New Oregon football head coach Willie Taggart is trying to change the culture around the football program. The famous uniforms are the latest casualty.
During the Pac-12 Media Days, the Oregon Ducks’ new head coach, Willie Taggart, was asked what the hardest part of turning the program around was going to be. He said “changing the culture.”
There are ways to do that internally and externally. We caught an unexpected glimpse of the internal when this winter three Oregon players were sent to the hospital because the workout Taggart’s new strength and conditioning coach put them through was too strenuous.
For the external, Taggart announced the Ducks were ditching their signature infinite uniform combinations. They will have a set rotation like most teams and not wear a new uniform every week.
“We’re going to be sharp,” Taggart said. “But you won’t see as many different combinations. We want to play football. Those uniforms are really nice when you have a really good football team.” If you asked people word association with the Oregon Ducks, some combination of “Nike” and “uniforms” would be in the top five if not first. For a five-year period, the Ducks would steamroll you and look good doing it.
Not so good, and not so fun
They fell off after Marcus Mariota‘s departure. Things got bad last year as the team fell to 4-8. However, the uniforms kept them relevant nationally. Seeing what uniform combo the Ducks would roll out and giving your opinion on it has been a fall internet staple. Sure, there were some bad ones, but that was part of the fun. The crazy thing is the Ducks’ worst season since 1983 produced the greatest uniform in the history of any sport, ever.
Admittedly, it’s not a great look getting beat by Colorado on your own field while you are dressed like a cartoon duck. Willie Taggart couldn’t care less about how much glee we took in watching a real-life Mascot Mode.
Taggart came from the Harbaugh Coaching Tree and this is a total “football guy” move. Making the players earn the logo on their helmet or the jersey is a time-honored tradition. Infinite uniform combinations aren’t fun to a football guy. That is just one more decision that distracts him from his singular quest to win football games. A football guy’s idea of fun is an extra gasser or watching film until the sun comes up.
So what does Taggart define as fun?
If you needed any more proof Taggart doesn’t understand fun, here is his answer to what three fun things he did this summer:
"Three fun things I did this summer, the biggest, I moved my family out here. Yes! Yes! They got here. I went kayaking for the first time, so that was pretty cool, with the staff. That was fun and funny.We went out on the coast. I forgot the name of the place, but it was beautiful. Something you wouldn’t see in Florida. Plus I wouldn’t be in the river in Florida. They’ve got alligators. But that was fun.The third thing was we’re going to continue to get to know them."
First, moving is the worst. Kayaking cool places is an OK answer. I have no idea what that “third thing” is.
Next: Oregon football season preview, predictions
The good news for Oregon fans is winning is more fun than running up the score on the fashion runway. 8-4 in solidly designed Nike uniforms is infinitely better for fans than the most stylish 4-8 the world has ever seen. Willie Taggart might be taking the internet’s fun away, but Ducks fans are going to have a blast this year.