Home Football Gary Andersen = Train Wreck?

Gary Andersen = Train Wreck?

187

It’s still too early to call GA an absolute failure. I get that and agree.

BUT, he seems to have no plan. One reason we loved GA from the start is he initially seemed like a man with a plan. But his plan is to “aggressively recruit” guys who will flunk out? His plan is to change player positions constantly? His plan is to have a running back play above weight and risk injury just because he’s not sure where to play him and he can move him around? His plan is to hire coaches he knows he’ll lose immediately? Team chemistry seems bad with a lot of internal fighting. Many around the program say things are not what they seem and actually much worse.

It’s early, but I want to be first to dub this train wreck the “GA Express” — all aboard or all bored? Early on the former, but with each passing day’s negative news, it’s quickly moving toward the latter.

For the record: I still believe in GA for some dumb reason. I hope it’s not just that he’s the anti-Riley with coach speak, because so far that’s the major difference.

187 COMMENTS

  1. He’s 10 fights behind the Ericksons teams at the same point. He moved 1 guy and we’re freaking out? As for wallace and garcia………we’ll see, that still in the air.

    • He moved one guy? Lolol.

      Off the top of my head: Nall (several times), VanderVeen, Collins, Lucas…there have been more.
      His coaches: Baldwin, Co offensive coordinators

      He lost a bunch of players to academics last year, too.

      • I’m talking about this season. But I guess we should put Nall back a LB and Collins back at QB? That seems like a great idea. Lucas is a flex player, he’s supposed to move around. And who was lost to acidemics? I don’t remember anybody.

        • Nall could be a better LB, who knows. Point is he shouldn’t be moving so much. Just see where he plays best and put him at the correct weight.

          Everyone except a few dopes here saw that Collins was not a QB and should have been moved by game 4. So in that case GA was much too slow to react. I said to make him a WR or a 2nd QB (i.e. play two QBs at the same time and have STs catch balls) early on last year. If I can see it, GA should see it.

          The RB Thomas was lost last year…he was one of the better looking players.
          I think a few other guys, but I can’t remember specifically.

          • Ok, I remember Thomas now, but I still can’t figure out who else left other than the kid who left to study for his mba.

          • Didn’t Baldwin have complete control of the offense? I seem to remember GA saying he stayed out of those decisions.

            Perhaps his stubbornness to move on from on Collins last season played a role in his demotion. Though, none of the other QB’s looked particularly good anyway.

      • We brought in 9 guys listed at OLB/DE in the last recruiting cycle. Did you really expect they’d all stick at those positions as reported by the hacks at scout.com or 247? What they’re listed at means absolutely nothing. The fact that he’s trying guys at different positions is fantastic, it means he’s looking for the best fit everywhere he can.

      • It’s not too early. If you want to call GA a failure, call it like you see it. It’s your board and it’s a free country. Preach your sermon and see if the collection plate comes back full or empty.

  2. Agree on the fighting part. Erickson and even Riley had guys fight during camp. My guess is GA cacelled practice early because the team fighting this week went against something he specifically stated prior to camp, about competing hard and competing together. Trying to send an early message so the goons dont take over.
    Would be curious who’s saying things arent what they same. Without outing them, is it coaches, players or media?

  3. Well, if the team is having internal issues they will soon all come to light when they face other teams on the field. Really, hope the team comes together and plays well this season. Thanks for reply on the prior thread angry. Long time obsever here. Just recently started to comment here.

  4. A person with a plan also knows those plans can (and most likely will) change because of unforeseen circumstances. Successful people are prepared to change their plans and have accounted for those changes well before they’re implemented. And then those plans change. Part of the problem here is that people on the outside don’t have the same intimate knowledge as the decision makers. So some decisions don’t make sense at first. Thus, before reacting it’s probably smart to at least see a little bit of the results.

    Across all of college football there are reports from fall camp that are making fanbases freak out. Almost all of them are negative. Even the positive reports get spun into, “oh its just fall camp, and it doesn’t mean anything.”

    GA is not a perfect head coach by any means. I think he’s a mid tier coach that will win more than he loses. To call start calling what he’s done here a “train wreck” is absurd and is extremely reactionary and short sighted.

    • It’s not all that. Of course plans change. The problem is there’s no structure and everything is chaotic well into year 2…

      You could understand all that Dec of ’14 or even August of ’15. It’s hard to understand it August of ’16.

      Structure should be the easiest part of a rebuild.

      If they were doing everything right and failing that’s one thing, but the program is still chaotic. Maybe the news reports are hyperbole to sell papers. What I want to see year 2 is that the structure is all in place and guys are improving. Instead I’m reading about veteran players who GA still hasn’t put in their best position, fights, NQs, and crappy performance.

      • He has a lot of structure. The team gpa is up and they have weekly meetings with all their players. Idk if you read the paper a student wrote about his turnaround at utah state but i got the exact opposite of what your saying it seemed very planned out and structured.

      • Maybe we’re reading different things? Or at least interpreting them differently. I’m seeing plenty of reports about a much greater understanding of the concepts, better communication, etc. The players have said the same in the interviews I’ve watched/read. It’s been said consistently how much different this year is compared to last. The Olive practice report from today is specifically titled, “Late scuffles don’t overshadow strong day.”

        In my opinion what you want to see in year 2 is indeed what is happening. Confused why you think otherwise. Clearly we won’t know until games are played but the indication is that the team has improved.

        As far as fights go, thats not exactly an anomaly in football. It’s not necessarily an indication of bad team chemistry either. The Seahawks had multiple fights in training camp last week. Pete Carroll is one of the best at getting his teams to compete for each other. It doesn’t worry me at all.

        • Bridgewater actually said ‘fighting’ in the Vikings camp, but with the right attitude, is what he thinks will best prepare them and give them an edge. GA has said similar remarks of wanting battling but understanding its all within the team’s goals.

          I agree GA has some flaws and seems like he is good and a player’s coach in som respects but perhaps hasn’t fine tuned a great winning method that he can confidently put into action within a fairly short timeframe. I expect alot of 7 win seasons as his upper third level of performance. That won’t do much to grow Beaver Football unless there are regular Civil War wins.

          Beavers would have been better most likely with Naldwin from EWU. Hard to take a lower divisioj coach but some guys just have strong minds about how they think they can win games. Plenty of other coaches under age 47 could also have been found. Herman from Houston would have been a steal. Even Baylor’s ex coach Briles could be gotten if you accept you are allowing someone to turn a new leaf.

          I want to see OSU winning the majority of their conference games so whoever can produce that I would get behind. Maybe if Andersen did not produce by Year 4 you consider getting aggressive for a guy like Herman. If Houston gets Big 12 invite he likely stays there longer though.

          I actually was a proponent of Scott Frost as I believe in his offense and that it would have been great timing to get a guy for good value just when their career looks to be taking off.

          This year will tell us alot about GA and he gets each game to show us what he is building. If the buy in is there and there is clear steady progress then maybe GA could get something going but right now it looks like even at Year 5 there is likely to be an 8 win ceiling unless we see a few more clear studs amongst his rosters and things like a DE routinely causing havoc in the backfield or a very gifted premier conference RB.

  5. I think GA made a mistake by handing the offense over to Baldwin last year, a mistake he corrected at the end of the season.

    I’ve beaten the QB horse to a pulp, but I’m assuming Baldwin had the most say in who he wanted running his offense and that questionable judgement is how we ended up with the clusterfuck last season.

    I’m cautiously optimistic for this season.

    • This makes a lot of sense. Baldwin recruited Collins to CSU if I recall correctly. Maybe the only other school (besides SJSU?) that recruited him for QB.

      AND Andersen said he was not an offensive guy (despite playing center in college) and that he was pretty “hands off” the offense.

  6. I definitely don’t want him fired (yet) or anything like that.

    But every day it’s negative news. GA saying the same coach speak…it’s getting old. It would be nice to see (or hear about) some tangible improvement.

    • >some tangible improvement.

      When Andersen got here, not a single guy could squat 500 lbs. Currently, there’s around 45-50 guys who can squat that much. There’s a massive tangible improvement, the team is more fit, stronger and when they get on the field, they’ll be faster than any team we’ve had since 2000.

      Swapping systems takes time to get the guys up to speed, but we are improved.

  7. Read this post before looking at the practice report from today. You’re that concerned about a fight among players? It was probably defense fighting the offense – that’s not a terrible thing is it?

  8. Over / Under on when Angry posts similar thread on men’s or women’s basketball? Sky is falling!!! Nobody’s buying soap!!!!

  9. 1) Fights happen in football practices. No big deal unless it leads to an injury. He will make them kiss and make up. Luck O da Beav’s, this will lead to a Mono epidemic on the team.
    2) Pretty common for incoming players to get moved to different positions. The position coaches do their best to poach guys that can improve their specific group. Could also be caused by an injury and they need a body to even out the practice reps. This happens all the time at every school.
    3) Too early to hit the panic button. The offense sucked last year and he made a change instead of the “stay the course ” mantra. He addressed a bad decision he made by hiring Baldwin.
    4) He did F up the QB situation. Did the same at Wisconsin. That is a concern. Hopefully the USU transfer is pretty good.
    5) He does not weigh 450 lbs and look like he could drop dead from a massive MI at any second like my other HC. Look on the bright side!

    • A Mono epidemic? Damn, gopher, I wish I could buy you a beer! And the 450 lb bit was good too.

      Too soon for me to panic, certainly not over a dust up at today’s practice. I’m giving GA some rope considering the starting point.

      I would like to know more about the, “Many around the program say things are not what they seem and actually much worse.”

  10. I am concerned that Andersen may be best suited for mid-major programs, but also have not completely given up on him yet.

    It is difficult to implement change in a large system. Not everyone buys in immediately, or even in year two. There will be silent dissenters, both on the field and maybe off (administration etc.) and behavior changes that take time. I am not sure exactly what his vision is, but the following Andersen phrases comes to mind as vision statements he has made more than once for the team:

    He wants a power running game, and to be at least 3 deep at running back: This was/is refreshing, though some of the RBs have had injury problems and the lack of commitment to Nall at RB was frustrating. But Andersen et al appear to be recruiting for this goal. After the CW Nall is clearly the #1 RB, and Lucas is allegedly is up to 190 this year. As the complimentary speed RB and receiver, that’s not bad. So there seems to be consistency between words and implementation here. We didn’t see commitment to this in terms of play calling last year so I’m curious to see how the play calling is with the new coordinator.

    A QB that can win with his mind, arm, AND feet: We’re seeing a move in that direction with Garretson and Moran. I hope they have the size and arm strength to compete at this level. I’d like to see Andersen successfully recruit a smart, mobile qb that isn’t so marginal physically. Depth a clear problem at this point.

    A 3-4 D with multiple looks: He’s working on that with the OLB/DE recruits and some experimentation in player assignments so far. At this point I’m not surprised that players are being tried in multiple positions and combinations. I’d like to see a commitment to better form tackling as well.

    Stronger players: Improvements there as noted earlier in this thread.

    Everyone of these is the antithesis of Riley, who generally trusted only one RB, fell in love with the pass, had immobile QBs, predictable play calling out of position groups, a 4-3 D, and soft players. So Andersen is having to change a lot.

    We ought to seem some changes this year in terms of competitiveness. I think 4-5 wins is possible.

    My final concern with Andersen is his lack of long-term commitment to a program. He came to OSU for non-football reasons and I think he may leave sooner rather than later. Maybe he likes rebuilds…

  11. Angry proclaims we’re GOING UNDEFEATED!! Wow, and after a lousy season and in a rebuilding year. Zowwwie!

    But can we become as big aholes as our big sister school to the south … the world wonders.

    • That’s easy, just start use the word “natty” in everyday conversation. Eventually you start to believe that you did get one, and with that you’ll form the perfect amount of self entitlement. Voilà….your a duck.

  12. Jesus H Christ. Are you serious? Coming off a 2-10 season? I don’t know of many 4 or 5 star talents who’d want to play for a rebuilding P5 conference team that went 2-10 last year. The season is over a month away. 3 days into fall camp and you post this horseshit? So he took a flier on some guys that were questionable to be academically eligible trying to expedite the rebuilding process and so far it hasn’t worked out. So there was a fight at the end of practice. Guess fighting in practice has never taken place in Columbus or Tallahassee? This is Corvallis, Oregon and not fucking Tuscaloosa. Give the guy a fucking chance. And when I say that? 4-5 years. Then you can judge him on the merits of his recruiting and coaching performance fully. I am not in the circle of some of the haters around here but would you be saying this same shit about Mike Riley in 1997 or 1998? I know it’s 20 years later and the landscape has changed. Efforts are being made from the top by Oregon St. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Step back from the ledge. Flushing the Riley mindset from the program isn’t an overnight process

  13. Changes coming to Gill before the upcoming season…………….

    Oregon State announced plans Monday to renovate Gill Coliseum prior to the start of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons in November.

    The renovations, which the school said will be funded by approximately $2 million in private donations, will center around four primary elements: a new sound system with loudspeakers throughout the arena, the replacement of the seats throughout the lower bowl, renovations of the first floor bathrooms and the movement of the primary television camera to the opposite side of the stadium.

    The first and last are the two biggest changes IMO. The current sound system at Gill is atrocious and no more seeing the season ticket holder geezers that only sit during the games.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2016/08/oregon_state_announces_plan_to.html#incart_river_index

  14. He needs to institute some basic coaching 101 motivational gimmicks to foster team unity. Such as; having the players touch the bronze beaver before and after practice.

    I’ve got that damn thing taking up space in my garage. The neighbors made me take it out of the front yard, said it was scaring the kids. I’ll swing by Parker err…. Reser and drop it off. Problem solved! JB

  15. The point is that the coaching staff isn’t winning in any facet of the rebuild. The positives from recruiting were just a facade. If some guys from the bottom of the class dropped off, not a big deal but the top 3 all have questionable academics which is ridiculous.

    Am I seeing that the only win this offseason is that they improved their squats?

    Adding in the losses from medical retirements, this team is looking thin. Andersen really needs to land a big fish QB. Other recruits take notice when that happens. A guy like Aiden Willard isn’t going to move anyone.

    Fights just might be what the team needs. When Erickson took over for Riley, he let his guys play through the whistle and then some.

    • “the only win this offseason is that they improved their squats? “

      How about the turnaround in Collins attitude? Still to be proven when the bullets fly, but seems like a win to me. And, while a lot of that has to do with Seth, if it turns out as good as many expect then the coaching staff deserves some credit as well.
      Seems a little sports psychology is required to manage ego’s as well as to put guys in the positions best suited to their abilities.

      For sure this team looks thin, really disappointed in the Clarkson med retirement, among others. Still holding my breath on the Yanni D at Center thing.

  16. Here’s my take. This program was in FAR worse shape in the “late Riley” years than even those of us critical of that regime truly realized. At the end Riley was able to paper over things with a reasonable competent QB and a few stellar WR’s. IF, Riley hadn’t jumped ship last year’s results would have been the same or maybe one game better, because Del Rio would have been competent enough to pull out a game that slipped away from the generally poor QB play. It’s now clear that the 4-star recruits are available and sign with OSU because other programs knew they were potential academic liabilities. On the face of it that looks bad, but in the world of “perception is reality,” stars only matter for one month: from early to January to the first Wednesday in February. that’s when the cumulative rankings are in circulation that do so much to create the metric which the ensuing year’s recruits use to gauge their future prospects. In that sense last year’s class was a success EVEN IF Wallace and Thompson never play. With that said, I think the big difference between Riley’s classes and GA’s isn’t the four-star factor but rather the minimization of 2-star talent. 95% of GA’s recruits are 3-star guys. I’ve made a point of reviewing Boise State’s recruiting classes the last decade or so and they rarely bring in a four-star guy. On the other hand, Petersen and now the new guy seem to populate their classes with nothing but 3-star talent. Combine that level of talent team-wide with productive and motivational coaching, a favorable schedule, and maybe some breaks, and the program can return to winning ways. I could actually find myself drawing some encouragement from this year’s team if they only won 2 games again PROVIDED they were competitive in the rest. Last year was actually uglier than the final W-L total.

    • Yes agree with your viewpoint and Bill.

      I’ve written before that Andersen has brought in better looking 3-stars. The 3-stars are all legit. That to me is the only tangible positive so far. If it’s true all the current guys can squat more, that’s a big positive, but until I see that strength on the field, it’s hard to get excited about it.

      What I/we need to remember is the reporters are awful at observation. They thought Sts was an exciting QB…and many other foibles over the years. I’m just burnt out on reading the papers and seeing these negative reports.

      Even with Collins, there are no reports that he’s actually performing well as a WR. At least that I’ve seen. I wish there was a reporter who could actually analyze talent. That should be a requirement of the job. Without that ability, the readers will get overly excited by a positive report (see every year under Riley when fans thought the Beavs were going undefeated) or overly negative (see this year when I’m down on GA for no good reason other than a string of negativity by ignorant writers).

      I feel like the team will be better this year but so thin…any injuries and things could quickly become a dumpster fire. I was really looking forward to Thompson/Wallace/Garcia for next year and beyond, so those issues are a setback. GA might have to go with JCs now.

    • People keep talking like the offers the 4* guys had were somehow insincere. The other schools were well aware of their academic issues and still offered them. Those guys actually had other options and they chose OSU. People talk about purging Riley from the team, but we also need to purge loser type thinking that Riley instilled in fans.

      • “we also need to purge loser type thinking that Riley instilled in fans.”

        Riley’s jedi mind trick is strong. It has something to do with neat deals.

      • I really doubt anyone on AB has the Riley mindset.
        I take that back…angry@angry has it, which is probably why he’s so upset with me.

        • Angry – you claimed “insiders” we’re the ones telling you things aren’t what they seem…. Now, probably seeing how nobody agrees with you, you’re chalking it up to “these reporters suck and I just read too much negative stuff”.

          And I don’t even know what you mean about the Riley mindset. I’m happy that we have Andersen.

          • use your 140 IQ and read the comment you replied to. NiceBeaver didn’t ask about any “aspect”. Simply asked who’s telling things aren’t what they seem.

          • Dude, read the original post.

            Many around the program say things are not what they seem and actually much worse.

            He asked who. I answered. It was one part of the discussion.

            Jeez Louise.

  17. Absolutely. And it runs deeper than just Riley. We had 28 years of losing records. And then we had Riley’s tenure of mediocre expectations. The fan base is psychologically damaged and needs therapy to think and expect higher. Of course winning cures it too. I think Andersen surpizes this year with a new found ability to lead winning.

  18. I’m not on board. While I like this site because it is not sunshine and lollipops all day, it can be a bit much towards the other end too. Not every quote or line should be read into like it is a “black helicopters circling” conspiracy either.

    I’m not concerned at all. This program was awful when MR left. Starting LBs struggling to lift 225 lbs 4 times. So far we have seen a willingness to change, better accountability, stronger players, better top to bottom recruits, etc. Has it been perfect? No. If were are still having the same issues in year 4, then that is a different story.

    Ask Wazzu fan about getting rid of Leach. Many of them wanted him out after reports of turmoil in his first few years and a bad 3rd season. Now, many have them pegged for an outside shot at the title (although I still believe his offense is idiotic for the climate in Pullman the last half of the year).

    • IIRC angry is a big fan of zerohedge, so the pessimistic conspiracy theorist bent of this site is easily explained. That’s just who angry is! ;)

        • Once every week or two is enough to catch the zerohedge guys updated economic doomsday date. He’s like a Libertarian Jehovahs Witness.

          • @bendbeaver:

            You say: “…Also topic worthy of discussion is when do manipulative people in the media backpedal and acknowledge their dire predictions not coming true. Or will he just wait for our next regularly scheduled recession in a year or two and pat himself on the back?…”

            No offense intended but I’m taking what you say to mean you’re not following what’s going on very closely.

            First of all yes there are folks out there who make their living by selling fear. But there are also folks out there who make their living by selling the “every thing is cool and wonderful” story.

            In fact there are publishing houses who have folks peddling the doom and gloom mantra AND they also have folks who are peddling the everything is wonderful story. These hacks specialize in telling folks what they want to hear. And on top of that the publishing company puts a huge effort into the promotional material that they spew out to the masses.

            I also suspect that you haven’t spent much, if any, time looking at why the doomsday predictions didn’t happen. Extrapolating on that I have to assume that you either don’t really want to know what’s going on OR you think it’s not really all that bad. Or some combination of those.

            As for me, I’m in the camp which is discussed by Karl Denninger in a recent interview he gave to Greg Hunter.

            Greg Hunter’s interview of Karl Denninger: America is Doomed Without Restoring the Rule of Law-Karl Denninger
            http://usawatchdog.com/america-is-doomed-without-restoring-the-rule-of-law-karl-denninger/

            Denninger, a financial blogger is folding his tent and on his website (market ticker) he explained the reason for doing so as follows:

            “…Only restoring the Rule of Law so everyone has equal recourse to the law will stop and reverse what is otherwise inevitable.

            It is for this reason that I have decided that for the present I am going to go enjoy whatever time is left in a reasonably-peaceful society here in America instead of writing for your consumption, for I neither believe that this relatively-peaceful state of affairs will persist for long nor do I believe any material number of people will lift a single finger to do anything about it other than whining on so-called “social media.”

            Eight years is enough time to see whether or not there is any indication that any material percentage of the public gives a good damn and absent a marked change in the evidence my verdict is in….”

            ———-
            No sense in beating my gums trying to convince folks of what’s going on. Time to spend my time enjoying what we have while we still have it.

            All the best to all my fellow Beavs

          • M&S, when it actually does persist for long, will the guy come out and admit it? People have been predicting our country’s demise for over 200 years. They all have something to sell or votes to get.

          • @bendbeaver: You say: “…when it actually does persist for long, will the guy come out and admit it? People have been predicting our country’s demise for over 200 years….”

            Sorry, I don’t follow what you’re saying when you refer to “it” and “the guy” and what it is he’s admitting (to).

        • Well considering the government is 19 trillion in debt and we’re printing money to get by, I don’t think a doomsday discussion is inappropriate.

          • Also topic worthy of discussion is when do manipulative people in the media backpedal and acknowledge their dire predictions not coming true. Or will he just wait for our next regularly scheduled recession in a year or two and pat himself on the back?

          • Dude, I don’t know, ask him or wait and see.

            Nobody can predict dates for something like economics. On the flipside, you have the mainstream economists saying the economy has recovered and everything is great as more and more people go on welfare and into poverty. Yet you’re not getting on them for being manipulative or for their false narrative not matching reality?

            Come on, man!

            That’s very typical of a government lackey.

          • More and more people aren’t going on welfare. We have a lot if people on food stamps because wages are lower. The semi intelligent mainstream narrative includes job numbers, along with wages and poverty numbers. I get on doomsday messengers because they manipulate by fear to sell product. Fake good news isn’t nearly as effective with manipulating others as fake fear inducing news.

          • @bendbeaver
            “More and more people aren’t going on welfare” “The semi intelligent mainstream narrative includes job numbers, along with wages and poverty numbers”

            And the labor participation rate tells you what??

          • It tells me that a crapload of baby boomers have retired, and a certain amount have checked out of the job search and figured out something else. What’s it tell you?

          • Tells me there are a lot of 20somethings still living at home cause they cannot afford to move out. Tells me many of those you recognized have “checked out” of the job search didn’t really want to but did so because businesses generally aren’t on a hiring spree.
            Tells me that while technically “More and more people aren’t going on welfare” there are more and more people who have seen their standard of living stagnate or drop and who do not expect to leave their kids a country in as good a shape as they themselves received.

            BTW, got a kick out of your “next regularly scheduled recession” remark. A lot of folks will tell you their lives feel like the last recession isn’t really over yet.

            Side note, I think there are a lot of college grads out there with debt they took on to get degrees which do not make them employable.

          • What’s most important is the quality of jobs. If you read the job reports, it’s mostly crap jobs. A few sectors like healthcare (baby boomers dying), banking (fed printing), and tech (apps) are doing okay, but the rest of the jobs are service jobs…very unhealhty. Everyone just reads the headline number and doesn’t look at the quality of the job created.

            Which welfare figures are you guys looking at? 2014, I remember, set a new record for people on govt assistance of some kind (which is what I mean by welfare). I doubt that’s gone down in the past two years…

          • This looks like an interesting read, haven’t finished it yet:

            “The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War”
            Robert J. Gordon

            Summary
            “Gordon challenges the view that economic growth can or will continue unabated, and he demonstrates that the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 and 1970 can’t be repeated. He contends that the nation’s productivity growth, which has already slowed to a crawl, will be further held back by the vexing headwinds of rising inequality, stagnating education, an aging population, and the rising debt of college students and the federal government. Gordon warns that the younger generation may be the first in American history that fails to exceed their parents’ standard of living, and that rather than depend on the great advances of the past, we must find new solutions to overcome the challenges facing us.”

            http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10544.html

            Anyone else read this book yet?

          • OTOH, I gotta wonder if the guy who says, “the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 and 1970 can’t be repeated” is related to the fellow who, some 100 years ago, suggested closing the US Patent Office because “everything had already been invented.”

          • Food stamps has dropped 2% each of the last two years. Out of the 255.000 jobs added in July, about 170,000 of those fit in the professional/business, health care, wall street, and government.

          • Government jobs aren’t real jobs since the public is paying for these peoples’ employment. This is the China model of economic “growth” where the government pays a guy to dig a hole and pays another guy to fill it in and says they created 2 jobs. Government contractors aren’t much better and basically suck off the teat (and I was a govt contractor for years). In a way all jobs associated with government are (Corporate/institutional) welfare.

            I already noted the other sectors. The only one with fundamentals is healthcare with the baby boomers dying off. The other two are the result of cheap money, especially the financial jobs, but also to a degree tech, and neither has fundamentals (i.e. stop printing money, and they layoffs will be massive as there’s no true demand).

            I haven’t kept up with foodstamps or any welfare programs in a few years, as mentioned. But a 2% drop from an all time high, while not growth, is still really freaking high. And that’s just foodstamps. Give me the figures for every welfare program. It’s not really % growth that matters but sustainability (funding vs how many people are added each year). Also the figures over 10-15 years show a clear trend that’s more systemic than just a recession. I mean we’re supposed to be in year 5 of “recovery” and the peak of that we saw the highest welfare figures ever. That does not bode well for the next recession (though, we never got out of this one, we just inflated to get make believe growth).

            What also isn’t being mentioned is that we’re selling the Country to foreigners. Housing, that Chicago commodities market, etc….not good, and a sure sign domestic buyers can’t afford the inflated/bubble prices of assets. What is sad is the “solution” will be another government program to help afford inflated houses…lol. Instead of just telling the Fed to raise rates we’ll spend more and devalue more. So, the doomsdayers have the proper narrative, but where they fail is on the timing. It’s a bad idea to predict that, because nobody can know which straw breaks the camel’s back. Then the pro-establishment people come in and say they’re wrong because it hasn’t happened yet. They’d be best off just writing the logical deductions and letting them speak for themselves, letting people draw conclusions, instead of trying to give the timing.

          • Where I live, we’re seeing more and more old/established families packing into small 1br apartments, too. It’s actually worse than ever 2008 on that front.

    • Seemed like a lot of glitz, marketing hype with very little information. But probably a good recruiting angle for the ‘ucks and the dogs.

    • We talked about this about 5 months ago…..before the ducks picked them up (of course they would). But the idea of the helmet flexing on impact seems like not the best thing for a skull that doesn’t flex. Maybe I’m wrong, but I would think a better way to pad the inside would work better.

      • The helmet flexing and moving the impact energy around the head makes sense. Car are made to move energy around and away from the driver and passenger reducing the risk of injury. Ao the design makes sense.

        • Yes but a violent enough hit could cause shell to skull contact even with padding. Now it’s just like bouncing a skull off a steering wheel. OJ below is right the only way to stop injury is stopping your brain from rattling around in your skull.

  19. I played for Erickson from 2000-2003. The 2000 team had fights nearly every day in practice. It got to a point where Calvin Carlisle (C Murder) broke a chair over D Grant’s back. It took half the team to hold grant back. When players are playing with passion there will be fights. I’m hoping that is the cause of the “fights” this year.
    Anderson has been more proactive in moving players to a position that can benefit the team better, whereas Riley did nothing. It may be too much but only time will tell. I see Anderson running a similar power offense than Stanford runs with more read option this year (two DT’s playing TE lends credence to this). I prefer this to the standard spread option as it will be a nuance that teams will have to prepare for that they don’ t see every week. However, the offensive line depth is concerning.
    Anderson doesn’t have much recruiting leverage. He came in off of a bad season, had a subsequent poorer season and is competing against a more competitive conference (top to bottom) than it was even three years ago. He is shooting for the stars (academic non-qualifiers) in the hopes of building momentum to secure other recruits. I think this is a good strategy for now but it will have to evolve as the team improves.
    For now I have faith in Anderson’s strategy and the direction but success will be driven the results in year 3 and year 4. It’s important to be critical but also patient. I have a sneaky feeling that this team will hit 5 wins this year and everyone will feel more confident in the direction of the program. A starting quarterback that can’t complete a 15 yard pass or go through his progressions will make the receivers, offense line, running game and defense look much worse than they are. The defense was on the field far too long last year and I think that is a significant reason why they were so abysmal. I’m not seeing greatness, but I do see mediocrity out of our defense. That would be a significant improvement from last year and should result in a couple more wins.

    • I remember going to an open practice of an Erickson team and definitely remember some late hits amd fights breaking out. I think somebody tried to take out a running back who had a yellow “no tackle” jersey on amd Erickson personally reemed the guy in front of the crowd. Was eye opening for me as a fan who had never seen a college practice up close.

    • That’s funny, you would think the fights would break out between the offense and defense, not defense on defense fight.

      Erickson was a model old school coach.

      Question NotThatGuy – The revenge hit on the Fresno St punt returner in 2002. Erickson approve that? Explicitly or implicitly?

      • Implicitly, but as close to the line as one could get. Given what happened the year before it was more than justified. We lost a player for the season on their cheapshot.

  20. Regarding practice reports,

    You have to consider the competition level. If Player A looks good, it might be because he’s going against Player B who is just bad. Doesn’t mean Player A is a good player, he only looks good relative to Player B.

    The reports you’d be looking for with a team like this is for crisp execution on offense and guys on defense flying to the ball. Freshman holding their own against upper class men is positive.

    Reports on individuals should be viewed cautiously. Should see the typical fluff reports on how some guy is in the best shape of his life or how he was doing things wrong last year and has fixed it, or how he will redeem himself for last year’s issues…blah blah blah…

    • “Freshman holding their own against upper class men is positive”..How so, when, “You have to consider the competition level”? I suppose a grade D freshman looking good vs a grade D senior could be seen as positive since the frosh has time to upgrade?

      And, as for angry’s statement that, “Even with Collins, there are no reports that he’s actually performing well as a WR. At least that I’ve seen”, Gina has reported a couple (below) but then we’re back to the skill of reporters at evaluating talent.

      “Seth Collins made a nice downfield grab in traffic in between Treston Decoud and Devin Chappell …” and, “Seth … a pretty fingertip grab after getting behind Cyril Noland-Lewis. After that play, … Collins went back to quarterback Marcus McMaryion for a big high five. “

      • It’s almost always a positive because that means the guys coming in are better than the ones who have been here 4 years. It’s a negative for the upper class men. Would need the coaching staff to keep up their development by bringing in even better recruits to push the competition level.

        Look at the bball team. The freshman came in and outplayed some of the upper class men. The freshman took some licks early but it paid off for them to get early playing time. Tinkle now needs to bring in some top recruits to push the current sophomores.

        • I can see a freshman (high school kid) possibly pushing the 2nd or 3rd stringers at that position but for a kid just out of high school to push a man who’s 4 or 5 years ahead in age, strength, skill, etc…… then I get a bit of a sick feeling.

        • Not to be too picky, but there have been only, what, 4 practices and 25% of those (Saturday) were entirely open to reporters.
          But, your point still stands.

  21. Our top 2017 commit, Kolby Taylor from Chandler fractured his leg and is out for the season. On the plus side, it should help keep poachers at bay

  22. Rodent Bowl: The Wisconsin O line connection.
    Interesting that both teams O lines are both coached by ex Badgers. The new O line coach here is Bart Miller. He was the grad asst that Brett Beilima installed as Wisconsin’s O line coach after he fired his offseason hire following the total shutdown of their running game by da Beav’s in Corvallis.
    They went back to the Bob Bostad techniques and went on to have a record breaking season with their run game. The beat down of Nebraska in the B1G championship( 70-31) was the ultimate rock in the shoe that culminated in Bo Pelini getting fired and Opie ending up in Lincoln. Alvarez wanted GA to keep Miller, but GA kept his own guy. I’m sure Miller wants to stick it to Anderson for the slight.

  23. Eggers up with his take on the Bend trip, includes a couple good quotes on the experience and scuffle. I like Garretson’s remark, “It’s just guys competing, guys getting aggressive,” … “If it doesn’t happen, I don’t know if you have really competitive guys. Those things blow over. Everyone’s going to be lovey-dovey in the locker room”

    http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/318078-197034-beavers-bolster-team-chemistry-in-bend

  24. For those saying the fight is no big deal, it included Collins, the biggest headcase who is being billed as a changed man.

    including receiver Seth Collins, who had to be pulled from the scrum.

    And Andersen didn’t like it.

    “It’s a reminding moment,” the OSU coach says, “a teaching moment rather than a scolding moment. We’ve talked about being competitive, but not combative.

    • You’re kind of reaching on very small amount of info.

      Fights happen in practice in almost all levels of football. Your not dealing with a bunch of kids with 140 IQ’s, and the game is trying to hit the other guy at full speed every single play and knock them to the ground. Tempers flare.

      Jordan punched Luke Longley in practice so shit happens

    • He obviously has to denounce the fighting for PR reasons but I don’t see it as a big deal. Last pre-season Cam Newton got into a brawl with Josh Norman and then went on to win MVP and play in the Super Bowl. I worry about GA because there was no rhyme or reason to his play-calling or game management last year and recruiting has been sub par so far. But if there’s one thing I like about the GA era is the raw intensity and passion the players have. To say that was non-existant in the Riley era would be the understatement of the year. Now he has to find out how to channel it properly in games

        • I don’t care about stars I look at the offer sheets. I know websites can be hit and miss on reporting all the offers accurately but as I’ve been mentioning throughout this offseason, we’re not getting very much talent that other Pac teams are after. We’ve been consistently beating out the Utah States and Nevadas for players and yet when I (or Bill) point this out, I just get told that it’s early in the process and they’re all about to have huge senior years and blow up on the scene. Par for me would be getting Pac-12 talent scross the board and not losing Wazzu in recruiting battles. They don’t have to be USC guys or anything outrageous but am I asking too much to want guys that Power 5 conferences want?

    • I think the plan was to have the locker room ready to go, as well as the bleachers, but the front of the building as well as the offices and some of the common areas were all happening throughout the next year.

  25. He’s all about the efficiency of things. He didn’t like it because scuffles are not a good use of time, time that should be used for practice. Not to mention injuries that can happen.

    • Any idea how he died?

      Saw a youtube comment that said “Wiki reported john saunders died from autoerotic asphyxiation, then they took it down, wonder if their is any truth to that, RIP…?”

      Of course youtube comment sections are about as low as low can get(even lower than some of the stuff you’ll find on AB), so I’ll choose to ignore that.

  26. Catching wind about a friend of the family who is visiting OSU today. I know their boy plays basketball, so I’m trying to find out if he’s visiting for the hoops program, or just for school. I have no idea if he’s a future D1 player, but the timing seems about right for hoops visitors.

  27. Luck O da Rodent.
    First day in pads, starting RB Shannon Brooks, breaks a bone in his foot and will be out five weeks.
    HUGE loss for the Gophers. How depressing. He was the B1G freshman of the week three times last year and the one real proven big play threat on the offense. Starting LT and both back ups also limped off. Shaping up to be repeat of last years injury fest.

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