Back in early November, it leaked out to the media that Phil Knight would pay upwards of $10 million per year for the next head coach of the Oregon Ducks. Of course they hadn’t even announced that Mark Helfrich wouldn’t be retained at that point so that might also have been a power move to push the Oregon admin to make that call.
However, although the hire of Willie Taggart wasn’t a move that blew everyone away they sure have made waves with the support hires. First they landed former HC and star Colorado DC Jim Leavitt, who saved Mike MacIntyre’s attempt to rebuild Colorado. Now…
Re: Mario Cristobal hire: Willie Taggart has put together one hell of a staff, pulling a few guys I didn’t think he could land at #Oregon.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 13, 2017
Now Leavitt will evidently earn 1.15 per, Taggart will make 3.3 per, presumably Cristobal is also about to receive a handsome reward for coming to Oregon.
Oregon is getting killed in Pacific Northwest recruiting by Washington, which was a sleeping giant in the region before Chris Peterson took over. They were maintaining their offensive success pretty well under Helfrich but couldn’t figure out how to field good defenses in the wake of Nick Aliotti’s retirement at the end of the Chip Kelly era.
Now they have to figure out how to tap into new recruiting turf or beat Washington for the regional kids and recreate the formula that led to their long rise and dominance in the region over the last decade and a half. It’s a good start to pay some handsome money to get good coaches to try and figure that out. It’ll be interesting to see what Taggart’s strategy is for reversing the trends in the region and getting Oregon back on top. No doubt Phil Knight will give him as much money as he needs to try and prevent Washington from reclaiming their top spot long term.
Maybe outside the Pac Northwest this looks like a panic move, but not here. Phil Knight and Kilkenny have decided on a strategy that resembles several other good programs like Clemson. First, get a good, but not necessarily great, head coach because there weren’t any great HCs out there this last year beyond Tom Herman. Second, fork over the money necessary to pay great assistant coaches (I think at least Leavitt qualifies with that moniker). Third, see how it goes from there.
Knight took a certain lesson from the past decade and a half: if we have great assistant coaches on staff (e.g., Kelly, Aliotti), then we’ve done well. When we haven’t, we flounder. The way it sounds with the press here in the NW, Knight would’ve hired a sock puppet for HC if he could get guys like Aranda and Canada for assistants. (Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get my point.) Its more of a return to what worked in the past.
The strategy is fine, but I think all of the moves and money being thrown around is indicative of panic over Oregon’s tenuous place in the northwest.
I think that the general strategy that Cameron mentioned, hire a good HC and great assistants, is something that was necessary for Oregon, but more importantly, it also focuses on retyrning to a recruiting plan that has worked for Oregon in the past. Taggart and Cristobal have very strong connections to southern recruiting areas that have served Oregon well in the past. Lamichael James was from Texas, Blount’s from FL, and so is Charles Nelson. Oregon and Washington have also never had a monopoly on regional talent either. Jacob Eason was the #1 QB last year and is from Washington but went to Georgia last year. Foster Sarrell is the #1 OT this year and also from WA but was snagged by stanford. PNW talent was never a prerequisite for UO success.
1. Every school in the NW has to go to California too.
2. I don’t know about Herman being the only great HC option available this cycle. I don’t think he was necessarily better then PJ Fleck based on priors. Furthermore, Taggart has done an outstanding job at TWO schools now.
One of the things Taggart will have to contend with, possibly soon, is that Cristobal and Leavitt may only be around a year or two before they get the itch and opportunity for head coaching positions again.