Just two short months ago, a combination of crying and dancing highlighted the range of emotions experienced on the field at the Rose Bowl after the Ducks’ 28-27 win over Wisconsin. ESPN commentator Rece Davis compared it to a Hollywood script.
Now, the cast has new members and the script has yet to be written. Fresh faces will be taking over at offensive coordinator and quarterback, and four senior offensive linemen will have to be replaced. But the focus in early March is much simpler.
“Making sure this team has learned how to handle success,” head coach Mario Cristobal said of his pre-spring break points of emphasis. “It’s been a little while since a Rose Bowl and then all of a sudden you get it. All you see are T-shirts and hats and great highlights. [We’re focusing on] staying hungry, humble and driven.”
The expectation shift going into 2020 is real, and it’s new territory for every player on the roster. The Ducks will have a target on their backs all season as the defending conference champions — something the Ducks haven’t had in five years. But in order to repeat the success of last season, the spring-ball process has to remain on course.
“It’s the next phase,” Cristobal said. “In football you have seasons within seasons, and you can’t skip any of them. The winter conditioning — we got out of it exactly what we wanted to get out of it. I think it showed up.”
There will, however, be new pieces to fit into that established process. One of the most prominent is offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who was hired in late January after coaching stints at Penn State and Mississippi State. The Ducks integrated incoming defensive coordinator Andy Avalos at the beginning of spring ball last season, and the hope is that Moorhead can hit the ground running with the same efficiency that Avalos did in 2019.
“That guy, he’s as good of a coach as you’ll find,” Cristobal said of Moorhead. “We’ve been fortunate to really hit home runs with our coordinators and our co-coordinators…These guys are all about betterment.”
“Getting to know Coach Moorhead, diving into his system, getting together for professional development. Just being around each other and getting to know each other has been really neat,” he added.
On the field, a few position changes have been made — some permanent, some experimental. Former defensive lineman DJ Johnson has moved to tight end. Daewood Davis is back at wide receiver after trying his hand at cornerback last season. Andrew Faoliu is now an outside linebacker after playing defensive line in 2019.
Thomas Graham Jr. got reps at safety and nickel corner, too — a move that Cristobal sees as an attempt to increase defensive versatility.
“We want to maximize the ability to play all of the multiple personnel groupings that we face throughout the course of the season,” Cristobal said. “But [Graham] is our corner. The other stuff we are looking at and experimenting with to see how it fits our packages.”
With four spring practices on the docket before spring break on March 23, the goal for the 2020 Oregon Ducks can be most efficiently described in two words: simplistic progression.
