Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Stein has been solid this year ever since the Indiana game. This is one of the few years in my history as a duck fan that i've actually been pleased with our play-calling. Stein has been very good since Indiana.

Mostly agree.

I feel two things happened after that game:

1) Lanning told him to press the downfield attack. After the Indiana loss, Lanning specifically said in his press conference that we needed to do a much better job of attacking "in all phases of the game," but the offense stalling out was the glaring weakness of that game. I believe that was Lanning's way of stating what everyone was thinking without throwing Stein under the bus. But I do believe he and Stein had a chat and got on the same page going forward.

2) Mother Nature forced Stein to discover the running game. Yeah, we ran it up against lolRutgers, but torrential rain forced us to run against two very good run defenses, and finding that run game really fueled the offense to big games against Minnesota and USC.

My only real complaint about Stein after the Indiana game was his unwavering desire to get cute when it wasn't ever necessary. I know it was cool on Ducks vs Them, but I wasn't a fan of handing off to Boettcher with the game still close against USC. Or the slow-developing RPO rather than a quick run up the middle that would have been the dagger against UW. Or passing the ball on 3rd and 3 when the run game is clicking and it's four-down territory. Or just weird formations or gadget plays that end up failing when we could just throw it to Sadiq. Seems like in every game there are two or three plays where he just kind of f***s around and doesn't really put winning first. I know it's just two or three plays, but still, why???? I mean if one of our defensive backs tried to do a cartwheel before making a tackle he'd be benched in a heartbeat.

Agreed on all accounts. The gadget play is never necessary, and only useful a handful of times per year. When the game is close and the offense is already moving the ball well, these plays are more often than not detrimental. That's not to say they don't score "brand" points when they work. But they aren't winning play calls. I want an OC who prioritizes winning over all else, and calls the play most likely to succeed on a given down.

I may be wrong, but it felt like that Boettcher package was to spell an ailing O-line as well. Anyway, it worked, and they apparently practiced it a lot, so I didn't have an issue with it. Football is supposed to be fun, and that was fun.

bdkipe wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 1:50 am Good God this board is an eye roll at times.

I’m happy for Will. Look at our numbers in efficiency and explosion plays and the truth is in the numbers.

“Well he struggled when he faced elite defenses”. No $h!t guys…Chip struggled, Dilly Struggled, good defenses are, in a shocking development…GOOD.

It’s annoying AF to get on here and watch our OC’s get trashed if we don’t put up 500+ yards and 42+ points a game.

Anyway. Rant over. Give me the OC from SJSU. The “spread and shred” dude who played at Hawaii.

10 months from now we will be on here listening to you all b!tch and moan about whomever the new OC is, because with this stable of offensive talent we should be outscoring teams (also with scholarship talent and paid coaches) 100-0.

Have to agree with you here. Many of the complaints about Stein just feel rather nitpicky.

Stein called a good game against UW. My only criticism was when we went 2-straight runs up the middle to begin the second half, and then Dante bailed him out with a beautiful ball on 3rd down.

Other than that, he called a good game.

I don't understand the critcisms at all. I believe he is a top-tier OC at this point.

He absolutely is and has been very top tier.

This board is best described by Goldmember from Austin Powers:

“Zen zhere iz no pleazing you…”

Until we blow out these other (clearly subpar) D1 elite scholarship athletes with their (clearly subpar) paid brain trust of coaches by 7-8 scores a game whilst racking up a minimum of 500 total yards a clip, 80% of the regulars on here aren’t going to be happy.

Let me ask everyone this. When teams like Colorado and Michigan played our Duck teams in the early 00’s they had superior athletes at skill positions and in the trenches (based on nfl draft projections and the brand-new industry of recruiting service rankings). When they decided to just “not get cute” and keep it simple with their “superior on paper talent”, how did that work out for them?

Let me ask everyone this. When teams like Colorado and Michigan played our Duck teams in the early 00’s they had superior athletes at skill positions and in the trenches (based on nfl draft projections and the brand-new industry of recruiting service rankings). When they decided to just “not get cute” and keep it simple with their “superior on paper talent”, how did that work out for them?

Yes, I agree, Nick Aliotti consistently did more with less, which is why he is one of the most underrated Ducks of all time.

pezsez1 wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 4:47 pm

Let me ask everyone this. When teams like Colorado and Michigan played our Duck teams in the early 00’s they had superior athletes at skill positions and in the trenches (based on nfl draft projections and the brand-new industry of recruiting service rankings). When they decided to just “not get cute” and keep it simple with their “superior on paper talent”, how did that work out for them?

Yes, I agree, Nick Aliotti consistently did more with less, which is why he is one of the most underrated Ducks of all time.

It's so categorically false but this is your hill so have fun on it.

Call me crazy, but Jerry Neuheisel seems like a good choice. Young, energetic, gifted, good with QBs. 20 years ago, I would have told you were on drugs if you told me that in 2025 I would want a Neuheisel for a coach at Oregon. LOL!

DuckMastaFunk wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 5:40 pm Call me crazy, but Jerry Neuheisel seems like a good choice. Young, energetic, gifted, good with QBs. 20 years ago, I would have told you were on drugs if you told me that in 2025 I would want a Neuheisel for a coach at Oregon. LOL!

I like this guy, as well as Mack Leftwich (Texas Tech OC/QB).

Leftwich' offense has consistently put up 40+ points in every game this year with the exception of BYU (26 Points), Utah (34 Points) and ASU (22 Points, but without their starting QB).

They've played ASU, BYU, Utah and Houston, so they've played some decent teams along the way, as well.

DuckMastaFunk wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 5:40 pm Call me crazy, but Jerry Neuheisel seems like a good choice. Young, energetic, gifted, good with QBs. 20 years ago, I would have told you were on drugs if you told me that in 2025 I would want a Neuheisel for a coach at Oregon. LOL!

You're crazy. His offense did well in his first few games against lesser opponents, but as soon as ucla faced even slightly tougher competition, his offense hit a wall. Granted, there was a pretty good uptick in schedule strength the 2nd half of the season, but averaging just barely over 12 points per game over their last 5 games doesn't scream Oregon quality OC to me

SuperDuck wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 5:51 pm

DuckMastaFunk wrote: Tue Dec 02, 2025 5:40 pm Call me crazy, but Jerry Neuheisel seems like a good choice. Young, energetic, gifted, good with QBs. 20 years ago, I would have told you were on drugs if you told me that in 2025 I would want a Neuheisel for a coach at Oregon. LOL!

I like this guy, as well as Mack Leftwich (Texas Tech OC/QB).

Leftwich' offense has consistently put up 40+ points in every game this year with the exception of BYU (26 Points), Utah (34 Points) and ASU (22 Points, but without their starting QB).

They've played ASU, BYU, Utah and Houston, so they've played some decent teams along the way, as well.

His brother is also already on staff at Oregon...

Autzenoise wrote: Mon Dec 01, 2025 8:01 pm List looks good, but I just don't think I could welcome a Neweasel in to Autzen...

Why? Are you jealous of his hair?

Not sure you guys would be as optimistic about Stein if we went 9-3 this year, which could have easily happened (Penn State, Iowa). Not that this matters since the ink is already dry and people only live in the present. Regardless, I wish him well on his new adventure. Something will have really hit the fan if I miss him next season.

Just a minor tidbit to add here: pretty much every single Oregon coordinator/HC over the last decade who left for a different program did worse (mostly significantly worse) than how they performed while here at Oregon. That's just the magic of this place. Only exception is Dillingham who is doing all right so far. I don't expect Stein to buck this trend, but more power to him if he can pull it off.