Who is and isn’t a college football player is always a hot topic. Some programs are easy to categorize into this category, like Michigan and Ohio State.
The Blue Bloods of College Football via @Andy_Staples????
Do you agree? ⬇️https://t.co/IGLWBlkKdM pic.twitter.com/8C6zXoH89u
— On3 (@On3sports) July 9, 2024
What about a team like Oregon that has had a lot of success over the last 25 years, but is historically more of a “new blood” team? Andy Staples of On3 has been working on this topic and he says the Ducks still have a hurdle to clear.
Staples asked Twitter to help him define what a blue blood is. He settled on this criterion: “Three-plus generations of elite history, one of which must be in the last two generations.” Staples said, “I think that’s a very fair definition.”
3+ generations of elite history, one of which must be in the last two generations.
For example, Georgia Tech is no longer a top institution. Notre Dame is on the verge of being eliminated.
– The Tuska Burner (@Tuskas_Burner) July 8, 2024
Applying that to the Ducks, Staples said: “I would say Oregon is a team that has generations of experience. It goes back to the Rick Brooks days. That changed when Chip Kelly became head coach. Then the team took it to the next level.”
Staples continued: “When Kelly really took the Blues to the next level, in 2009 and 2010, at that time, he built on a paradigm shift that Chip Kelly had created. He used a time rule change before the 2008 season to create an offense that nobody knew how to stop.”
“The interesting thing is they did it that way for a while, but everybody figured it out. Now Oregon is doing it differently. They’re trying to do it like Georgia does it. Like Alabama did it. Like Ohio State does it,” Staples said.
But Staples adds that at least one national title is a must: “You can’t put Oregon in that category because they don’t have a national title. That seems to be the bare minimum. Oregon has to win a national title to get into that club.”
