Special thanks to Travis Johannes of Building the Dam for speaking with me on the Quack 12 Podcast during our deep dive into the Oregon State roster. Listen HERE.
One of the reasons I’m on record that Oregon St HC Smith was robbed in 2019 of Pac-12 Coach of the Year — and there are several, I like the elegance of his offensive playcalling and the stability of the staff he’s assembled as well — is that he’s one of the very few competent roster managers in the league. Given the massive talent absences and imbalances he inherited in 2018, the turnaround of the team in general is astonishing, and I think that’s in large part because he adroitly corrected those imbalances with aggressive transfers and a healthy rotation to find and develop backups to avoid surprises.