If we can't knock off the Ducks tomorrow with Price

Very tough job for Helfrich. It will be easy the first 2 years but lets see what happens in 2015-2016.

First, consider that the conference is tougher than when Chip coached and a lot tougher when Belotti coached. Chip only had to deal with Harbaugh. USC was on probation, UW and UCLA were a joke. Cal was in decline, etc. Belotti spent half of his tenure when the conference was its worst ever from 93-02. It didn't pick up until Tedford and Carroll began their runs. Belotti was 28-22 in conference from 02-07. He had one great year (2005) and the rest were mediocre.

Now, Stanford is still good. UW will be a top 15 program in any scenario except Sark coaching w/o Wilcocks. UCLA is back to form. USC is hiring a new coach. Meanwhile, UA and ASU have coaches to at least be 7-8 win teams in most years.

The conference is going to be a lot tougher for Helfrich than his predecessors. Also, Oregon relies on national recruiting and if they slip a bit I think their recruiting will slide a few notches.

However, Oregon is smart. If they want to give Helfrich more than a few years, they will force Allioti into retirement so they can get Wilcox as DC (if he's not a HC yet).

Your_Mom said:

Then I don't see it happening for a while. After price graduates, will we have another QB of his caliber for a couple of seasons?

I think this is our best shot in this half of the decade. Otherwise, fuck, its going to be 15 in a row.

I posted this FRIGHTENING list previously of people we're likely to lose next year: Price, ASJ, Kasen, Sankey, Danny Shelton, Sean Parker.

Scared? You should be.

I get really tired of the bullshit reasoning that Helfrich sucks and can't fill Kelly's shoes... blah blah blah. He's 5-0. By commanding margins. He has the *same fucking staff* that was here with Kelly. He has the magic soccer spray. If he sucks, we will fire him and get someone who does not suck.

I'm too lazy/DNGAF enough to do the research, but look at how many of Schnelly's staff were still at Miami under Coker. A lot of our coaches were here during the Rich Brooks era... and they are remarkably good coaches.

I would argue that Jimmy Johnson was a much better coach than Schnelly was... he took what Schnelly built and ran with it. Thus far, that seems to be Helfrich's MO.

This isn't your grandfather's Oregon football program. We will continue to be good. Too much money has been spent for it to be otherwise.

AZDuck said:

I get really tired of the bullshit reasoning that Helfrich sucks and can't fill Kelly's shoes... blah blah blah. He's 5-0. By commanding margins. He has the *same fucking staff* that was here with Kelly. He has the magic soccer spray. If he sucks, we will fire him and get someone who does not suck.

I'm too lazy/DNGAF enough to do the research, but look at how many of Schnelly's staff were still at Miami under Coker. A lot of our coaches were here during the Rich Brooks era... and they are remarkably good coaches.

I would argue that Jimmy Johnson was a much better coach than Schnelly was... he took what Schnelly built and ran with it. Thus far, that seems to be Helfrich's MO.

This isn't your grandfather's Oregon football program. We will continue to be good. Too much money has been spent for it to be otherwise.

the point, my friend, is that Jimmy Johnsons don't grow on trees and don't come around all the time. consider the mere fact that (1) you are going back a million years (ok, almost 30) for an example, and (2) that is example is based on a program whose back yard is arguably THE most fertile, and certainly one of the most fertile, recruiting grounds in the country. Miami has never, and will never, be a national recruiting program. they hit the mid-atlantic states, mostly NJ and PA, pretty hard, along with Louisiana, and occassionally pull in a good player or two from Cali and Texas, but that's it. It's a Florida, and mainly Dade and Broward, thing for them. Oregon is a very different animal.

But your point stands: Oregon now expects to win and win big. If Helfrich shits the bed, they will find someone who won't.

I also disagree with the point that Kelly operated under a less-competitive Pac 12. Bull shit. The conference has always been 3 or 4 good teams of varying quality, a few mediocres and some really bad. There's less of the really bad, but kinda not really with the addition of Colorado to take the Beavs' place, and the cewgs are still the cewgs.

Furd was good during Kelly's run, and Kelly played and beat SC before the sanctions, and eventually Kiffin, had crippled them.

so bullshit. Oregon has won in a healthy Pac 10/12 conference. It was never, or rarely, any tougher than when Washington was winning.