want.

[Alan]

You title says STOP THIS ARGUMENT! Then you go on say just some, IMO, ridiculous things. Your 26, try to remember some of us were cheering for the Ducks for a number of years before you were born. By your logic Brooks, Belloti, Musgrave, even Harrington meant nothing to building this program, hell "the pick" did nothing for this program and I'll assume the win over Michigan did nothing..... It's called history. History is built and were we are now is a result of that history. You're trying to discount the history of the Oregon Ducks program, a program many of us lived through and enjoyed and endured. Now that the Ducks have lost a whole two games and looked pretty bad in the Utah game it's time for heads to roll....... Why not? It's two losses after all......... That is the definition of a spoiled fan. Lots of season left.

[pezsez1]

Winning is important, but winning at all costs is a dangerous mentality. Integrity is always more important than the scoreboard. Work hard with integrity, and the scoreboard results will follow.

Want to see what happens when teams throw integrity out the window and start making rash personnel moves based on "winning" alone?

Two words: Jail Blazers.

I'm not going to sit here and accuse anyone of being spoiled. That's just as dumb as other people accusing me of being "blind" just because I've liked our defense in recent years. I have good reasons for liking the defense, and some fans have good reasons for wanting people fired -- this much is clear after the past few weeks of discussion.

I implore everyone to realize though that winning the day does not necessarily mean winning the scoreboard. Winning the scoreboard is usually just the side effect.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Tenure as a fan is meaningless if you lack perspective and realistic expectations.

Oregon sustaining this run forever is fantasy. At some point there will be a down turn, it happens at every program. We certainly shouldn't become empathetic and welcome it but if you actually think firing multiple coaches, including the head coach, at this juncture would do anything but make the program worse, well... you need some serious perspective and much more realistic expectations.

[GoDucksIn09]

Most the time firing a coach middle of the season does not work. I will however throw a name out there where the program did turn itself around after firing the head coach. Lame Kiffin ... they replaced him with an interim coach... I forget his name... but they won like 6 in a row. I personally think he should have got the head coaching gig. He wanted it... Instead they hire Sark... and the guy who won like 6 games in a row... leaves. It was a short lived turn around and think USC would be better off with him than Sark but that is just my two cents. Most the time firing a coach in middle of season does not work... but at least as far as who if I fired any top of the list would be Pellum. Then take some of the money Phil Knight gives to the university and go out and pay a really good aggressive defensive coach for coordinator instead of someone that is passive.

[pezsez1]

Most the time firing a coach middle of the season does not work. I will however throw a name out there where the program did turn itself around after firing the head coach. Lame Kiffin ... they replaced him with an interim coach... I forget his name...

I think that was a completely different scenario because Kiffin was literally a slime ball. He was a cheating, corner-cutting cancer to their whole organization.

Love 'em, like 'em or hate 'em, our coaches are good people who have represented the Ducks well. And even if you strongly dislike the defense, the fact remains there are various metrics that show our defense as being anywhere from average to really good in recent years... and the people who make the decisions at UofO won't be ignoring those metrics. I'm not asking anyone to change their opinions on the defense, but simply to accept there are legit reasons why not everyone views the narrative the same way that you do, and that adds a ton of complexity.

That's why I think to fire people now would be the entirely wrong move. We'd have to get thumped hard like this for a few more weekends before a midseason firing could be justified -- and even then, we'd be risking our integrity.

As I said in my earlier post, integrity must always trump "winning right now." I've never once associated the words "win at all costs" with Oregon football, and I hope I never will. The OP of this thread definitely doesn't use that term, either... but it's a slippery slope from where the collective fanbase seems to be at now.

Even that USC mid-season firing didn't end smoothly. Yeah, the Trojans rallied for some wins (Ed Oregeron was that coach), but then offseason turmoil ensued when Oregeron wasn't offered the head-coaching gig, resulting in him leaving the program not on the best of terms. It was a sad ending to what seemed like a good relationship between the coach and the school. It generated lots of bad press and was also disruptive for the players who liked him. And, in all honesty, here we are several years later and USC is still mired in mediocrity.

[woundedknees]

I cannot think of any real world scenario where hiring Sark would be considered a legitimate upgrade from Orgeron... And the only way Sark wil ever rip his tee shirt off is by snagging it on something while stumbling backwards from the bar .

[maxduck]

"Ditch Rich" was the popular cry in September 1994 when Oregon lost Hawaii (!!!) and then Utah in Eugene to start 1-2. Rich Brooks was hung in effigy on campus, they demanded he be fired on the spot, don't let him finish the year. Roughly 30 days later Kenny Wheaton intercepted a pass and Oregon Football as we know it was born after wandering in the wilderness for 20+ years. Why not let the season play out and then decide what changes need to be made?

[duckfan22]

Ditch Rich" was the popular cry in September 1994 when Oregon lost Hawaii (!!!

I was at that game. Not to many memories as a tailgate party with some
drinks i have no idea what they were made saw to that.

[OregonFan4Life]

I misstated my argument I believe. I'm not saying fire anyone right now, simply stating that the past needs to be honored, but not used as a measuring stick for where this program should be right now. This is a cutthroat business, not a museum. Yes we should honor the past and thank those who put a lot of great work into this program, but like I said, the program and the state of it comes first. Besides, I usually want what's best for the athletes before what's best for the coaches.

[gofightingducks]

I agree Oregon is not what it used to and can appreciate the argument from Joey, however that doesn't mean the Ducks should just accept mediocrity and not strive to continue to be what it has been over the last six seasons. Every great program has down years and despite the talent, this might be one of those years for Oregon, all that can be done is to continue to work and play hard and learn from mistakes and get better and depending on how this season turns out some changes will need to be made, what those changes are will depend on how this team performs the rest of the season but one thing that's for certain is the defensive schematic needs an overhaul, which likely means new defensive coaches, both coordinator and position. This is necessary if Oregon wants to continue Its national relevance, Oregon wasn't built on the same as the traditional powers but it has become a power and that's just how it is now. Every program has bandwagon fans especially those with success.