Pre Flock Talk

LOOKING INTO THIS WEEKS FLOCK TALK

Tomorrow Flock Talk comes out. It is the first in a two part series covering the new Football Operations Center. Yes, it has been covered to death, but there is still more that needs to be covered, in my opinion.

So far I have seen two types of responses to the building. The first are those in awe who appreciate its beauty, the opposite side of the coin has shown the people who feel that any spending is probably too much unless every penny spent on a college campus is directly funnelled to an academic department

In between these two topics are a plethora of other possibilities that seem to get ignored. Why? Well, it probably goes back to Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent thoughts.

On one side of the coin there are the unimaginative writers who simply look at the sheer aesthetic beauty of the building and regurgitate what they saw on the tour of the facilities. On the other? Those who consider anyone outside of newspapers and television news "non-journalists" who do not understand the technicalities of their responsibility. Nevermind that many of us have read the same journalism text books and understand exactly what they learned; we just do not understand.

To an extent, that may be true. I cannot be inside the consciousness of another man. I cannot feel his past and have that past affect my interpretation of journalism textbooks. Nonetheless, the cynicism is a corporate objective designed to maximize advertising dollars.

None of this means that I feel myself any more qualified than any other writer to tell a story. I am simply telling the story I know from my perspective. This story has the same value and validity as any member of traditional mass media and it is also something I truly enjoy.

So, the first part talks about the road that led to the building. That comes out tomorrow. Next Friday, I go deeper into numbers. There is another story to be told that, once again, seems to be ignored.

I started writing about the Ducks in this format two years ago. Much has changed over that time, but much has also stayed the same. If there is story that is being talked about, I want to see if there is another side to the story I can tell.

With the opening of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, I feel as if that opportunity has arrived. The relative freedom I have in my weekly editorial piece we call Flock Talk gives me the ability to be flexible in topics. I am grateful for that because that becomes a platform to share my own personal thoughts on a wider scale.

Hope you all enjoy tomorrow's Flock Talk

Beyond First Look: Washington State's Mike Leach has a LONG hill to climb

Tomorrow we take a look at Washington State in our continued "First Look" series. The series is intended solely to take a glance at what the team returns, what they lost and some basic early thoughts on the offense and defense.

The article itself will go over the specifics tomorrow. But, wow, this team does not look to have very much promise for 2013. And how in the world does a college football team average 29.1 yards per game rushing?

I know Mike Leach is known as the master of the Air Raid offense, but you have GOT to run the ball in the Pac-12 to be competitive. No, they don't have to be like Oregon and average 300 yards per game on the ground, but when Kenjon Barner gains more yards against USC than the Cougar leading rusher does for an ENTIRE season, there is a problem.

The problem is the offensive line. Putting it as nicely as possible; they are terrible. The offensive line allowed a conference worst 57 sacks last season... that is atrocious by any standard.

Mike Leach is learning that the Pac-12 conference is a lot better than it is sometimes given credit for, you cannot just come in and throw the ball all over the field willy-nilly and win big. Part of the reason he got away with some things at Texas Tech had to do with the most important word in real estate: location.

By being in Texas, he had access to one of the deepest talent pools in the nation. Plenty of big strong linemen to be had in Texas and he was close enough to the Southeast to get some big strong guys that could protect his quarterback. Not such an easy task in Pullman; especially in Pullman. The place is difficult to get to and their facilities are woefully inadequate. Sure, former Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos is doing some pretty impressive things with their limited resources, but it is an uphill battle for sure.

And the battle gets tougher with every year. IT seems the entire Pac-12 is upgrading and Washington State simply cannot keep up. It kind of mimics what is happening on the field each week.

Will the Cougars be better this year than last? Probably. But that "better" won't be much. Incremental at best. I am not sure how long of a leash Leach is on in Pullman, but if the season turns ugly early, there could be some talk of a quick hook and ending the experiment that was the Leach hiring.

Leach was supposed to bring his personality to the recruiting trail and tear it up, so far, he hasn't really done much to improve the talent and depth of the football team.

Expect some rumblings about Leach's future if the Cougars struggle again this season... and if they cannot manage more than 30 yards per game on the ground, they will be in for another long season.

Early thoughts on practice reports

I hear that USC fans are pretty much in an uproar over the new practice policies. You know the policy where they are allowed to watch practices for the first three weeks of Fall camp and then as the season approaches the competition practices will be closed? Um, welcome to our world!

The fact is that I don't even particularly care that practices are closed. Do I wish there was some limited access to Duck Sports Authority? Of course I do! I think AJ does the best job of any media member really breaking down the practices and analyzing position battles, etc., without giving away any secrets about the playbook or game plan. But, alas, that is not to be.

A change has occurred, though, with the Oregon Athletic Department adding Rob Moseley to the mix as an internal beat writer. His addition is ironic to a point, but at least we are getting some tidbits out of practice. Nonetheless, the reports will be, for the most part, benign.

That will be especially true early on as the position battles have yet to really begin. Plenty of people look the part in shorts and helmets; let's wait until they get the pads on and have some full contact before we start anointing anyone as the next big thing!

Through the first two practices we have herd quite a bit about teh reliability of Erik Dungy who has some of the best hands on the team. This is a good sign. Dungy will likely enter the season at number two on the depth chart behind Josh Huff. If the early reports are true, that gives the Ducks two deep plus players in the wide receiver corps. In fact, with guys like Chance Allen and Dwayne Stanford (who may or may not be available due to injury), the Duck wide receivers might be the deepest most talented group in quite some time for the Ducks.

De'Anthony Thomas only adds to that. We know what Thomas provides. The questions will come with Byron Marshall, Thomas Tyner and Ayele Forde. Tyner is fast, there is no doubt about that. The roster lists him at 200 pounds, but he has indicated that he is closer to 220 pounds. If he and Marshall can combine to take a majority of the carries, expect Thomas to continue in his tazer "slash" role.

In fact, Mark Helfrich has already indicated that he is confident enough in the other running backs that Thomas will indeed play a similar role to previous seasons... only he will be more active in all facets of the game.


As I mentioned yesterday, I spent some talking to former Duck quarterback and current broadcaster Mike Jorgensen. While my main focus of the conversation was his thoughts on the new football operations center, we also had a great conversation about Chip Kelly, Mark Helfrich and football in general.

Yesterday I mentioned that he knew from the very first practice that the program was different with Kelly. He also talked, though, about Kelly's stubbornness and how he feels Helfrich will be more flexible in some ways which is a good thing.

The coaches saw what we saw at times last year, linebackers crashing the line of scrimmage while DB's were in coverage... leaving gaping holes down the middle of the field; but Chip was stubborn. Especially against Stanford. He expects Helfrich to take advantage of those types of situations in 2013 by going to Colt Lyerla more often and more throws across the middle.

If there is going to be more passing this year, it won't be because Helfrich is a former quarterback coach and wants to pass, it will be because the defense is giving Oregon those plays... and Helfrich will take whatever he can from opposing defenses; as will Scott Frost.

Tomorrow, I will talk a littel bit more about the early practice reports.

Media Day Extravaganza!

Okay, that is the end of a very long day indeed.

Media started with a different aura around the room today. First, we met with new Chief Compliance Officer Jody Sykes and Bill Clever conducting a rules seminar for the media.

While there are some very strange rules that must be complied with by the athletic department, the number of situations that may result in a student-athlete being declared ineligible is staggering.

Most of the time, these situations are resolved within hours. As an example. Prior to the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game between Oregon and UCLA, Fox spent time interviewing players from both teams. As part of the interview, Fox asked the players to tell people to "watch on Fox" which became an endorsement of a Fox television! That's right, every player from both teams that made statements on camera were technically ruled ineligible for a brief period of time!

That, folks, is the labyrinth of NCAA rules that must be looked at for multitudes of situations.

Ever noticed that the camera crowd doesn't pan down to visiting recruits? They can't because that could be construed as publicizing the recruit. Recruits cannot be interviewed while in attendance either.

If we are at a prospects high school game, and notice a coach, we can say hello to the coach, but we cannot interview him while he is there; that's a violation.

From the Compliance Seminar, we moved back over to Autzen Stadium for media day. Tons of interviews, which we will cover on Duck Sports Authority over the rest of the week.

I spent some time, though, talking to Mike Jorgenson, former Duck quarterback and current broadcaster. I got his "official" view of the new Football Operations Center for the record, but we talked for a bit off the microphone. One thing that was interesting, after a SINGLE practice with Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, Jorgy said he knew "the program has changed." One practice is all it took to know that Kelly had made his mark. Jorgy was gracious and insightful today and I appreciated his time.

I also spent a little time after the tour of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex talking with Craig Pintens about some of the negative commentary that he has seen, as we all have, about the cost.

Well, I will discuss that more in depth this Friday in Flock Talk.

In the mean time, there was football today. Football season is officially here!

Scott Frost vs. Mark Helfrich

Okay, the question of the week seems to be what to expect from Scott Frost as Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach/play caller versus what Mark Helfrich provided as Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach.

First, let me start with Helfrich. As offensive coordinator, he was not the play caller, that duty belonged to Chip Kelly. Nonetheless, Helfrich was extremely heavily involved in game planning... and that is where the specifics of which plays in which situations that the staff thought would be best. So, while he may not have made the calls on game day, many of the situations were known about in advance and planned for... and Helfrich was instrumental in that capacity.

More importantly, Helfrich was brought on to teach the fundamentals of throwing the ball. Kelly was a master at teaching the art of deception in the mesh point and clearly he was the innovator of the option portion of the spread, but the mechanics of passing the ball? That was ALL Helfrich. And therein lay his value under Kelly.

Scott Frost, on the other hand, comes to the offensive coordinator spot having never tutored quarterbacks. Nonetheless, as a brilliant option quarterback, he is very familiar with the mesh point and reading the defense to understand run versus pass. That is where his value will lay going forward for Oregon.

Will he be the same play caller as Kelly? No. But, he will likely be very aggressive and will understand the value of yards and first downs. He will not, though, be the guy that tutors the quarterbacks on mechanics of being a better passer; at first. He will have to work with Helfrich to better teach the fundamentals of quarterback mechanics in the passing game.

Expect Helfrich to handle that duty much like Kelly handled the teaching of some of the option principles to the quarterbacks while he was around.

Essentially, what I am saying is that the dynamics of head coach and offensive coordinator will be reversed under Helfrich and Frost from the situation with Kelly and Helfrich. In the past, Kelly handled the option part of QB coaching while Helfrich handled the passing mechanics of the position. Now, expect Frost to handle the option portion of coaching while the head coach handles the mechanics of throwing the ball.

In the end, as long as the relationship between the two works symbiotically, this can be a positive relationship that is even more productive than previously.

There could be a hitch, however. Under Kelly, the play calling lay at the feet of the head coach. As the play caller, Kelly was ultimately responsible for what happened on the field and, if there was a bad play call, he had nowhere to point a finger but back at himself. Now? Well, there will be the potential for finger pointing.

Helfrich is not the type, though, to blame anyone for the failings of the team, so I don't expect that to be a problem. There is just the potential.

In the end, while many have predicted that the team may be more "pass heavy" under Helfrich, that should be tempered some by Frost's's presence as play-caller. Expect this offense to be very similar in their productivity as they were under Kelly. Frost is a very smart young coach that understands the principles of the blur offense; get teams out of position; get them tired; make their minds cloudy and strike.

Oregon will continue to score points in bundles in 2013 and beyond. Those that think there will be a letdown have not paid much attention.

The Things We Do For Love

I have some thoughts about some things posted on the Duck Sports Authority Message Boards, but I probably won't get to them tonight... will try to get to them tomorrow night...

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day again... got up early, went to visit Braden and then came home, loaded up the truck with some stuff for the storage unit... ended up making three trips to the unit, plus loaded one more for tomorrow after work...

After the third load, moved all the boxes from downstairs and staged them in the dining room...

Moving time is getting close again...

Putting in a full day at my regular job tomorrow so I can spend Monday at Media Day...

Will get a tour of the new Hatfield-Dowlin Complex

(And for those that don't get the reference from the title, it's probably because you're too young to remember... but it was a song WAY back when I was young!)