If you follow almost any member of Oregon’s new coaching staff on Twitter, their tweets probably light up your timeline when a new recruit commits or a player makes a highlight play in practice. Don’t forget Willie Taggart’s ringing recruit phone, Marcus Arroyo’s seemingly infinite amount of hashtags or Jim Leavitt’s Pepsi obsession.

In terms of activity on social media, this new staff is a 180-degree turn from the previous administration. They can read the writing on the wall when it comes to where football is heading, and they are using social media as a tool that has the potential to change the face of Oregon football.

“I think that’s kind of the world we live in today,” said Arroyo, Oregon’s new co-offensive coordinator, and the most active social media member on the staff. “I think it helps promote the value of this place, the value of our program, our players, our staff.”

That’s the overall message that Oregon’s staff wants to convey. They possess state-of-the-art facilities and a beautiful campus. Why wouldn’t you advertise that?

Pair that with Taggart being the first outside hire at head coach since 1977, who also brings in an entirely new staff, getting your brand and faces out to the public seems like a smart move.

Other than attempting to publicize who they are, Oregon’s staff puts social media, specifically Twitter, to use in recruiting.

Taggart and his staff put a new emphasis on recruiting since the moment they donned the green and yellow. They’ve used every tool in their arsenal — including social media — and so far, it’s paid off.

In just nine months, Oregon pulled together a respectable 2017 recruiting class with multiple members who could see hefty playing time this season. But what’s even more impressive is what the staff has done with the 2018 recruiting class, which has the potential to be the best in program history.

Scout.com currently lists Oregon’s 2018 class as the best class in the country, while 247sports.com holds Oregon in the top five. Even with a program as good as Oregon’s has been over the past decade, the Ducks have never pulled in a recruiting class ranked in the top-10 nationally.

The new staff wants to dispel the notion that Oregon can’t draw big-time recruiting classes.

“Again, anytime we can spread the word and spread the word about what we’re about and get people to know who we are, especially as a new staff and a place that apparently ‘couldn’t get people to it,’ we gotta be able to do it,” Arroyo said.

While Arroyo is arguably the most active on Twitter, it’s safeties coach Keith Heyward who probably utilizes it the best. Ranked as a top-10 national recruiter by 247sports.com, Heyward has already secured five commitments, four of which are four-star recruits. His resume also includes nabbing second-round NFL pick Juju Smith-Schuster during his time at USC.

“I recruit the same way I’ve always done it,” Heyward said. “I just think it’s about building a good relationship because in the end, the kids are going to choose to go with who they feel comfortable with.”

Heyward said that the emergence of social media as a major platform for recruits has made reaching out to them and beginning a dialogue easier. It’s the main way he communicates with recruits.

“You could a lot of different things through social media, whether it’s messaging them, whether it’s edits, just hitting them up to have them call you,” Heyward said. “So it’s all different kind of things.”

Oregon’s new staff has certainly made a point of ushering in a new era of Duck football one tweet at a time.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post New coaching staff hits the virtual recruiting trail appeared first on Emerald Media.

Willie Taggart’s father, John, passes away at 70 
While originally scheduled to address the media before Friday’s practice, head coach Willie Taggart was instead absent — and understandably so. He tweeted last night that his father, John Taggart, had passed away. John Taggart was 70.

“I know coach Taggart — he’s a very strong man,” defensive lineman Elijah George said. “The team is backing him up. I know it’s a tough time but we’re going to be here to support him. We all understand how tough it is. We had some teammates lose parents, too. We know the process is not easy but we’ll be here when he needs us and support him all the way.”

Taggart was in attendance at Friday’s practice, as was his son, Willie Taggart Jr. An Oregon spokesperson said that while he was unaware of Taggart’s personal plans, he does not expect him to be in attendance for Oregon’s scrimmage on Saturday.

Veterans impressed by newcomers in week two 
As week two of fall camp comes to a close, a familiar theme repeated itself once again on Friday: veterans praising newcomers, specifically freshmen. Senior linebacker Jonah Moi said the biggest surprise of fall camp for him is how quickly the freshmen have learned Oregon’s schemes.

“I mean they’re just flowing into college practices and stuff and they look good,” Moi said. “That’s what’s been most surprising for me, is how fast they are, how strong they are. I’m just really excited for the future.”

George echoed this sentiment — specifically about freshmen defensive lineman Jordon Scott and Austin Faoliu, two players he’s worked with closely this fall.

“Impressed by them a lot,” George, a junior, said. “They came out here, they knew what we had, what expectations were. We weren’t going to be passive with them even though they are freshmen. They knew that there is an opportunity for them to play and they’re taking advantage of that every day.”

Scout sighting at practice 
2017 marked the first year since 1986 that no Oregon players were selected in the NFL Draft. The 2018 NFL Draft, though, should be a different story.

Royce Freeman, who elected to return to school after a disappointing junior campaign, currently ranks as the third best running back in the 2018 draft class, according to CBSSports.com. Senior offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby should get looks from pro teams as well, as should safety Tyree Robinson and corner Arrion Springs.

Scouts from the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals attended practice on Friday, adding to the growing list of pro teams who have made the trip to Eugene this fall.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Practice report: Players address Taggart’s loss, veterans praise freshmen appeared first on Emerald Media.

Another day, another fall practice in the books. As is routine on Wednesdays, it was Oregon’s coordinators and assistant coaches turn to face the media.

QB growth, Burch staying at QB for now 

First up, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo, who discussed Justin Herbert’s progression and the depth (or lack thereof) at the position. Not only does Arroyo boast an impressive coaching resume, his time as a quarterback in college also turned heads. In 2000, as a starter for San Jose State, Arroyo compiled over 2,000 yards and threw 15 touchdowns. His name is still riddled throughout Spartan record books, where he remains in the top-1o in passing yards, completions and total offense.

Many hope that he can assist Justin Herbert in also accomplishing such a feat. Arroyo talked about the jump young quarterbacks make from their freshman to sophomore years.

“That first year, that jump to that sophomore year, you make at least — I felt like, myself and then the guys I’ve seen over my career that have made that jump — you can make exponential jumps,” Arroyo said. “Just being able for the game to slow down a little bit, the maturity level. I don’t think you’ve got it all figured out but I think the game slows down a little bit and gets you to work through some things.”

All signs point to Herbert being the Ducks’ starting quarterback come September 3, and the competition really isn’t close. When asked how he would evaluate the position, Arroyo stated simply, “Minus Justin, inexperience.” 

Aside from Herbert, only former walk-on Taylor Alie has taken an in-game collegiate snap. But the newbies, including converted athlete Demetri Burch, are progressing well. Burch is expected to continue practicing with the quarterbacks for the time being.

“I think we’ll continue to have him there until we feel we can add value anywhere else,” Arroyo said.

Schooler improving at WR, but position depth still a worry

One of the more talked about storylines emerging from fall camp is Brenden Schooler’s switch from safety to wide receiver. He’s practiced with the receivers for a majority of fall practices so far and while a learning curve is expected, the coaches like the way he’s looked thus far.

“He’s done a great job,” Arroyo said. “It’s been a few practices, he came in late, we were in the middle of an install — the way we install is we recycle installs — so we get back in the new one and he wasn’t there for the first one. But he’s done an awesome job. He’s displayed some really nice things outside which I think are going to be really valuable.”

One of the main reasons for the switch was the perceived lack of depth at wide receiver. Charles Nelson is the only returner who played hefty minutes at the position last season.

“I think it’s good for him and it’s good for the team,” safeties coach Keith Heyward said. “On that side of the ball, they needed it. I love him, I mean he started as a true freshman. So, it’s good, good for him to get another perspective.”

Arroyo was also asked how the younger receivers have faired picking up the college game and if he’s seen the game slow down for any of them.

“At times,” Arroyo responded. “But they’re drinking through a fire hose right now. 90 percent of the wide receiver room — for instance, if Charles [Nelson] is out with a little bit of a ding, and Alex [Ofodile] is out, if Dillon [Mitchell] is out — every guy raises their hand in that room is in their seventh practice. It is what it is.”

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Practice report: Arroyo talks QB growth, and lack of wide receiver depth appeared first on Emerald Media.

For most of its fall camp, Oregon held its practices earlier in the day. The start of practices during the first week of camp ranged anywhere from 8:05 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. But head coach Willie Taggart wants to keep his players sharp and ready for anything. That’s why week two of fall camp opened with a bit of a curveball: an evening practice with a 6:15 p.m. start time.

Players attended meetings, hit the weight room and studied film for most of the day before dawning pads and heading to the practice fields around 6:20 p.m.

“It was weird,” linebacker Troy Dye said. “It took us back to those high school days where you get those 7 o’clock practices where you have to wait after school in study hall and stuff like that.”

Taggart said that players should expect a constant changing of practice times to keep them ready for the odd game times that Saturday’s will bring this season.

“Throughout training camp, we’re moving practices all around,” Taggart said. “We don’t play at a certain time every Saturday, those times are a lot different. Sometimes we play at 3 o’clock, sometimes we play at 5, sometimes we play later on. So we try and move our practices around throughout training camp to make sure that we come out ready to play whenever that time is.”

When asked if he thinks this approach will help the team, Dye was unsure. This is, after all, the latest college practice that many of these players have experienced.

“I think it will,” Dye said. “This is the first time for us here as a team because everything last year was in the morning. So, hopefully, we’ll see and just try to build off it. But we’re all looking forward to practicing under the lights again. We haven’t done that since high school.”

As far as the overall content of practice, little was revealed in the 20-minute window that media gets to observe. Offensive players took the near field while the defense ran through drills on the far one.

The offensive line took the first hack at offensive drills as they pushed a sled up and down the field while rotating guys in.

Next, players broke out into specific position drills. Receivers, quarterbacks and running backs performed ball security drills first. Then, the receivers and quarterbacks separated to one end of the field to work on passing and route drills. Among them, Brenden Schooler, who appears to be working solely with the wide receivers now.

.@SchoolerBrenden working with the WRs pic.twitter.com/QSWgGzyViK

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) August 9, 2017

Some deep action from QBs to the receivers including recently converted safety Brenden Schooler. pic.twitter.com/A0PFBsNLPn

— Jack Butler (@Butler917) August 9, 2017

While those drills went on, the offensive linemen were testing the sleds once again with more specific drills aimed at improving form. At the same time, the running backs were off to the side of the field, running through pylons and under tarps.

While these drills do carry value, it’s whats going on when the media is absent that holds the true importance. Taggart and his coaching staff find themselves a little over three weeks away from Oregon’s season opener and while progress is being made in learning new schemes and plays, it can’t be understated the difficulty of implementing a new game plan to a team with a majority of returners.

Taggart said at practice on Tuesday that he and his staff have been going over film from the first week of camp, trying to identify areas that aren’t up to their standards yet.

“We’re just going back over what we did last week,” Taggart said. “Especially with it being an early training camp week, we have the luxury of doing those things early and getting our guys to understand the basics first before we move to all the advanced level football.”

It is only week two of fall camp but once those basics are down, expect Oregon to really turn it up in practices with the season approaching fast.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Practice report: Evening practice brings back memories of high school for some Ducks appeared first on Emerald Media.

For most of its fall camp, Oregon held its practices earlier in the day. The start of practices during the first week of camp ranged anywhere from 8:05 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. But head coach Willie Taggart wants to keep his players sharp and ready for anything. That’s why week two of fall camp opened with a bit of a curveball: an evening practice with a 6:15 p.m. start time.

Players attended meetings, hit the weight room and studied film for most of the day before dawning pads and heading to the practice fields around 6:20 p.m.

“It was weird,” linebacker Troy Dye said. “It took us back to those high school days where you get those 7 o’clock practices where you have to wait after school in study hall and stuff like that.”

Taggart said that players should expect a constant changing of practice times to keep them ready for the odd game times that Saturday’s will bring this season.

“Throughout training camp, we’re moving practices all around,” Taggart said. “We don’t play at a certain time every Saturday, those times are a lot different. Sometimes we play at 3 o’clock, sometimes we play at 5, sometimes we play later on. So we try and move our practices around throughout training camp to make sure that we come out ready to play whenever that time is.”

When asked if he thinks this approach will help the team, Dye was unsure. This is, after all, the latest college practice that many of these players have experienced.

“I think it will,” Dye said. “This is the first time for us here as a team because everything last year was in the morning. So, hopefully, we’ll see and just try to build off it. But we’re all looking forward to practicing under the lights again. We haven’t done that since high school.”

As far as the overall content of practice, little was revealed in the 20-minute window that media gets to observe. Offensive players took the near field while the defense ran through drills on the far one.

The offensive line took the first hack at offensive drills as they pushed a sled up and down the field while rotating guys in.

Next, players broke out into specific position drills. Receivers, quarterbacks and running backs performed ball security drills first. Then, the receivers and quarterbacks separated to one end of the field to work on passing and route drills. Among them, Brenden Schooler, who appears to be working solely with the wide receivers now.

.@SchoolerBrenden working with the WRs pic.twitter.com/QSWgGzyViK

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) August 9, 2017

Some deep action from QBs to the receivers including recently converted safety Brenden Schooler. pic.twitter.com/A0PFBsNLPn

— Jack Butler (@Butler917) August 9, 2017

While those drills went on, the offensive linemen were testing the sleds once again with more specific drills aimed at improving form. At the same time, the running backs were off to the side of the field, running through pylons and under tarps.

While these drills do carry value, it’s whats going on when the media is absent that holds the true importance. Taggart and his coaching staff find themselves a little over three weeks away from Oregon’s season opener and while progress is being made in learning new schemes and plays, it can’t be understated the difficulty of implementing a new game plan to a team with a majority of returners.

Taggart said at practice on Tuesday that he and his staff have been going over film from the first week of camp, trying to identify areas that aren’t up to their standards yet.

“We’re just going back over what we did last week,” Taggart said. “Especially with it being an early training camp week, we have the luxury of doing those things early and getting our guys to understand the basics first before we move to all the advanced level football.”

It is only week two of fall camp but once those basics are down, expect Oregon to really turn it up in practices with the season approaching fast.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Practice report: Evening practice brings back memories of high school for some Ducks appeared first on Emerald Media.

For most of its fall camp, Oregon held its practices earlier in the day. The start of practices during the first week of camp ranged anywhere from 8:05 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. But head coach Willie Taggart wants to keep his players sharp and ready for anything. That’s why week two of fall camp opened with a bit of a curveball: an evening practice with a 6:15 p.m. start time.

Players attended meetings, hit the weight room and studied film for most of the day before dawning pads and heading to the practice fields around 6:20 p.m.

“It was weird,” linebacker Troy Dye said. “It took us back to those high school days where you get those 7 o’clock practices where you have to wait after school in study hall and stuff like that.”

Taggart said that players should expect a constant changing of practice times to keep them ready for the odd game times that Saturday’s will bring this season.

“Throughout training camp, we’re moving practices all around,” Taggart said. “We don’t play at a certain time every Saturday, those times are a lot different. Sometimes we play at 3 o’clock, sometimes we play at 5, sometimes we play later on. So we try and move our practices around throughout training camp to make sure that we come out ready to play whenever that time is.”

When asked if he thinks this approach will help the team, Dye was unsure. This is, after all, the latest college practice that many of these players have experienced.

“I think it will,” Dye said. “This is the first time for us here as a team because everything last year was in the morning. So, hopefully, we’ll see and just try to build off it. But we’re all looking forward to practicing under the lights again. We haven’t done that since high school.”

As far as the overall content of practice, little was revealed in the 20-minute window that media gets to observe. Offensive players took the near field while the defense ran through drills on the far one.

The offensive line took the first hack at offensive drills as they pushed a sled up and down the field while rotating guys in.

Next, players broke out into specific position drills. Receivers, quarterbacks and running backs performed ball security drills first. Then, the receivers and quarterbacks separated to one end of the field to work on passing and route drills. Among them, Brenden Schooler, who appears to be working solely with the wide receivers now.

.@SchoolerBrenden working with the WRs pic.twitter.com/QSWgGzyViK

— Gus Morris (@JustGusMorris) August 9, 2017

Some deep action from QBs to the receivers including recently converted safety Brenden Schooler. pic.twitter.com/A0PFBsNLPn

— Jack Butler (@Butler917) August 9, 2017

While those drills went on, the offensive linemen were testing the sleds once again with more specific drills aimed at improving form. At the same time, the running backs were off to the side of the field, running through pylons and under tarps.

While these drills do carry value, it’s whats going on when the media is absent that holds the true importance. Taggart and his coaching staff find themselves a little over three weeks away from Oregon’s season opener and while progress is being made in learning new schemes and plays, it can’t be understated the difficulty of implementing a new game plan to a team with a majority of returners.

Taggart said at practice on Tuesday that he and his staff have been going over film from the first week of camp, trying to identify areas that aren’t up to their standards yet.

“We’re just going back over what we did last week,” Taggart said. “Especially with it being an early training camp week, we have the luxury of doing those things early and getting our guys to understand the basics first before we move to all the advanced level football.”

It is only week two of fall camp but once those basics are down, expect Oregon to really turn it up in practices with the season approaching fast.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Practice report: Evening practice brings back memories of high school for some Ducks appeared first on Emerald Media.

Sophomore offensive lineman Zach Okun is medically retiring from football, as first reported by 247sports. Okun, a former 4-star recruit played sparingly in his two seasons with the Ducks.

He suffered a possible spinal injury during fall camp last year and was taken to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend where he underwent an MRI. Luckily for Okun, the diagnosis was “a concussion and some other thing,” he told the Register-Guard after the incident.

It’s unclear if the past injury is the reason for his retirement.

When asked about Okun’s retirement at practice on Tuesday, head coach Willie Taggart had little to say about the matter.

“It’s more medical,” Taggart said. “I’ll leave that to Zach. It’s more personal than anything.”

After initial reports of Okun’s retirement emerged, he took to twitter to formally announce his retirement. “After a long discussion with the medical professional that the University of Oregon gave me access to, as well as my family, I have decided to step away from the game of football,” he wrote in a statement. “I have suffered from anxiety and depression, and after months of trial and error with my teammates, our doctor and I decided that retiring from football is my best chance to get these things under control.”

pic.twitter.com/f0bncnmdKE

— Zach Okun (@_zooch) August 1, 2017

Okun, a former U.S. Army All-American, enrolled at Oregon winter term of 2015 and redshirted his freshman year. He saw his first in-game action as a Duck against USC in the 2016 season.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Zach Okun retiring for medical reasons appeared first on Emerald Media.

Sophomore offensive lineman Zach Okun is medically retiring from football, as first reported by 247sports. Okun, a former 4-star recruit played sparingly in his two seasons with the Ducks.

He suffered a possible spinal injury during fall camp last year and was taken to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend where he underwent an MRI. Luckily for Okun, the diagnosis was “a concussion and some other thing,” he told the Register-Guard after the incident.

It’s unclear if the past injury is the reason for his retirement.

When asked about Okun’s retirement at practice on Tuesday, head coach Willie Taggart had little to say about the matter.

“It’s more medical,” Taggart said. “I’ll leave that to Zach. It’s more personal than anything.”

After initial reports of Okun’s retirement emerged, he took to twitter to formally announce his retirement. “After a long discussion with the medical professional that the University of Oregon gave me access to, as well as my family, I have decided to step away from the game of football,” he wrote in a statement. “I have suffered from anxiety and depression, and after months of trial and error with my teammates, our doctor and I decided that retiring from football is my best chance to get these things under control.”

pic.twitter.com/f0bncnmdKE

— Zach Okun (@_zooch) August 1, 2017

Okun, a former U.S. Army All-American, enrolled at Oregon winter term of 2015 and redshirted his freshman year. He saw his first in-game action as a Duck against USC in the 2016 season.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Zach Okun retiring for medical reasons appeared first on Emerald Media.

Former Oregon football head coach Mark Helfrich is returning to college football, although not in the capacity one might assume.

On Tuesday, the Big Lead reported that Helfrich would be joining Fox Sports as an in-booth college football analyst for the upcoming season. The report comes via an anonymous source and Fox Sports 1 declined to comment to the Big Lead about the story. While no official announcement has been made, the rumors of this move have swirled since last week when Fox college announcer Tim Brando tweeted a photo of a golf outing with Helfrich.

Time for some golf in Beverly Hills. pic.twitter.com/gbiLhByjkh

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) July 28, 2017

Helfrich has kept a low profile since his firing in late November. He coached the Ducks for four seasons and compiled a 37-16 record during his tenure, highlighted by an appearance in the 2014 College Football Playoff national championship game.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Report: Mark Helfrich joining Fox Sports as college football analyst appeared first on Emerald Media.

Former Oregon football head coach Mark Helfrich is returning to college football, although not in the capacity one might assume.

On Tuesday, the Big Lead reported that Helfrich would be joining Fox Sports as an in-booth college football analyst for the upcoming season. The report comes via an anonymous source and Fox Sports 1 declined to comment to the Big Lead about the story. While no official announcement has been made, the rumors of this move have swirled since last week when Fox college announcer Tim Brando tweeted a photo of a golf outing with Helfrich.

Time for some golf in Beverly Hills. pic.twitter.com/gbiLhByjkh

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) July 28, 2017

Helfrich has kept a low profile since his firing in late November. He coached the Ducks for four seasons and compiled a 37-16 record during his tenure, highlighted by an appearance in the 2014 College Football Playoff national championship game.

Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris

The post Report: Mark Helfrich joining Fox Sports as college football analyst appeared first on Emerald Media.