Oregon’s Recruiting SHOT heard ‘Round the Pac-12

[FishDuck]

My friends, I have not posted articles on some weeks recently, and this is the rare week where I am posting twice due to the subject of recruiting. The Tuesday article had a massive number of reads, and think this one will intrigue readers as well.

I offer a perspective on this recruiting class that no other media has offered thus far, and I think some will find it ...”entertaining.”

http://fishduck.com/2017/02/oregons-rec ... he-pac-12/

[Alan]

Great read! Duck football is exciting again after what was a short period in reality of doom and a downward spiral, although it seemed like an eternity while it was happening. What Willie has done in his short tenure with the Ducks is nothing short of outstanding. He put together an all star staff and with Pepsi in hand they racked up the air miles, resulting in a very measurable achievement, what a recruiting year for Oregon. Part of what made your read so good was the excitement projected through your words, since Willie came aboard Duck football is growing with enthusiasm and electricity. I agree, 11 other PAC 12 coaches have got to be snapping theirs heads around this morning wondering what happened? Scratching their heads thinking WTF is going on in Eugene?

GO Ducks!

[srsmiley007]

My friends, I have not posted articles on some weeks recently, and this is the rare week where I am posting twice due to the subject of recruiting. The Tuesday article had a massive number of reads, and think this one will intrigue readers as well.

I offer a perspective on this recruiting class that no other media has offered thus far, and I think some will find it ...”entertaining.”

http://fishduck.com/2017/02/oregons-rec ... he-pac-12/

Great article Fish! Just posted something along similar lines after seeing a few blasting these coaches as overhyped or overrated. What bunk! Pulling this together with essentially 3 weeks of in-person visits was nothing short of miraculous.

What I really like is our new take on OL. While I believed in Greatwood, I really thought we sold ourselves short in our pursuit of athletic OL. For once these guys are already coming with size along with athleticism. Forsythe, Moore, Popo(OL/DL?) & Shear won't have to gain 40 lbs just to get to 300. These guys are all close to or over 300 right now. Imagine our line in 2018 where everyone is 320+++!!!!

[gofightingducks]

Great article and I agree. I think people losing their minds that Artis and Falo were lost are overreacting. Sometimes kids change their minds at the last second, the Ducks have been been on the receiving end of last minute decisions, it happens or sometimes family dictates the decision or the kid may flat out lie. Everybody figured since an insider said Falo was coming, he was and because it didn't happen now the coaches cant close and are worthless. The Ducks finished with the third best class in the conference by pretty much all recruiting services behind USC and Stanford (better players just fewer of them) which is remarkable coming off a 4-8 an entirely new coaching staff and all of the turmoil and negativity surrounding the program and essentially only 3 weeks to not only keep the kids that were already committed but also build relationships with kids that were already committed elsewhere in most cases. And to boot the negativity in the media regarding the strength coach, Coach O and the DUII with Reaves. I am not sure what Coach T accomplished could have been done by many other people. Assemble a whole new coaching staff, many who had late seasons because of bowl games, all while salvaging current commits and almost addressing every area of need with new recruits and looking to the future with 2018 and 2019 classes while also meeting the players for the first time and going to area high schools and planting roots, press conferences, supporting other school functions and teams, and addressing the Coach O and Reaves situations. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

[FishDuck]

SRS....I agree about how the offensive line coach has been overlooked, and I have some comments about him coming in a future article.

GoFighting....I just don't think the majority of fans and observers don't have the perspective that you have conveyed. To me, it is a recruiting miracle!

(No...this was not a quote from Seinfeld and Festivas!)

[srsmiley007]

SRS....I agree about how the offensive line coach has been overlooked, and I have some comments about him coming in a future article.

GoFighting....I just don't think the majority of fans and observers don't have the perspective that you have conveyed. To me, it is a recruiting miracle!

(No...this was not a quote from Seinfeld and Festivas!)

++1

[duxforlyfe]

Thanks for sharing Charles, I always appreciate the work you do. Looking forward to more articles


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[buckmarkduck]

Thanks fish!

But what I'm really looking forward to, is one of your famous practice reports this spring. Really hoping you make it to a few this spring, and can provide some detailed reports like the old days.

[ncduck]

Thanks Fish! It's great to see you posting again.

I'm in total agreement with your article. On top of that, imagine what the class could have turned out if the new staff had another couple of weeks or a month. There would have been time to work at resolving doubts of key family members. It could have made the difference in several players who got away.

Looking forward, it's hard to not get my hopes up for future classes. It's been some years since I was this excited about recruiting.

[picksix]

Thank you FISH, nice report!! Here's what I'm excited about. NEXT NSD Taggert and staff will have a FULL YEAR to recruit. I am confident we will have a top ten recruiting class given a full year

[Pontius]

Was it really a "SHOT"? Oregon has typically finished in the top half of recruiting in the Pac-12 going on for more than a decade. It's not like they usurped anyone. I'm also not really impressed because a new coach came in and the direction of recruiting changed. First, most of the better signings were already Oregon commits or interests. Second, let's see how Taggart does recruiting with a 4-8 record, rather than a clean slate and the benefit of the doubt to go with it. Of course recruiting turned for the better. Oregon has the best facilities and has been one of the most marketable brands in all of college football, on top of very recent success prior to last year. I mean, if recruiting had turned out worse(not that it turned out "great" by any means), wouldn't everyone be questioning the hire?

[srsmiley007]

Was it really a "SHOT"? Oregon has typically finished in the top half of recruiting in the Pac-12 going on for more than a decade. It's not like they usurped anyone. I'm also not really impressed because a new coach came in and the direction of recruiting changed. First, most of the better signings were already Oregon commits or interests. Second, let's see how Taggart does recruiting with a 4-8 record, rather than a clean slate and the benefit of the doubt to go with it. Of course recruiting turned for the better. Oregon has the best facilities and has been one of the most marketable brands in all of college football, on top of very recent success prior to last year. I mean, if recruiting had turned out worse(not that it turned out "great" by any means), wouldn't everyone be questioning the hire?

Not to be contrary but the data supports Fish's take. Virtually every team loses spots in a coaching change or at best holds court. Yes, he held a lot of guys Helf Co. recruited but also brought in a couple that were not(Thomas Graham). Take a look at the numbers below. This isn't every coaching change just ones I thought would be relevant for comparisons sake. Few jump up in ratings but we are the only to crack the top 20.

247 Rankings:
Oregon 19 - We were 27 in 2016, one year removed from the Natty.
Texas 33 - they were #7 last year and got Tom Herman who was already in state.
Baylor 40 - dumpster fire
Minnesota 58 - 46 in 2016
Houston 69 - 36 in 2016
California 72 -31 in 2016
USF 78, Prior class was 65.