Oregon lands a big fish - Devin Hart (11th NCAA xc) transfering to the Ducks.

He didn't have to ask whether Jerry needed an athlete. He could see from tfrrs.org that Oregon is producing nearly nothing and that as a guy with barely any remaining eligibility, he would have to be put on the track by Jerry right away or Oregon'd get nothing out of him. Ericson and Cook are the only guys producing for Oregon in the distances. Nothing from Birnbaum, one substandard race from Burns, nothing at all for Oregon for Rheinhart, and so it goes until you get so far down the roster that you're forced to celebrate low to mid 8s in the 3k at Oregon, miler U. What is going on there?

Not here to clown on Jerry, he deserves more time to be fully judged. Remember he took over in July of 2022, which meant he didn't bring his first recruiting class in until Fall of 23. I refuse to draw any sweeping conclusions until at least the end of 2024 xc.

But...

It's pretty wild in the current NCAA explosion of fast times that the University of Oregon best performances list looks like this:

Mile - 3:55, 4:02, 4:02

3k - 7:56, 7:59, 8:01

5k - 13:55, 14:00, 14:23

For comparison, here's NAU:

Mile - 3:48, 3:53, 3:54

3k - 7:37, 7:37, 7:39

5k - 12:57, 13:16, 13:16

and here's D3 Wisconsin-La Crosse

Mile - 4:05, 4:05, 4:06

3k - 8:04, 8:05, 8:05

5k - 14:06, 14:06, 14:07

Oregon is currently waaaaaaay closer to an elite D3 program than they are to the best D1 programs.

FYI La Crosse also has better #1 performances than Oregon in the following events: 60m, 200m, 60 hurdles, 4x400, Long Jump, and Shot Put. How on earth does Oregon not have faster sprinters than a D3 school in Wisconsin?

isn't Jerry allowed to talk to athletes from other schools since he coaches a professional team?

At some point, Jerry will have to stop redshirting and de facto redshirting athletes and get them out there healthy. Until then, all we see is paltry for that program. You can't even compare Oregon to NAU any more. One of them is actually performing. The other is on the shelf. What have Jerry's athletes accomplished in competition in nearly five seasons over the year and a half he's been there?

Why would ANYONE go to run under Jerry. It’s like a black hole for middle/long distance runners. Who in their right mind would never want to race?!

Devin's major at Stanford was Management Science and Engineering so he's definitely at Oregon to run. His times are excellent but not fast enough to secure meaningful sponsorship proving again that getting a Stanford degree is a very smart move. He can chase his track dream one final season.

I didn't know his history....my first thought was, "What did Metcalf do this time?"

The Athletic, meet Vin Lananna.

That's a joke major. Devin is prick and a moron.

I get what you are saying..and see your point. But in the case of NAU you are looking at times from Juniors and Seniors…whereas the times that you show for Oregon are all Freshmen.

You make an interesting point, but you aren’t really comparing apples to apples.

i, for one am giving Jerry the benefit of the doubt. I know there are more than a few of you that aren’t willing to do that…

It may indeed be a joke major but doesn't matter. Anyone with that degree from Stanford who was a stud on the track team is practically guaranteed gainful employment for life.

And if he really is a prick companies will love to have him as a manager. Being a prick is one of the top requirements in management.

Jerry has no one to blame but himself for screwing up Oregon's year. He has Harrison Reinhardt, Isiah Sterry, and Simeon Birnbaum and doesn't use any of them. Run those athletes first and you won't need Devin Hart to bail out your program.

He is gonna be on those good nike "supplements" which are mandatory at Oregon. We expect some results!

Top 100 times for Oregon, Washington, NAU:

800m

Oregon: 1:47.92, 1:48.68, 1:48.79 JR/FR/SO

Washington: 1:47.68/1:49.09

NAU: 1:47.88 SO

Mile

Oregon: 25 Cook 3:55.50 JR

Washington: 3:51/3:53/3:53/3:54/3:58

NAU: 3:48/3:53/3:54/3:57/3:58

3000m

Oregon: 65 7:56.11 FR

NAU: 7:37 SR/7:37 JR/7:39 SR/7:43 JR/7:48 SO

5000m

Oregon: 90 13:55 Redshirt FR

NAU 12:57 JR/13:16 SR/13:16 SR/13:29 JR/13:42 SR/13:43 JR/13:51 SO/13:52 SO/13:56 JR/13:56 FR

I don't disagree with you, but from the NCAA's inception in 1906 to 1972, freshman were not eligible to play NCAA football/basketball and had their own teams. This was common for most sports many years after 1972 as well. Eras change; eventually this one will too.

The rest of Washington's results. They don't run most guys in the 5000m but look at what they do in the mile. That is what Oregon used to do when the Washington coach was there.

3000

Washington: 7:40 SR/7:46 FR/7:55 FR/7:55 SO

5000

Washington: 13:50 FR

They don't need a transfer though to fix that, just actually race these guys and they'll produce good results!!

Mostly true and a good point, although the 1 performance that's somewhat close to an elite D1 time is the 3:55 mile from a Junior. Their list is also notable for the names that haven't raced, due to injury or something else we don't know.

My big point in doing the comparison is that both Oregon and Jerry gave up a lot to make this marriage happen and right now they are miles away from the top of the NCAA. Oregon got rid of Ben Thomas (one of the best mid-distance coaches in the country) and Jerry lost most of his pro team in the move. How patient will Oregon be with the rebuild? How many years can they afford to miss nationals in xc and not qualify anyone on the track?