Home Media Why “The Cleaner” Has Been Deputized

Why “The Cleaner” Has Been Deputized

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This response came from someone I consider a definitive source on both Oregon politics and the University of Oregon. His name was omitted. After you read the first sentence you'll understand why. Sorry, gotta respect privacy or I won't get answers like this in the future.

Hi Angry,

Feel free to post this. If you use my name I am worried they will burn down my house.

UO wanted to hire Glazier in part because of his insider NCAA connections, in part because as an attorney UO can hide his advice, emails, etc from release under Oregon public records law by claiming attorney-client privilege.

But state law gives the Oregon DOJ a monopoly on providing legal services to state agencies. And the attorney-client exemption only applies if he's providing legal advice.

The only way around this conundrum was to deputize him as a "Special Assistant Attorney General". Such deputization is very rare – obviously some UO booster has a lot of pull with Attorney General Kroger!

I have a public records request in to UO General Counsel Randy Geller to find out if athletics is going to pick up any of Glazier's $150,000 cost, or if the academic side is going to be left with the bag again. So far Randy won't answer that!
 

This actually supports the rumor (and that all it was at the time) I posted last week that several high profile boosters were involved in this fiasco. Looks like there’s a little more meat on that bone as of today. It also highlights the depth of this cover up. Despite what they're saying publicly, they sure aren't acting like a team that believes they did nothing wrong. What's that old saying about actions speaking louder than words?

114 COMMENTS

  1. Chip Kelly’s unconfined hubris and general strangeness is well documented, but is it possible after the dust settles on this issue that he keeps his job? Based on what even UO fans would have to consider indisputable facts, this doesn’t seem to be a situation where a guy should have or could have known about things happening “on his watch” and is the target of blame for that reason alone. Instead, Coach Kelly was a major player in the malfeasance, if not THE guy.

    Has there been another instance in Div. 1sports in recent memory where penalties were assessed against a school and the coach directly responsible for it all continued to coach there?

    I mean, it’s possible that slaps on the wrist, strongly worded warning letters and stern lectures delivered in somber tones will be all that comes of this. But even then…knowing that the AD staff are so short on clues, will it still be business as usual?

  2. This is getting pretty sick. Is it just me or does UOregon remind people of the Enron’s and AIG’s of the world? The lack of transparency is going to kill them in the court of public opinion. Hopefully the NCAA does their due diligence and sees through all the BS.

  3. I don’t know how much it matters, but I figured out who you were referencing within about a nano-second. If he really wants to remain anonymous…I don’t want to tell you how to run your blog, but it’s obvious who this is and if he truly wants to remain completely anonymous, a bit more obscuring may be in order.

    And if I’m right, the guy knows what he’s talking about.

    Also, I find it weird how this deputizing has flown completely under the radar of ‘uck fans. Which is difficult considering they have their head in the sand.

    I’ve heard we won’t have to wait very long for another development.

  4. Dang…..so I was wrong about the deputizing meaning they really want to clean house….

    Any comment on how Kelley can retain his job? I think thats a major consideration. He really seems to be an ubercoach. Losing him would be a major “penalty”, wouldnt it?

    • Chip will be gone without any doubt in my mind. There’s no way they can justify bringing Chip back. Will they bring back Bellotti though? I think he would come back.

      I think they get a three year postseason ban, wins from 2009 and 2010 will be vacated and they get a reduction of scholarships for three years. When the investigation is finally concluded I think that will be a fair penalty.

        • What’s not to love as far as a creative offensive mind is concerned. Whom would you want calling your plays, Chip or Danny. Too obvious.

        • I think it will send the wrong message to keep Chip. They would basically be saying they’re okay with a cheater as a head coach just as long as he wins games. It would have to hurt recruiting

        • They might not have a choice. The NCAA can remove any coach or player from any one program or the NCAA itself if it so chooses. And those bylaws are written into each coach’s contract as well.

          They will suggest that removing a coach is in the school’s best interest like they did at tOSU and Tennessee. But I don’t recall any schools choosing to openly defy the NCAA by trying to keep their coach after such a suggestion.

          It’s the difference between a plea bargain and going to trial in terms of what the punishments may end up being.

          • Oregon has just the right amount of arrogance to defy the NCAA and dare the NCAA to drop the hammer, then the NCAA will and Oregon will whine about being a target and the NCAA just can’t handle the fact that Oregon is successful and everyone is jealous.

          • Today GA Tech had to vacate 3 wins from 2009 for covering up what was a very small violation (a player received a few hundred dollars worth of athletic gear)

            The key to the football teams punishment was the athletic departments attempts to cover up the violation as well as not cooperating with the NCAA.

            They didn’t receive any losses of scholarship or postseason bans, but will be on 4 years probation.

            I’m curious if Oregon’s cover up attempts will net them a similar type of punishment, or if they will receive a post season ban in addition to having to vacate wins.

            http://www.oregonlive.com/collegefootball/index.ssf/2011/07/ncaa_fines_georgia_tech_100k_s.html

          • Yeah Angry, maybe the last three Civil Wars won’t be down as losses to the Ducks and the Beavers will have been unbeaten in Civil Wars since 2005 lol

          • I think vacating wins is a rather cheap way of saying “you caught us.” Yeah, its nice that we now know you cheated, but the game is over. Does it really matter any more? We still remember watching them. Probation/suspension sends a much stronger message than vacating wins ever will.

          • Technically, we don’t know if they’ve covered anything up with the NCAA. I know they did so to the world before any of it was reported, and I know the NCAA is going back through the files and interviewing Lyles again. So it’s not hard to assume that they are just doing the same as they normally do.

            But we have no real idea what specifically was said to or withheld from the NCAA.

          • I was considering scrambling to have Lyles provide the last second documents (outdated scouting reports) a blatant attempt to cover up. I’m assuming the NCAA will receive similar answers from Lyles as what Yahoo got when they interviewed him. The phone records seem to confirm what Lyles told Yahoo also.

          • Oregon’s cover up was just slightly bigger(sarcasm). No real comparison between the two schools. Oregon will get hammered.

      • But dont the respective fans all love their current, winning coach? Carroll at USC and Tressel at tOSU….. Both were gone. And neither was directly involved. But Kelley is part of the actual violations at UO. Will the NCAA be harsher if the offending coach is retained?

        • I think NCAA makes their decision just based off their findings and not whether the coach is retained or not. However, the conference or the NCAA could do to Chip what happened to Tressel and suspend him for a certain number of games next year because of his direct involvement.

  5. LOL….yeah, getting that 65-38 loss vacated….OSU wins the pac 10, then, dont they? Or is that not the way it works?

    Anyone think UO self sanctions?

    Its gonna be tough to watch them kick ass this coming season, knowing it aint legal. Still, I hope they beat LSU….

  6. Honestly guys, you are certainly not afraid to take things a little far at times (Jack seems to be level headed here). Not wanting to air your dirty laundry (operating in grey areas = embarrassing) is not the same as a full blown cover-up. Perhaps it is technically, but it might not be anything close to what you are jumping to conclusions about. How do you know Kelly has covered up one detail with the NCAA? If you were going through a messy divorce, would you not want to keep the details in house? Doesn’t automatically mean someone is the divorce is a murderer, or a thief, or a child abuser, just means you might want to keep some things private. If you want to jump to a conclusion that this move automatically means this is a massive cover-up, it kind of proves my point on how somethings are better up dealt with behind closed doors. Honestly, can you blame them with so many vultures jumping on every move and doing their very best to paint every detail as ugly as they can. Just look at this post. The mere fact that they want some privacy is leading to guilt!

    If Oregon is cooperating with the NCAA – which sources close to the matter have claimed, then this whole “cover-up” conspirecy theory is nothing more than that. The NCAA will weigh their findings, along with Oregon’s cooperation – against the perceived loop-holes they left open – along with Oregon’s intent (good or evil)…..and make a determination, I’m fine with that.

    PS, I don’t see this like you all see this – could be love is blind, could also be hate is too. I trust the NCAA will turn over enough rocks to flesh out what really happened.

    • UDuck, I just want to know why the attorney general was willing to deputize this attorney rather than follow State laws and investigate with their own attorney via DOJ. Don’t you want to know why this rarity was allowed? I do. If you don’t want to know, my question is this: why not??

      • That is a fair question Angry. I thought my post indicated why I “assumed” (yah I know what assuming means) they want to keep this in house. It is obviously an embarrassment and making all the documents of information back and forth regurgitating it all for public consumption would only add to the embarrassment. I understand your point, and it is fair to want to know the details, but at the same time, I find it understandable why some wouldn’t want them all exposed for public consumption. Is that dirty? Or prudent?

    • Duck — Kelley called Lyles to send some kind of actual recruiting package to cover up what the $25k was actually paid for. If that wasnt a coverup, then why did it occur? If the dealings had been all legal to that point, no need to send anything.

      So no question Kelley was trying to cover up

      • rsteve503. A lot of people are making a lot of assumptions. The NCAA has asked Oregon/Kelly not to comment on this investigation until after they wrap it up. Meaning, they are not able to offer any defense to what is being applied. I’m not saying I know every detail – and like virtually everyone else, I don’t know 1/10 or what really happened, but let me play devils advocate:

        The NCAA did not require recruiting data to be maintained in physical form. In fact, sitting down with someone and talking about a kid’s strength and weaknesses (and Jordan shoes likes and dislikes) was acceptable. However, that obviously leaves guys who are “street agents” allow to claim to be a recruiting service. So late in the game the NCAA closed the loop-hole and said all recruiting info has to be maintained in a physical form – an additional bylaw was written and implemented to this end. Kelly subsequently asks Lyles to gather up physical data to support the service they paid for. Lyles obviously fell short of giving enough physical data to represent 25k. Oregon terminates the relationship and Willey doesn’t like that one bit and was embarrassed for his work….

        Is that Kelly looking to “cover-up” or as Willie put it, a “scramble” for data? Or was it Kelly needing what the NCAA now required of recruiting services?

        Look, I think we all know Kelly was attempting to land recruits and played in a grey areas and yes I see Willey types as problems for the NCAA. As such, I think the NCAA recognized their own faults too – and is trying to correct the ship. The question is, who’s fault is that? Kelly’s alone? Or is it the NCAA’s for loose regs? Or some of both? And that is where I see this ending up and why I don’t see this quite as “major” as you all do. I believe there is punishment coming, but not to the extent you all do. I see a loss of schollies over a few year period.

        • “So no question Kelley was trying to cover up”

          Yes, either in house or with the media. But let’s be serious. Who in their right mind hands that outdated material to the NCAA and says, “See? Here’s the 2011 National Package.”

          ?

          That’s like being caught in bed, naked and on top of the maid, also naked, when your wife walks in. Are you going to sit there and tell your wife the “it’s not what it looks like” canard?

          “The NCAA did not require recruiting data to be maintained in physical form. In fact, sitting down with someone and talking about a kid’s strength and weaknesses (and Jordan shoes likes and dislikes) was acceptable.”

          Ummm… yeah, they most certainly required it at that time… quarterly or more. They also forbid verbal consultation (texts count as such) about prospects because there is no definitive way to determine that every school gets exactly what all other schools get for the same priced service… which also had to be posted clearly and available to all schools.

          Those rules are only for a legitimate recruiting service. Now we’re talking about Willie Lyles. If he were simply a “mentor”, then he cannot befriend any prospects after they become prospects (after 9th grade begins) and talk to ANY schools. The one caveat is for coaches and school officials who must have a relationship with the prospect out of necessity. Even they are limited in discussions. Only family and friends from before their high school days can be contacted by schools for recruiting purposes, and those contacts count as official contacts which must be logged (I think there’s a one cal per week limit right now).

          They’ve been having this problem in hoops for years because to get around the rules street agents are creating U14 summer teams and befriending kids in the 8th grade.

          The only “gray area” in which Lyles exists has nothing to do with NCAA rules. Since he befriended prospects after they became prospects and dealt with schools about said prospects, he and the schools broke NCAA bylaws every time they talked to each other beyond the one per week limit or in any dead periods. Paying him beyond that is a big, big, big no-no.

          Cal and LSU certainly should be investigated if any players Lyles “mentored” went to their schools.

          I think the “gray area” concerning NCAA bylaws was regarding Baron Flenory. He was allowed by the Ducks’ staff to throw a 7-on-7 camp in Eugene (or something like that), and he was paid for some kind of contact info as well. But the rules at the time did not say that anything the Ducks did regarding Flenory. The NCAA has since changed the rules to make what they did illegal… now. But they get a pass on that one.

          Besides, I think Flenory is above board. Lyles may have had the prospects’ best interests at heart, but he also got paid for the prospects’ best interests. Flenory gets paid for his business, which is still above board and working within the new rules without a hitch.

        • I dont blame the UO fans for wishing…..

          ….wishing it would all just go away

          …wishing it were all just GRAY

          …wishing Lyles had lived in Rhode Island

          …wishing ….

          But there are no assumptions needed here. Like Jack says….violations. The whole business with Lyles is full of violations of several kinds. A recruiting service is only allowed to provide info, and it must be listed for all potential clients, and priced for all….etc, etc

          And of course, it doesnt even matter that there are clear violations, for the NCAA to come down on you with both feet.

          But who knows, maybe Unca Phil can buy em off! I am sure we will all stay tuned.

  7. There most certainly was a cover up, on some level. Oregon’s stance the whole time has been that they have done nothing wrong, which is flat out untrue. It is an NCAA violation for a coach to receive information about recruits from a scouting/recruiting service in any way other then through publish material. It is very clear that Kelly had been in frequent communication with Lyles via text message and phone calls. This is why Oregon scrambled to produce physical evidence of recruiting profiles. So they had SOMETHING physical to show for their $25k. It sounds even worse when you compound the fact that the profiles were outdated and full of players being recruited during the previous cycle.

    • I’m surprised Lyle’s actually had videos! I figured that was a lie. I wonder how much Oregon would pay LSU to burn a copy…probably well over $25,000…haha

      • What’s going to prevent them from sending a messenger to Lyle’s house with a bag of cash for the video? That’s what they’ll probably do. I hope they try to fake the videos, though, so we can once again get all forensic on their ass.

        • Seeing as how the athletic department isn’t the brightest, Chip Kelly will be the one to show up at his front door

          • Hahah, and he’ll send a thank you note when he returns.

            “Will, thanks for the Southern hospitality when I delivered the sack of cash.”

          • He’ll also throw an insult about the NCAA in there and Lyles will show it to the NCAA and Chip will have a blank stare and say “You can’t prove that I wrote that, it was forged! Will is just out to get me!”

      • Oh, you guys are providing me with a good laugh tonight. So desperate to find something wrong that you’ll view every fact in the most negative light possible. And in doing so, you’re no different then the duck fans you mock for burying their heads in the sand. Both fan bases conclusions are based in assumption and speculation

        Now you’re trying to find guilt because they had an attorney deputized so they could have someone represent them that is specialized in a specific field. And you think there is some nefarious booster conspiracy based on this sentence: “Such deputization is very rare – obviously some UO booster has a lot of pull with Attorney General Kroger!” What? Your anonymous source didn’t even make a direct allegation that a booster was involved, just that it was obvious one was involved because deputization is rare.

        You also assume Oregon didn’t receive any videos because they haven’t produced any. I can understand the skepticism but Oregon and Will Lyles have claimed that videos were distributed. You probably discount both statement as not credible, and I can understand that sentiment. However, you guys have no problem taking Lyles at his word that Oregon was “scrambling” to get documents. You can’t have it both ways. Either Lyles is believable or he’s not. You can’t assume every statement that hurts Oregon is true and every statement that helps Oregon is false.

  8. pretty funny comment from a poster on O-live….

    “Next year’s uniform colors – Lightning Yellow and Area Gray”

  9. Off topic but I saw that the Pac-12 has elected to go with 10 Pac-12 series in baseball next year. The Beavers start conference about two weeks earlier than usual in mid-March. I must say I like this format. They play @Utah in May.

  10. Been following this story all day. I think this is the best article to date.
    http://awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/july/bruce-feldman-suspension-espn-waterloo.html

    While reading all the articles on ESPN’s monumental head-up-buttedness, I ran across this:
    http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2011/7/14/2273949/2011-oregon-state-beavers-football

    There are similar articles for most of the Pac 12 written by Connolly already. You just have to search his archives.

    • I heard about and can’t say I was surprised. ESPN is always full of s*it. I like Feldman, he generally does a good job, but everybody knows why he was really suspended. Craig James. ESPN always finds a way to make themselves look clowns. Feldman did nothing to deserve to be treated the way he has. I do like the fact that Feldman helped make James look like a douche, ya know, since he is one.

  11. I’m stepping off this silly Gerbil wheel. In the end, we’ll see who has the last laugh when the investigation is over? Maybe Beavers, maybe Ducks. Might be major, might be quite minor. Anyway, see you all in late November. Until then, keep all your focus on the Ducks instead of BYU, Wisconsin…etc. Classic Beaver fans. Almost zero interest in uber-important games which actually effects your team right now. I’m so glad I don’t live with your odd fixation.

    • I think UofDuck means “affects” the team whereas the effect of an NCAA investigation on the Oregon football program might be precisely what angrybeavs are suggesting and that’s what’s riling him.

        • Not to worry – strictly speaking, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. However with modern English usage it can be a gray area.

          • Strictly speaking? You mean in even the vaguest terms?

            I get it… gray area… booo!

            But it is a common (therefore forgivable?) mistake. It’s not as irritating as the ensure/insure mistake. At least affect and effect are two different forms of grammar. Ensure and insure have completely different meanings, and they’re both verbs.

    • What we are fixed on, is THE NEWS. And currently that means the UO recruiting scandal. What UO fans seem to be fixed on is any criticism of their program. They got a huge rush from their conference titles the past two years and now it might be meaningless, and the future be tough. Oh, NO! So they moan and complain and rationalize. Hey, but for the typical UO uberfan arrogance, I would sympathize. The bad thing for us all is that the UO behavior will be a black eye for the whole state.

      • The news?

        Sometimes, you actually make/dig up news that interests you. You guys are a good group. Sincerely, but from my perspective, you still have some of that Beaver fan base oddity to you. I get that this Duck topic has interest for rival fan base and I understand the draw. I really do, but at some point there is a lot more for you than the Ducks – right? Even during the off season. I guarantee you that Alabama fans were talking a lot of “football” even when Auburn/Cam were the news d’jour. The fact that many of you state that there isn’t much else to talk about during this time of year cracks me up and speaks volumes about your fan base. Duck boards are loaded with LSU discussions, who looks good in summer workouts and who looks off, injuries, how Nevada will play with a new QB, will Price actually be better than Jesus Locker, why our AD didn’t take more LSU tickets when he could have….etc The point is, you too have summer work-outs going on. There are serious musing with up-coming big games and do you see much of any of that going on on these blogs? Wisconsin picks up a stud QB which should be a huge topic here to disect. Jake Heaps, a NW kid, who played as a true freshman and improved a lot during last season but still has holes in his game that can be exploited with schemes and match-ups. Bronco Mendenhal (sp?) an ex Beaver is head-coach at BYU, who you will play soon, how do you match up with your OOC games/position….etc. Waiting for fall camp before you talk Beaver football? I find that quite amusing and really odd. I’d love to see a Big-10 fan come on this board for alternate perspective – or a BYU fan to talk the upcoming game. It’s too bad that rarely happens here. It gets the juices flowing – we’ve got some pretty good LSU fans jumping on with us. It gets a little dicey at times, but fun nevertheless. All I’m saying is branch out a little, it’ll do you some good.

        • The Univrsity of Oregon and LSU should have a highly competitive game – good reason to be chattering -and it lets you ignore the UO mess. At this point, OS has too many unknowns – Katz, Rodgers, the offensive line – to even contemplate victories over Wisconsin and BYU. It could happen but there isn’t much point in getting hyped until fall camp starts, Meanwhile . . . UO/Knight/Lyles/Kelly/national media coverage is too intriguing to ignore.

    • Hey Jack, your blog looks like hoops only?

      Dunno why,just never could get into basketball…my Dad took me to games when I lived in Corvallis when I was young and it was cool to be there seeing AC Green and Charlie Sitton…but that’s the last time I remember caring at all…

      • Yep, hoops only. And I can understand why people are turned off to hoops on a general level. It used to be that someone would give a ‘bump’ knowing that the ref would call a foul, but also knowing that he was sending a message… message sent, consequences understood.

        Now we hear things like announcers going on about “been watching that back and forth for some time now, and the refs will have to do something soon.”
        *HAMMER*
        *TWEET*
        *FIGHT*
        *MULTIPLE TWEETS*
        Nothing turns me off more than watching a sport turn into MMA.

        I feel the same way about hockey. I love watching the sport, but when the first fight breaks out, I’m gone. It’s a joke that a fight doesn’t bring an automatic ejection and suspensions like the other major sports. That’s probably why it’s becoming a non-major sport. Then again, the NHL could also lose the red line and automatic icing, but I don’t see them getting serious about their sport for some time.

        I also don’t like how I can watch a highlight reel for one day in the NBA and see Kobe Bryant taking five steps in multiple directions for a dunk or Lebron James taking two steps, getting fouled, then taking five more steps to lay it in for what the ref calls continuation. I’m thinking to myself that I (and most high school ballers) can do that. Why don’t we get that chance?

        While I’m on the ‘star treatment’ rant, I noticed years ago that Lebron gets to make spinning jumping shots where he usually lands at least one foot before he releases the ball. Isn’t he supposed to be such a great athlete and hoopster that he doesn’t need to cheat?

        With my insistence on watching pretty much only Blazers coupled with Comcast’s deal to air their games, I really haven’t seen much in the way of NBA hoops for the last couple years. So that and a better collection of talent than the Beavs have had on the roster for the past 20 years allow me time to get excited for college hoops once again… besides March Madness.

    • Thanks for that, Jack. I keep hoping for Beaver resurrection….some semblance of the old Miller days. Hey, it could happen. That a nice aspect of college sports — every year the teams change and begin again.

  12. How does PK finance cheating at NikeU? read below:
    AP Exclusive: Nike faces new worker abuse claims.

    http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/07/13/1743206/ap-exclusive-nike-faces-new-worker.html

    Richard Lariviere do you have any ethics or is it all out cheating, win at any cost? A UW VP gets criticized for telling the truth about the state of academics at OR.
    $750 shoes or other items sold on Ebay for cash. Sounds like money laundering to me.
    Richard Lariviere Do you have any ethics or is it all out cheating, win at any cost?
    This is turning into an international scandal.

    • Remember some years back, people were protesting Nike’s labor practices at UO campus, and uncle Phil essentially said “shut em up or I’m not giving you money for building X.” It worked…

      When you read about Phil Knight getting a headset to listen in on the play calls, and getting to call one play a game in his luxury box, the “owner” analogy breaks down from analogy to direct meaning. Particularly if, and/or when, UO will be shown to have paid for players.

      They’re out of control because they have too much money involved, they’ve lost context, Phil Knight is used to getting what he wants, so they think they can do whatever they want (e.g handshake AD contracts and buyouts after 9 months).

      They may be the best professional football team in Oregon, but their “achievements” are at risk now.

  13. Angry,

    Do you think our new RB coach would/could offer any insight to the video tapes (if there were any) that the “O” received from Willie? Not sure how disclosure works from one program to the next…..

  14. I figured it would be frowned upon and was not trying to be naive, I just didn’t know if the NCAA could look to him for answers since he was no longer with the $@cks

    • What is silly is they didn’t need to do this. It may have taken them another year or two to move into about the same position honestly. Trying to move faster than the infrastructure. Greedy. Greedy. And then arrogant on top of it.

  15. Hey, by getting Lyles on the job, they suddenly started getting 4 and 5 star recruits where they had got only 2 star before, and in the SEC and Big 12’s back yard. If they had moved normally, might have been no James, no Thomas, no Huff, no Seastrunk…..so, no Rose Bowl, no NC game.

    It is clearly Kelley who wanted the fast lane, … Belotti wasnt doing such things, so far as we know. It will be interesting to see if Kelley can stay.

    • Kelly just doesn’t strike me as a “evergreen” leader. He almost has as a basement genious quality about him . He can come up with this unstoppable offense, but makes all of these poor decisions in his relationship with Lyles. Like he is comfortable with his x’s and o’s, but is naive about the subtleties in recruiting? I think he is a weird and complex guy. Either that or just an arrogant bastard!

      • I think Chip is arrogant and thinks he’s smarter than everybody else, he also does lack social skills, just watch his interviews. He’s uncomfortable when he’s approached by others. He just wants to be alone and design plays. I couldn’t imagine having a casual conversation with him.

        • Do you think more and more teams would have a solution to his offense this season?
          After all, the offense that took them to the Rose Bowl and BCS Championship ultimately didn’t pay off.
          Perhaps his best role is as OC (without recruiting responsibilities)….

          • I’ve always felt Chip is a much better fit as an offensive coordinator. It allows him to just focus on designing and calling plays and avoid the media.

            I think people will figure out his offense more and more in the next few years. Aside from the pro set offense, offenses that are potent all seem to be figured out for the most part over time. The more popular it gets the more it is seen and the easier it becomes to stop. In the next 5 years I see more teams going back to the pro set when the spread stops being as effective.

            I’ve always preferred the pro set offense to any spread offense because a great offense that runs a pro set can never be shut down by a great defense. They will eventually break through and make some big plays, a great defense can give a great spread offense a ton of problems every time. We’ve seen that with Oregon the last two BCS Bowls.

          • I think one of the keys is the relative speed of players. UO has really gone for the very fast guys. If you want to stop them, you need to match speed with them. You have to not allow those breakaway runs.

            Seems to me OSU has made progress on that — but the poor OL has decreased OSU’s offensive production at the same time.

            But yeah, you would think teams would really work on defending it better and better. One of the keys will be if Kelley leaves, which seems very possible to me. He was so blatantly involved with the recruiting violations.

          • Lacking that key of matching their speed, any chance Banker could stop the Ducks by better conditioning AND developing a really aggressive “pancake” block attitude?

          • You can’t hope to match the speed of the Ducks offense, well you can try I guess. You need to get as close as possible, but ultimately I think tOSU and CamNewU proved controlling the line of scrimmage with beastly size/strength is what’s get’s the Ducks in trouble.

  16. It sure would be cool to see a transcript of his talks with the NCAA.. How will he handle questions he now knows are about violations….

      • He also has always been awkward on those halftime interviews. I know a ton of HC’s give cliched answers, but Kelly acts almost paranoid and gives no insight to the actual game. For all his flaws, Riley actually is very relaxed being interviewed and comes off natural.

        • Coach Kelly’s bag of halftime interview tools includes only two possibilities. If his team is down, he’s petulant, terse, and annoyed at being subjected to questions. If his team is up, he’s buoyant, terse, and cocky. In either case, he comes across as an odd jerk.

          Coach Riley is always positive and seems to make the jobs of sideline reporters pretty easy. Coach Soon-To-Be-Gone…not so much.

  17. Things are getting funny.

    Some enterprising Husky fans are posing as Nikegon alums with a friend of their hairdresser’s cousin’s mechanic knowing someone in the Nikegon athletic department.

    They’re posing as such because they’re floating rumors to play with Duck heads and to gauge their true feelings. These rumors are anything from feigned disgust as an alum to claiming that the NCAA is just about done with an investigation that will barely warrant a slap on the wrist to rumors of the Ducks planning to lightly self-sanction with the NCAA’s approval.

    They don’t mention anything about cars, DA Thomas’ handlers flashing cash, pay for play deep in the woods or trading sweaty stuff for other stuff (which the Groanian is now investigating fully). So they’re not exactly sophisticated posers. But it’s still hilarious.

  18. This is, to me, fascinating stuff. I never paid attention to investigations elsewhere. I take it the rampant denial by UO blog posters is typical? Or are some programs more used to this?

    I kind of have a notion that UO, as the new kid in the NC game scene, might be in for it more than if they were just one of the SEC/Big12/Big10 guys. But maybe that means nothing to the NCAA?

  19. Anthony Oden, a 4 star offensive tackle the Beavers missed on for the 2009 class, (OSU made his final three) was kicked off Arkansas’ team for his 2nd arrest in the last year, anyone think the Beavers might go after him and hope he’s learned from past mistakes? Mike Riley probably will opt not to go after him as he’s had to deal with these things in the past and they haven’t worked out, but maybe he’ll take a chance. His brother wouldn’t be too far away and that couldn’t hurt.

    Just a thought. Though, him and his brother Greg both missed last season for their respective teams, must run in the family lol

    • Pass! Not worth the potential trouble… the family connection is cute, but still, PASS. Let’s just do a better job of recruiting. I find it troubling that he’s off the team and Kiko Alonso is, well, you know…

    • Interesting article – I hope it’s true. BTW there is no East Montana college – it used to be called Eastern Montana College – it’s now a unit of the University system and its moniker is the University of Montana/Billings. It concentrates on technology curricula/curriculae and I think its graduates are employable upon graduation-not a bad thing. I’m not sure most of the athletes one reads about who are sent off for violations could cut the academics there.

      The school doesn’t have a football program but 600 in the stands for basketball might be about right.

      • Sadly, I am pretty sure Montana-Billings beat the Beaver basketball team a few years back in a non-conference game that actually counted (not an NAIA exhibition).

    • Wow! Thats a well-written article. He makes a good case. But the sad truth is, college football NEEDS the NCAA to get tough. So I hope they continue.

      I loved the circumstances of the reply to Auburn. Might be a real message if both Auburn and UO are forced to vacate their presence in that NC game.

      On the face of it I am now amazed at the apparent blatant nature of the UO Texas recruiting with Lyles. Was the current scandal almost not report, but for Yahoo Sports, or would it have come to light anyway?

  20. The Cleaner sounds like the perfect basic cable drama:

    When Mike Glazer (Jim Belushi), one of LA’s top attorneys, is hired by an eccentric business tycoon to save a football program in the midst of scandal, he quickly realizes he is in too far over his head. From the socially awkward head coach (Chris Farley) to the hilarious street agent (Anthony Anderson) at the center of the scandal, Mike encounters a cast of interesting and often seedy characters along the way. The Cleaner, premiering this fall on TNT.

    Episode One: The Jock Box.

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