Subscribe Feed (RSS)It seems to me something is going a little haywire down in Eugene, where quarterbacks are suddenly jumping ship. Normally, that’s probably not cause for a major alarm, because Oregon has starter Jeremiah Masoli coming back and he’s going to be pretty good.
But what makes it a little scary is that Coach Chip Kelly’s offense burns through quarterbacks the way an Indy car goes through tires on a hot day. Do you actually think Masoli, as much as he likes to run the ball, will get through next season unscathed? If so, he’ll be the first of Kelly’s QBs to pull off such a feat.
Justin Roper was the real loss here. He was a proven quarterback with a big arm who might someday play on Sundays. He was a quality backup who could have started at some other Pac-10 schools. And the dropoff from Roper to whoever assumes the backup role now is enormous.
And what bothers me the most is what Kelly has said about it:
“I’ve met with everybody – we’ll see,” Kelly said Tuesday. “I think everybody knows where they stand. I didn’t want any of them to transfer, but if they’re not happy not being the No. 1 guy at that position, then I can’t predict how that’s going to happen.”
Kelly said Harper, who reportedly became interested in Kansas State when the Wildcats brought back coach Bill Snyder, said he wants to be closer to his hometown of Wichita, Kan. He requested his release be forwarded to three schools: Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma State.
“The one thing we can’t do is we can’t move Eugene, Oregon, closer to Kansas,” Kelly said.
So, in other words, you want the guys who aren’t No. 1 to be happy about it? Obviously, they never will. Your job as a coach is to keep them around, anyway — either through a realization that they’ll probably eventually get a chance to play due to injury, graduation or whatever reason. That’s what coaches do, you know — they keep the 40 kids who aren’t starters around somehow, so that they have depth.
And as far as moving Eugene closer to Kansas, come on, pal, if distance from home is going to start becoming a problem — as is being said about both departing signal callers, Chris Harper and Roper — then you better stop recruiting players from outside the Pacific Northwest, which you’re obviously not going to do.
Look, I’m never happy to see someone with NO previous head coaching experience be handed a head coaching job at this level. The head guy has responsibilities that coordinators don’t even know exist. One of them is keeping kids from transferring. Another is media relations, which I hear Kelly has flubbed grandly with a policy of making reporters request interviews with players 24 hours in advance.
Don’t get me wrong, if he wins games the guy can get away with whatever policies he wants. That’s the American way these days. But if he doesn’t win down there — and win big — he’s going to look like the dumbest hire in the school’s history.
Tags: Chip Kelly, Chris Harper, Dwight Jaynes, Jeremiah Masoli, Justin Roper, Oregon Ducks
Well, I think you make some good points, Dwight. However, taken individually, each transfer makes sense. Pflugrad was lost when they let his dad go. Roper was recruited before Kelly came in and he doesn’t fit Kelly’s system. He sees his NFL dreams evaporating and this is his last shot. Honestly, I don’t think he is good enough to play in the NFL and unless he suddenly turns into Joe Montana with the one or two years of eligibility he has left, I think he is making a mistake. But its his life and he has to do what he thinks is best. I wish him luck. Harper also has wanted to leave since his experiment at QB failed last year. I do wish he would have stayed. I think he would have been a force at slot receiver, but his leaving was not unexpected. I don’t think the Duck ship is sinking yet.
I guess I should have articulated this better in the post — what bothers me the most, I guess, is that these guys are leaving and there isn’t much left. If Masoli goes down, you’re going to have to depend on guys who just haven’t played. Who haven’t shown much of anything, aside from a stray quarter here or there.
That’s a good point. Depth could be an issue. If Masoli goes down then you are likely playing Thomas and I wish he would have redshirted this year to give him at least two years after Masoli graduates. But it doesn’t look like that is going to happen now. We have another freshman QB coming in (Hawkins) and then that’s it. I suppose I shouldn’t write off Costa, but the poor guy has had 3 knee surgeries already. Masoli is pretty sturdy though. Unless he takes another cheap shot like he did at the Boise St. game last year, I think he will be fine.
if masoli goes down we’re dead in the water. i don’t know and i cant exactly put my finger on it… but somehow, some way, im really nervous about this season for the ducks. i kind of got a little uneasy when they were ranked 7 in the preseason polls. i don’t know you tell me with qb’s jumping ship, the preseason ranking, new inexperienced head coach, should we feel this uneasy or am i just having a senior moment??
Regardless of QB situation, I don’t believe this is the year for the ducks, I think ‘10 is the year for the Quackers
There is a changing of the guard at UO and anytime that happens you’ll have some people not liking the the new deal. Its life, and shouldn’t be seen as a huge shock. A few guys will bail but the big picture for UO is very bright. With the favorable schedule, the Ducks only need a little luck this fall to go 11-1. And they still have Masoli returning for 1 more year.
While it is disappointing to see these guys want to transfer, it is not unexpected. New head coach=new direction, so you will always get a few that depart
Depth always has been a problem for the oregon schools. Really, only the superpowers like USC have depth. Costa and Thomas may indeed have to contribute…
Roper was erratic and streaky. He is really a pocket passer and he doesn’t fit. Your assessment that he is NFL material is really off…
Oregon has a favorable schedule ( a few tough ones in there)so we will see how it turns out. You never know how transitions will go. I do know that Belotti was a solid coach and there is much to live up too for Kelly
How is oregon at wide receiver?
I think you are misinterpreting Chip Kelly’s words. He’s not saying he wants all non-starters to be content with being non-starters and for them not to have the desire to become starters. He’s simply saying that Chris Harper was not happy being at Oregon right now if he wasn’t the starter. There is a difference. Harper didn’t want to be on the bench and work at his game to become the starter. He wanted to be anointed it. Its clear to anyone that followed the QB situation at Oregon that Harper was not likely ever going to be the starting QB again for Ducks. Masoli was 1st. Costa is 2nd if he is actually healthy. Thomas is 3rd and future recruits also need to be factored in.
I think Kelly did exactly what any upstanding coach should do. Be honest with the kid. If you think he is best served focusing on a new position and he’s not happy with that, there isn’t much you can do. I’ve heard that Harper was getting hounded by the coaches on numerous occasions for dogging it in the Spring. He clearly wasn’t happy and was just waiting for his one year of residency in Oregon to ask for his release.
Also, its a complete fabrication to say that Kelly believes distance from home is some global problem. Its not, but if one or two guys come out here for a season, hate being far from home, and decide they want to leave, what are you going to do? Are you going to pull a USC and make it impossible for them to leave? Or are you going to be Kelly, help the kid out of the situation and find someone else that would love to have that scholarship from Oregon? Harper has been giving interviews since the Fall about how he doesn’t like being on the West coast. Some kids just don’t deal well with that.
Sure, these departures hurt Oregon and Kelly didn’t want them to happen, but none of these transfers are shocking at all and that’s the way it goes at times. Kelly wants guys that fit his system and that want to be here.
Look! Quarterback(s) aren’t jumping ship! A QB did (Roper). Harper is no QB for the college or pro game. Harper could be a great wide receiver / running back but he is no QB. Perhaps he is just too far from home. I understand that. However, he ain’t gonna get to the NFL as a QB, so he’d better change his major wherever he goes, cause if he don’t, he won’t make it to the NFL.
Meanwhile, Thomas is relatively inexperienced but if required, could become a major player. If he does? He could become an NFL prospect.
Chip Kelly? Let’s give him a chance. the season hasn’t even started yet. I’m sure he will make mistakes along the way; enemies too. However let’s not do the “I told you so” routine when the season hasn’t even begun. It’ll proably take about 3 seasons to really know where this is going & whether this was indeed a good move or not.
“I guess I should have articulated this better in the post — what bothers me the most, I guess, is that these guys are leaving and there isn’t much left. If Masoli goes down, you’re going to have to depend on guys who just haven’t played. Who haven’t shown much of anything, aside from a stray quarter here or there.”
Duh!
That’s what makes them a starter….. Obviously the backups don’t have very much game experience….
You can say that about every school.
I don’t see the new direction. Kelly already was the o cord., so the offense is the same and who is going to play is the same.
Some new rules about music in the locker room or whatever is not going to make anyone transfer.
When Belloti was still coach, they had two 4 star def tackles that never even made it to Eugene.
Phlugrad and Roper are very understandable. Although I think they both would have played enough here to call it a good college career.
For this year, Roper is the biggest loss.
For the next 3 years, Harper is the biggest loss.
He is a beast and he should have been converted to either running back or safety.
but Harper worries me. He played in almost every game as a true freshman. The coaching staff should have been able to convince him to stay.
And Kelly’s comments sound like “if you don’t like it, leave.” Maybe they pissed Harper off and made him leave?
I was happy to hear Kelly got the job so we could keep our offense and maybe help recruiting. But right now, it doesn’t look good.
How in the heck can Pete Caroll at USC keep all those 5 star guys on the bench without leaving???
Nick — You couldn’t have said it about the Ducks if Roper hadn’t left!
(duh!)
Don’t kids transfer in the offseason all the time? Let’s face it, Chris Harper is not a quarterback, so we are not losing QB’s left-and-right, as is the implication in this article. I’m guessing that Roper is watching as Thomas develops and knows that Costa is more talented and he may have seen himself slipping off the 2-deep rotation. Experience isn’t everything Jaynes! Sometimes talent outweighs experience. Here’s Roper’s significant experience:
-Ride Jonathan Stewart’s coattails against os and South Florida.
-Get hurt against Washington.
-Started against Utah St. (which also saw Masoli and Harper getting significant reps).
-Played terribly, got hurt, and relied on Blount against Purdue.
While he played well and efficiently in the games against os and S. Florida, if Stewart doesn’t run for over 400 yards in those two games, Roper doesn’t play that well. From Masoli and Thomas, we have seen them both step up in situations where the runningbacks either weren’t producing, or they were insignificant. Both Thomas and Masoli throw a better ball than Roper. His release, delivery, and velocity are all good if he were throwing to wide open players every single time. He hasn’t showed me the ability to hit a deep ball. He also hasn’t shown the ability to thread the needle.
Dwight,
You make it sound like Kelly asked someone like Roper to leave. Roper is simply a classic example of a recruit who is choosing to leave because of a philosophy change. He was recruited for Crowton’s pass first / run second spread attack and now finds himself in the Kelly run first / pass second spread attack that requires more athleticism from the QBs. Kelly liked Roper and wanted him to be around, but Roper was never going to be the guy to lead Kelly’s offense. He might be a stopgap but that’s it. I think Roper was smart enough to see that and decided he wanted to go somewhere where he could get a starting QB gig. Was Kelly supposed to lie to him and promise him the world or give him an honest assessment of his place on the team?
And contrary to this sudden belief that Roper was a Pac 10 starting QB, he’s not. He played an admirably average game in the Civil War two seasons ago and then put up decent stats against AWFUL UW and Utah State teams in part-time duty of blowouts and then played a very poor game at Purdue. His one very good game was his Sun Bowl victory that was simply an onslaught by the Ducks. He was still only 17-30 for 180 yards. The team’s success that day stemmed from their running game and defensive TDs.
I’m not trying to knock Roper. I was grateful as a Duck fan for what he contributed with little to no experience, wish him the best, and would rather have him around as a security blanket than not, but he is still limited even in the right type of offense.
Bottom line: Pflugrad left because his dad was fired, Roper left because he knows he doesn’t fit the new offensive system, and Harper left because he believes he is a D1 starting QB right now and wants to do that closer to home. These departures aren’t great for UO’s depth and Kelly wouldn’t have chosen for them to happen, but he’s also not going to continue to force Ducks football down their throats if their minds are made up.
Dwight, what are you talking about when you say “I’m never happy to see someone with NO previous head coaching experience be handed a head coaching job at this level”? You evidentally are saying you would prefer someone with high school head coaching experience to an FBS offensive coordinator. That’s simply the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard. Think before you write.
The reason Pete Carroll keeps all his 5-stars is twofold:
First, he is getting the pick of the litter of players that all believe they are the best and will compete for their spots. That’s why they are as good as they are.
Second, for those players that want to leave (case in point: Jamere Holland), he makes it virtually impossible for them to leave. If not for the university stepping in and granting his release, Holland would not be at Oregon.
Pete Carroll has the luxury to be an a*s and treat these kids like they are numbers and he chooses to do so. Look at the way he acted like a baby when Mark Sanchez decided to leave early. I’m completely content with Chip Kelly not being like Pete Carroll. Oregon doesn’t have that luxury to develop that rep. around the country.
The loss of all three of these players becomes significant when coaches from other teams start to say to recruits that there have been difections due to “homesickness.” It’s tough to get fast kids from the south to come north, where UO has a competitive advantage is with its facilities, but don’t stop thinking for a second that the Lane Kiffin’s and Urban Meyer’s of the world aren’t going to point these losses out the more and more we try to recruit in their regions.
As for the players themselves it hurts because they’ve all been with the program and taken reps and shown promise to verying degrees but there’s no need to panic because the cupboard is not bare, start to panic if we have a losing season and Kelly losses some recruiting pull because of the aforementioned reason, exacerbated by a losing season.
I’m sick of the “Oregon burns through QB’s B.S.” Have we had injuries? Of course. Costa was hurt in practice, Clemens went down while scrambling out of the pocket, Dixon went down running in the open field. Masoli got knocked out of a couple of games because of an illegal cheap shot to the head (while dropping back to pass).
It’s football, injuries happen. Canfield and Moeveao were (are) both hurt and they hand the ball off 38 times to Quizz, who also got hurt, like his brother James.
Looks like OSU’s system is seriously flawed, what with all those injuries.
Roper’s leaving does leave the Ducks thin at QB, there’s no doubt. And I think he’s making a mistake. There’s no guarantee he won’t end up No.2 wherever he transfers. I could care less about Pflugrad, as long as his sister remains a cheerleader. And if Harper isn’t smart enough to understand he’s not a QB, then that’s his problem. He could have been great in another roll at Oregon.
Dwight, regarding your quote:
“Do you actually think Masoli, as much as he likes to run the ball, will get through next season unscathed? If so, he’ll be the first of Kelly’s QBs to pull off such a feat.”
I have a question. Do you know what his track record at New Hampshire was, in terms of his QB’s staying healthy? If not, is it fair to make a statement like this with only 2 years at Oregon? I’m not criticizing you, because I honestly don’t know the answer. But, if there were no major injuries, your statement may be a little prejudicial.
EM,
Nobody wants potential starters going to a school in the same conference. The same reason teams in every major sport hate/avoid trading within the division.
However Pete Carrol acts seems to work. Let’s be clear, Coach Carrol wins the Pac-10 just about every year and gets to a BCS bowl game. I guess if that’s what you get for being an a*s then he’s doing a really good job.
And for the sake of this blog do not say something about them being “student athletes” and the coaches are employed to shape young peoples lives. I played a niche sport at a Div. II school and couldn’t keep up with my studies, there is no way these guys are keeping up at a Div. I level.
Two points:
1) Roper does NOT have a ‘big arm.’ That’s laughable.
2) Roper has no shot AT ALL to play in the NFL. If he did, he wouldn’t need to be so concerned about playing time.
The Ducks won’t skip a single beat because of this. Not having Harper to work out of the slot is the real problem.
We’re doooommmmmmeeedd! How could we force out so many young talented players!
Dooomed, I tell you! Dooooooommmmmmmmeeeedd!
Freedom Bowl here we come!!! Wait, they don’t play that one anymore? Uhhhh..this is awkward..Independence Bowl? Well shoot I guess we’ll just have to suck it up and go to one of those BCS Bowls..I’ll take Costa (site unseen) and Thomas as 2a and 2b, I’ll take Holland, Maehl, Embry, DICKSON!!, Tunei, Gaines (site unseen), et.al. and sleep just fine as a duck fan.
Kyle, you hit it right on the nose. I’ve been saying the same thing to all my fair-weather Duck Fan friends who are freaking out.
Losing Roper hurts the Ducks in case Masoli gets hurt because Costa most likely won’t be able to run the spread with his 6 million dollar knee and that means DT misses out on his redshirt year. DT has a ton of talent and potential, but doesn’t look ready to lead the Ducks to victory over the likes of SC, Cal, or OSU in 2009.
Losing Harper really hurts, because anytime your program loses any athlete of that calibur, you lose an edge you had over other teams, a legit 4.4 second, 6′2″, 230lbs playmaker who can line up anywhere. I understand that Darryl Hawkins is incoming and will play QB due to the depth problems now. He’s a great athlete too, not as fast or explosive as C.Harper, but will service as a Wildcat QB if needed.
Dwight: I can’t decide if you sound more like a grumpy old man or Canzano. It is poor journalism to take cheap shots at the coach when players transfer and “gunny sack” ( his QBs get hurt, no head coaching experience, he’s mean to the press, doesn’t convince kids to stay.). Come on: what if people said of Dwight James when he became a columnist: He’s never done a major newspaper column before; he gunny sacks at first opportunity; never says anything good about peole; etc. You turned out to be a pretty good columnist; why not let Kelly take a shot as a head coach. It’s not always, or usually, the coach’s fault when a kid transfers.
bball2pdx,
Let me preface this with Pete Carroll is a good college coach and a very good recruiter. No doubt.
HOWEVER, to try and hint that Pete Carroll lying to recruits or making it difficult for them to leave is the main reason USC is a superior program to Oregon is beyond crazy talk. Chip Kelly finding a way to keep these transfers around isn’t going to turn UO into USC.
USC is in the heart of the biggest recruiting area of the country and will be a dominant program (much like UCLA) anytime they have coaches in place that are halfway competent.
Chip Kelly causing bad blood with Justin Roper and finding a way to strong arm him into staying and being unhappy or refusing to grant the release of someone like Chris Harper does more harm than good and in no way, shape, or form makes Oregon a better program.
I, too, could care less about them being “student athletes” because that is nonsense. My point is Pete Carroll can get away with his games BECAUSE IT IS USC. He can be an a*s to guys like Jamere Holland and try and destroy any chances he has of playing D1 football outside of USC because L.A. kids and elite talent are lined up to take his spot and believe they are better than Jamere Holland. If Oregon starts forcing unhappy players to stick around against their will or making them sit out multiple years to get their way, their rep will be tarnished and the locker room atmosphere will deteriorate.
I was only responding to someone that wanted to know why USC is 10-deep and Oregon has trouble being 2 or 3-deep. You can’t compare the programs. Someone like Justin Roper or Cody Kempt will be happy being a starting QB in college for I-AA team…guys like Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain will not. They rather compete at the highest of high levels because they are the elite national talent and have that mindset.
And none of these guys are scaring me going to another Pac 10 school, so why bother? Harper isn’t staying out West and Roper and Pflugrad are not the talents to put a program like WSU over the top. If UO can’t beat a team like WSU because they suddenly have Roper and/or Pflugrad starting for them, then Oregon has more problems than those guys.
Part of the argument for OSU fans in recent years has been about how OSU finds guys that want to play at OSU and work hard, despite potentially be less-talented or off the radar from other schools. OSU rather have a 2-star kid that works his butt off and loves playing in Corvallis then being a fall back school for more talented players that don’t get their first few options.
I don’t fully buy into that over-simplification but I do find it funny that when Oregon suddenly has a few guys that don’t want to be at UO anymore because they are homesick, don’t fit the system, or because they think they are better than are, Chip Kelly is some terrible head coach because he didn’t convince them to stay.
You can’t have it both ways. Chip is probably more like Riley in this sense than MB was. He has basically been very upfront with all the players and has decided that he doesn’t want to have people around that are unhappy. He’ll find someone else. What’s wrong with that?
The scary part is that Kelly has more resources than Riley to still bring in some top talent from across the country and has proven to develop guys quickly into their roles. He turned Roper into a serviceable QB in a matter of weeks for a bowl game. He turned Dixon’s entire college career around 180 degrees and he quickly made Masoli into the top returning QB in the conference. I’ll trust his judgment on this.
I think anyone who claims to be unconcerned about losing the #2 QB is whistling through the graveyard. Injuries are virtually eventual certainties for every player at this level. Masoli may seem indestructible now, but that perception can be tipped on its head as quickly as it takes to turn an ankle. Roper was good and steady, and maybe even better than that. He was a solid insurance policy. But right now I’m hoping Costa is some kind of miracle healer, because I have a hunch he’s going to be called upon to keep Oregon’s 2009 hopes alive.
As for Harper, the 500 Mile Rule kicked in with a vengeance. Actually, it’s always in play. Why doesn’t USC lose more guys? The near impossibility to get Pete to grant a release aside, it has much to do with the prestige of USC and the difference between Eugene and LA. Some kids prefer a small town campus, but way more like the big time.
Let’s not forget that at this time last year we had never heard of the Magnificent Masoli. Who knows what the summer will bring. In Chip We Trust.
Dude, you say that it is Kelly’s fault for not giving simpathy to the number 2’s. It is a team game and guess what, not one player can win a game.
You should have said that if your not satisfied with being number two at a position, then work your ass off to be number one. That should be your motivation right there.
That has been the problem with players of recent coming to Oregon, they expect because they are rated a certain amount of STARS, that gives them the right to just be named a starter, well guess what, LIFE doesn’t work like that and neither does FOOTBALL!
GO DUCKS
You say you’re worried that if Masoli goes down, you’re stuck with guys who haven’t played. Well, isn’t that true pretty much anywhere? How great of share would any team really be if they lost their top or their top two QBs? Obviously, if most teams lose their starter, they are hurting a bit, and if they lose their backups, it hurts even more. That’s not anything new at all. Oregon is not somehow immune to a lack of experience beyond the starter.
Also, you say that you’re concerned about giving a head coaching job to someone who has never before been a head coach? How does that work? Eventually someone gave Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Mike Belotti, etc, their first job. Usually they have to grow into the position a bit, but that’s pretty normal, isn’t it?
Dwight, I have been reading your stuff for many years now, but I have to say your concerns don’t fit your experience here. Roper was a good backup, but the only other PAC-10 school he would have started for would have been WSU or maybe a “Locker”less UW. He played well at some key times, particularly against USF and mostly because CK was able to prepare him for that Sun Bowl victory. The reality is that he is a deceptively mobile QB when needed, but he lacks arm strength, ball speed & has a fairly slow release. We obviously all wish him the very best wherever he lands. What I don’t hear anyone saying is that kids in general today are more pampered (Greg Oden ring a bell?). Of course you have to have a depth chart, of course you have to have competition for playing time, of course as an athlete you have to work hard, be patient and get up and do it again the next day. But most kids today don’t have the mindset to see their talent grow into an NFL/NBA/whatever career – that if you can do the former, the latter takes care of itself. I understand the reasoning behind Pflugrad and Roper’s transfers. I suspect Mr. Harper was an amazing athlete at the high school level and likely had everyone telling him he was going to be an NFL star one day too. Maybe he even thought he’d leave Oregon after 2-3 years for that next level. If I was shielded from that much reality and things weren’t working out the way everyone told me it would? I’d get homesick too. Lastly, Chip Kelly was at NH for a lifetime. He coached on both sides of the ball. He didn’t need head coaching experience to take this job, but I would say he is the exception as he’s a pretty well researched guy. How many years experience did Bellotti have when Brooks handed him the keys? Arguably, UC Davis isn’t exactly head coaching experience. Keep writing and I’ll keep reading! GO DUCKS!!
Dwight,
I’m sorry to say this is the last writing of yours i will ever read. I would certainly agree that losing Roper is not ideal and hurts the team depth, but i had to stop reading with the end of the following statement: “He was a proven quarterback with a big arm who might someday play on Sundays.” Neither of these two points are even close to being remotely true.
Best,
Eric
I hope Harper enjoys watching the Ducks/USC on Haloween night while he sits out of games for a year.
What do you think is going to happen when the Kansas State coaches tell Harper that he can’t throw well enough to be QB?
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m transferring again!
———————–
I was bummed for a while, now I’m over it. Let the guys play who want to be Ducks.
Anyone who says that Roper isn’t a good quarterback doesn’t know anything about quarterbacks. He has a BIG arm and he can throw accurately. You’ll see him on Sundays as long as he can start a year or two somewhere to get the experience. He still has two years to develop. Come on, remember that terrible quarterback that Oregon had in 2006, Dennis Dixon. He couldn’t hit a barn and all of a sudden, his senior year he was great. Roper is already better than Dixon was as a junior. Sometimes it takes experience and coaching to get that little bit extra out of a kid.
Phil,
Justin Roper will not be playing on Sundays. Don’t come here dissing everyone about their knowledge of football and quarterbacks and bring that. He does not have a BIG arm.
And quite frankly, if NFL scouts like him, they’re going to like him whether or not he gets more college experience. Roper is a nice QB option in spot duty for a good D1 program or as a starter for lower BCS school or mid-major. He’s simply not going to be a guy drafted in NFL fantasy leagues down the road.
People always think the grass is greener elsewhere. Barely any Duck fans were anxious to see Roper on the field at any point over the next couple of years, and the moment he leaves, he’s suddenly some NFL talent that slipped through our grasp.
Dwight you are a know nothing, smart ass twit.
Kelly wanting interviews cleared 24 hours in advance is no big deal. These kids are college students with class schedules and things going on. And maybe giving a kid a chance to think about what he says a little in advance is good protection against hypercritical know it all “reporters” like you.
Losing players happens. It is not a reflection on a coach’s abilities. Even Vince Lombardi lost Jim Taylor to the Saints in 1968. Get a grip. We’ll coach the kids that show up.
And you will be watching like a (chicken) hawk for something to criticize no matter what happens.
So apparently Mr.Jaynes thinks he could do a better job coaching?