I think about Thibodeaux getting caught up in the crazy atmosphere at end of our '18 game. From his reactions that is when he became serious about Eugene.
Now contrast with the glum atmosphere if that game had ended how it should have - similar to '19 Cal @ UW, with UW continuing to drive and kicking a chip shot or scoring a TD as time expired. Maybe the 5* still goes there, maybe not.
But no, Pete stepped all over his own dick, again, and the rest is history. We created this shit. Oregon doesn't need our help, so stop fucking up and take care of our own house and we'll be doing better and Oregon likely worse.
I spoke months ago how it seemed Oregon was using a tail-wagging-the-dog strategy, getting as many stars as possible even if some were overrated, and hoping the stars continued to follow each other and the hype. Wilbur called it "Sark + marketing" and I thought that was fair. But can we argue with the results?
All jokes about my love affair noted in advance, I think part of the problem here is that Crisco was not a generally known quantity out here in God's country. I've said this since the first day of the hire, and I've taken untold amounts of shit for it (which I'm more than tuff enough to handle): Crisco can recruit. Period. Any version of reality that fails to recognize this is DAWG narrative, including this idea that only when Washington fucks up is there a vacuum in which Oregon can then operate. No. Until he leaves, you better get comfortable with the fact that you have an ace recruiter operating in your back yard running a program that has had a much better last 25 years than has Washington. Those are the facts. I didn't make them up.
I've known about this guy for years. His name has been thrown around Miami circles forever as a maybe someday coach. From his days as a mere GA, people have talked about his recruiting chops. Pete Garcia, who was the head of UM football ops during the Butch Davis run, knew it well and gave him his first shot at FIU. He's also the guy who fired him, which he's since acknowledged was a mistake, but that's another story.
Both in this forum and, I suspect, out west in general, he is a criminally underrated quantity as a talent builder. Part of why that is, I suspect, is that his most visible position to date was on the Bamers staff, which feeds into the "Brand X recruits itself" narrative, which is basically bullshit.
Yeah, fuck it, I told you so on day one. Now you know.
