Sorting through the debris: Post-Pac 12 debriefing—sort of
There are still plenty of details to deal with, but here are some key points to date
The shutdown of the Pacific-12 conference isn’t over yet. Heck, there are still winter and spring sports to finish. But the house of cards that was the Pac-12 has come tumbling down, and clean-up crews are going to work. For the Oregon audience that makes up the bulk of the readership, here are some elements to digest—some of which you have already heard about. To be clear here, there are others who focus the energy solely on college athletics. Look at this as reporting by an outsider.
Oregon State Football
Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State to become the Spartans’ head coach, taking several coaching staffers with him in the process. Beavs quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has left the team and is in the transfer protocol. Same for freshman signal caller Aidan Chiles, and most recently, outstanding Beaver tight end Jack Velling. Former West Salem High and widely honored OSU wide receiver/kick returner Anthony Gould has left the team to enter the NFL Draft this season. Expect more movement here, without much news about it.
Beavs’ Bowl game
Oregon State is going to play in the Sun Bowl December 29. The 19th ranked Beavers square off against 16th rated Notre Dame. Kefense Hynson—a former outstanding Willamette University football player and the wide receivers coach for the Beavers—was named the team’s interim football coach, and will direct the squad in the bowl game, which is held in El Paso, Texas. Sadly, OSU will be without two-time all-Pac 12 running back Damien Martinez—who is staying in Corvallis, but was suspended for the bowl game after being charged with DUI last week.
New Coach, new staff
OSU has hired Trent Bray—the former Oregon State defensive coordinator—as its next head coach (#32 for the school overall). Bray has already started hiring his staff.
Bray has retained two staff members: Kefense Hynson (wide receivers) and Anthony Perkins (cornerback’s coach), while Ryan Gunderson (a former Beaver QB) returns to Corvallis—moving from UCLA to become the OSU offensive coordinator and QBs coach, and Kyle DeVan as offensive line coach. DeVan is back at Oregon State after serving a year on the coaching staff at North Carolina-Charlotte. More announcements are due to come.
Here are the more recent items about OSU football in particular:
The Civil War game will remain on the schedule
As reported by many ahead of me—put in particular the award-winning John Canzano—the Ducks and Beavers, with the cooperation of other football programs—have reached agreement to continue the annual Civil War football contest.
The (now) widely circulated report says that OSU and UO worked with the sports departments at Texas Tech and Boise State in particular—with assistance from others along the way.
The vaunted contest between the two schools—just 44 miles apart on the map—will be held early in the season. September 14th is the date for the rivalry game in Corvallis. It is a non-conference game, semi-ironically.
To make the change, Texas Tech—Oregon’s original foe for 9/14—agreed to vacate the that date, and move to September 7th to face instead, the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars will move their originally scheduled game with San Diego State to later in the 2024 season.
Boise State, in the meantime—helped with the switches by agreeing to travel to Oregon on September 7, instead of to Oregon State. Idaho State—the Beavers’ original September 14 opponent—will face them later in the year to make room for the Civil War game.
Got it?
Other miscellaneous details
Even as both schools have dealt with the loss of players and their conference, both schools in the now “Pac-2” conference (OSU, WSU) have scheduled games with six members of the Mountain West Conference (to be announced), while they are both finalizing the games with more conspicuous “Power 4” conference teams—with a home and home agreement for the next two seasons. All of this is in the name of keeping both teams eligible for the College Football Playoffs.
The Oregon State “Power 4” teams are reportedly Purdue, Idaho State, Washington State (duh), and (of course) Oregon. The Beavs are also purportedly pursuing a two-season agreement with former Pac-12 member Cal, and perhaps an ACC team such as Virginia. That would make twelve total games.
The tentative schedule (with most dates unconfirmed) is also a plus for some “historic” opponents—a contest with limited transportation costs. Former Pac-12 teams now in the Big 10 “get to” travel as far as New York or Maryland for league contests, and would probably love to reduce their costs/exhaustion somehow.
All of this scheduling was put together as Oregon State and Washington State keep an eye on their lawsuit to limit exclusive voting rights of the conference to just them, locking out the ten teams that walked out on the Pac-12. A lower court judge ruled in favor of the Pac-2 members, but the Washington Supreme Court has put the entire voting process issue on hold for the moment.
A few closing thoughts
This impressive, if cobbled-together schedule for WSU/OSU (pending) is a band-aid while both schools attack the massive issue of attempting to rebuild the entire Pac-12. I am certain it will initially involve some of the “fashionable” regional teams like Boise State or San Jose State or even… BYU? Some former Pac-12 schools might see the writing on the wall after two years and come running back—unlikely, but the cost of doing business in college sports is getting more and more expensive on a weekly basis.
Oregon State’s recovery from the loss of Jonathan Smith isn’t yet complete—but the high speed hiring of Bray was a decidedly positive first step. The reality of the Pac-12 break up will occupy the attention of the athletic department for the next several seasons, and with good reason. It is a majorly expensive overhaul that needs extended focus to get the changes right.
The return of an annual Civil War game (yes—I am using the term for the moment) is being greeted with mixed feelings.
Some Beaver-Believers are loathe to forgive the Ducks for running off to the Big-10, especially when absolution involves OSU’s “dreaded enemy.” But others (of which I am one) are glad the series, which began way back in 1894, is still alive, because history matters—and the cessation of history is, well… sad. And, as I told my brother, it still provides a week to exchange insults with your friends.
This massive struggle to keep the Civil War Game alive will be little more than a footnote in a decade or two. And—ladies and gentlemen—that is a good thing.
Again, a big thanks to all of you who read these columns, who try and ignore the typos, and who take a moment to leave a comment.
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Enjoy the remaining holidays.