Good morning Duck fans. Today marks the opening of spring practices -- finally some football being played again! As a result, there's a lot of news out there this morning. Let's get to it.
- John Hunt notes that one of Kelly's first changes is practice starting at 8.15 am. In the same blog piece, Hunt goes on to examine five questions heading into today's first practice. The first three questions are ones we have heard repeated over and over (the DL, OL and secondary). However, Hunt also wonders about Masoli's improvement and the productiveness of Harper and Blount. Moseley chimes in with a piece that covers some of the details about how Kelly will run practices this spring. And, in case you missed it, both Lavasier Tuinei and Bryson Littlejohn are enrolled and should be participating.
- As for Bellotti's move to take over the QB coaching spot, I am relieved to hear that is merely a temporary fix until a full-time assistant can be found. As I mentioned yesterday, this move makes a lot of sense if its purpose is to allow them more time to find the right guy. Moseley also hypothesized yesterday in a blog entry that Oregon may have a new hire already in mind, but that they may be in the middle of spring drills for their current team. Here's Moseley's full article on the move, as well.
- The Manchester, New Hampshire's Union Leader has an article up about Chip Kelly's ascension to Oregon's head coach. The article notes some of the other coaches with local ties that have had some success climbing the collegiate ranks.
- Bob Clark writes today about replacing Kent -- with someone other than Mark Few. He raises some good points such as that the rising salaries of coaches combined with the fact that Oregon would only make the move to make a big splash would most likely lead to Oregon breaking the bank on any new hire. And, in perhaps the most disturbing suggestion I have heard in a while, Clark wonders whether or not P.J. Carlesimo might fit the bill. My overwhelming response? Ugh.
- The baseball team will take on the University of Portland today at PK Park. The Ducks appear to be having some depth issues at catcher with Eddy Rodriguez out for another three weeks with a knee injury. And, the Ducks continue Pac-10 play with a series against Stanford this weekend. Today's Register-Guard also has a piece up about the second phase of the construction for PK Park. Even with bids for the structural work coming below estimate, there are still questions about whether the park will be completely finished by the start of the 2010 season.
- And, Joey Harrington has re-signed with the New Orlean Saints after serving as their third-string QB last season. Glad to see that Joey still has a role in the NFL.
As always, leave your comments or other links below.
Go Ducks!