The Ducks still don't have a coach, after getting turned down again, this time by Missouri's Mike Anderson over the weekend (and it wasn't a tough decision for Anderson). So once again we're sitting here asking, what next?
- The latest rumor (within the current college ranks) is former Alabama Mark Gottfried. He was mentioned by Andy Katz yesterday, and is also the subject of Bob Clark's piece today. But are the Ducks interested in Gottfried? At this point it seems doubtful, as Gottfried has contact Oregon, with little reciprocation. While there are countless good coaches out there, I'm quickly losing confidence that the current search team can find the right guy. In Katz' article, he mentions "there is a split among the Duck hierarchy as Kilkenny who wants to find a solid coach that might not have the star name while Nike officials want a headline name with a new arena opening next season." If this desire to find a coach with a name wins out, I fear that we'll end up with an incompetent name. I hope I'm wrong.
- Oregon baseball had a great weekend, winning a series at #1 UCLA, but their shortcoming caught up with them on Sunday, as they fell 5-1. The Ducks fielding has been sketchy all season long (they rank last in conference in fielding percentage) and it hurt them again yesterday, as they gave up 4 unearned runs in the first inning. You can't afford give extra outs to any team, especially a team as good as UCLA. Yet, despite ending the weekend on a sour note, the Ducks are at .500 in conference, and have proven they can play with any team in the country.
- The Oregon softball team put up a fight, but couldn't get the series win against the top ranked Washington Huskies. Husky star pitcher Danielle Lawrie two-hit the Ducks en route to the 1-0 victory. The win puts the Huskies at first in the conference, though the Ducks are still in second with a 6-3 record in conference play.
- The NFL draft kicks off on Thursday night, and one of the big stories will be LeGarrette Blount, and his rise since that disastrous night in Boise. The Statesman-Journal has a long piece on Blount. He's quite confident in his ability, and he'll get a chance. Should be fun to see where he ends up.
- Chris Brown of Smart Football had a couple good posts over the weekend. First, they compared the spread when it first started appearing, at Clemson under Woody Dantzler, to the spread engineered by Chip Kelly. The constant is innovation, and Chip's ability to innovate gives me confidence in our offense next season no matter who is at QB. Second, Chris had a post on reconciling football statistics and old-school scouting as NFL teams prepare for the draft.
Got any other quack? Thoughts on the coaching search? Leave it below. GO DUCKS!