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Auburndawg's New Years Day Message
Auburndawg
Member Posts: 362
To project the future one must understand the past:
In the mid 1990s the long established order in the PAC-10 began to fall apart. In 1986, ASU snuck into the Rose Bowl. Other than that, between 1978 and 1994, only Washington, USC, and UCLA won the league title.
Washington had Don James. UCLA had Terry Donahue, who took them to 4 Rose Bowls during that time. USC had John Robinson, Ted Tollner, and Larry Smith, all solid coaches. Seattle and LA dominated the PAC. Then things began to change.
James left in 1993. After 20 years at UCLA, Donahue retired after the 95 season. Since then, UCLA has gone through five coaches and only been back to the Rose Bowl once. USC went through several coaching changes and hired Paul Hackett in 1998.
Meanwhile, Rich Brooks finally got Oregon to a Rose Bowl in 94. Phil Knight got much more involved in Oregon athletics. Brooks retired and Oregon promoted from within, moving Mike Bellotti up from OC to HC.
From 1994 to 2002 the PAC-10 had no single dominant power. Seven different teams won the league title, including Washington. In fact, during the Lambo/Neu era we had the second highest winning % in the league. The traditional powers had definitely fallen back, and Oregon had definitely taken a big step forward.
Then USC hired Pete Carroll in 2001 and order was quickly restored. From 2002 to 2008, USC utterly dominated the PAC-10, winning 6 straight league titles and two national championships. It was the most dominant run in west coast football history.
In the meantime, Washington was going from Gilby, to Ty to Sark. UCLA went from Toledo to Dorrell to Skippy. But Oregon stayed the course. In 2009, Bellotti retired, and Oregon again promoted their OC, Chip Kelly.
And Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh in 2007.
The Carroll era ended in 2009. Oregon's good decisions to stick with a stable program, combined with Knight's money, Kelly and Harbaugh's brilliance, and the turmoil in Seattle and LA, produced the recent era of Duck dominance with Stanford as their main competitor.
So where are we now in terms of the schools that really matter on the west coast?
Harbaugh is gone. Stanford clearly took a step back this year. I don't see them collapsing, but I don't see them being dominant.
Kelly is gone. Oregon will take at least a small step backwards.
Are Sark and Mora a step up from the guys who preceded them in LA? No. But the LA schools recruit themselves. They will always be tough. But Sark and Mora are not Carroll or Donahue.
And Washington has hired one of the most respected coaches in America. A guy who is likely to be here for the long term. Washington will rise, but how far?
I expect one of the two following scenarios to occur in the near future: an era of Husky and Duck dominance, or a return to the wide open era of the late 90s when several schools battled every year for the championship.
Either way, I expect us to be consistently in the mix at the top beginning in 2016.
Happy New Year!
In the mid 1990s the long established order in the PAC-10 began to fall apart. In 1986, ASU snuck into the Rose Bowl. Other than that, between 1978 and 1994, only Washington, USC, and UCLA won the league title.
Washington had Don James. UCLA had Terry Donahue, who took them to 4 Rose Bowls during that time. USC had John Robinson, Ted Tollner, and Larry Smith, all solid coaches. Seattle and LA dominated the PAC. Then things began to change.
James left in 1993. After 20 years at UCLA, Donahue retired after the 95 season. Since then, UCLA has gone through five coaches and only been back to the Rose Bowl once. USC went through several coaching changes and hired Paul Hackett in 1998.
Meanwhile, Rich Brooks finally got Oregon to a Rose Bowl in 94. Phil Knight got much more involved in Oregon athletics. Brooks retired and Oregon promoted from within, moving Mike Bellotti up from OC to HC.
From 1994 to 2002 the PAC-10 had no single dominant power. Seven different teams won the league title, including Washington. In fact, during the Lambo/Neu era we had the second highest winning % in the league. The traditional powers had definitely fallen back, and Oregon had definitely taken a big step forward.
Then USC hired Pete Carroll in 2001 and order was quickly restored. From 2002 to 2008, USC utterly dominated the PAC-10, winning 6 straight league titles and two national championships. It was the most dominant run in west coast football history.
In the meantime, Washington was going from Gilby, to Ty to Sark. UCLA went from Toledo to Dorrell to Skippy. But Oregon stayed the course. In 2009, Bellotti retired, and Oregon again promoted their OC, Chip Kelly.
And Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh in 2007.
The Carroll era ended in 2009. Oregon's good decisions to stick with a stable program, combined with Knight's money, Kelly and Harbaugh's brilliance, and the turmoil in Seattle and LA, produced the recent era of Duck dominance with Stanford as their main competitor.
So where are we now in terms of the schools that really matter on the west coast?
Harbaugh is gone. Stanford clearly took a step back this year. I don't see them collapsing, but I don't see them being dominant.
Kelly is gone. Oregon will take at least a small step backwards.
Are Sark and Mora a step up from the guys who preceded them in LA? No. But the LA schools recruit themselves. They will always be tough. But Sark and Mora are not Carroll or Donahue.
And Washington has hired one of the most respected coaches in America. A guy who is likely to be here for the long term. Washington will rise, but how far?
I expect one of the two following scenarios to occur in the near future: an era of Husky and Duck dominance, or a return to the wide open era of the late 90s when several schools battled every year for the championship.
Either way, I expect us to be consistently in the mix at the top beginning in 2016.
Happy New Year!
Comments
1976
1977!!!
You have to focus on winning the North first and take it from there. Having a very good 7-2 year yet watching the Fucks in a BCS game (or NY Six or whatever it's called now) because they were 8-1 doesn't mean much.