I hope so, the guy is running like a 20 million dollar program why shouldn't he be, he has a lot at stake.
Try asking your boss at Intel or Microsoft to tell you what's up or what the company has in the pipeline, not a chance they will tell you. It's called competitive advantage,
Why people don't get this and think it is still 1970 is beyond me. Any advantage they can get they should take, the only people propagating this agenda is the media because they lose money off it.

I hope he keeps his mouth shut, I hope it is part of the Oregon culture. It makes a difference look at how many teams do this now

How do they hinder you as as a fan? 

A1Duckfan wrote: Closed practice, injury reports, recruiting? All of those things hinder us as fans but help the program to be where they are today.

I live in Beaverton, and have always (pre-Chp) enjoyed driving down to see the last intra-squad game-type scrimmage before the spring game, and sometimes in fall camp also. Those are the times when you see the last real cometition for positions in the two or three-deep,better than the spring game itself. I chatted briefly to Helferich at the Eugene chapter O-club recruiting lunch and asked him what his policy would be on this, and he said that he would be considering it, but would wait and see, or words to that effect.

Hopefully he'll open at least those intra squad scrimmages to the public and/or press.   I loved reading the reports from the attendees afterwards.  

I think the vast majority of practices should remain closed though.   Too many times stuff gets leaked out that helps opponents.

None of that is going to happen anytime soon. For those of you out of towners, you won't believe what you see the next time you are at Autzen. To call the new football center the Glass Palace is an understatement. Along with the 15' cement wall blocking any view from centennial and the 12' tall triple stacked arbovidae encircling the rest of the practice field it seems very unlikely to expect many open practices. Remember standing up by the flame in front of the bookstore to watch practice? With the new plantings you can't even see the field from there anymore so it hardly looks to be conducive to open practices.


---------------------------------------------
--- Tailback wrote:

Hopefully he'll open at least those intra squad scrimmages to the public and/or press.   I loved reading the reports from the attendees afterwards.  

I think the vast majority of practices should remain closed though.   Too many times stuff gets leaked out that helps opponents.

---------------------------------------------

The new walls are intended to keep prying eyes away from closed practices.  Since Helfrich is a lifelong Oregon guy I expect his relationship to be much better with Duck fans and donors.  Helf hasn't announced any policies yet, but I expect some limited access to some of the practices, possibly those held early in the week when the team runs basic drills.  Only time will tell the story...

I'm guessing he'll have all or mostly all of the practices closed. Even days when players run only basic drills are important and fans are a distraction just by being present.

There is the spring game in April and Fan Day in August (where fans get to see the players "close up." *Maybe* he'll have the very first preseason practice open, but I'm thinking probably not.

Anybody know of a link to pictures of the exterior of the football building & practice fields?

More importantly, will Helfrich have a hot tub in his office? That's my biggest concern.

OK...so I just got out of the hot tub after a good soak and a couple of beers.....so I am wondering...will they have beers in the staff hot tub?

yes he will. It will be right under his own personal waterfall


---------------------------------------------
--- Dryflyguy wrote:

More importantly, will Helfrich have a hot tub in his office? That's my biggest concern.

---------------------------------------------

I was sitting in a strategy meeting with Robby and Helf last week. Had some great one on one time talking with Helfrich and I can tell you Mark will loosen things up. For boosters who felt jilted like the junior high nerd getting punked, the Helfmeister will put some salve on those wounds. Here's some bullets.

1. Helf loves golf. More than football. Way more. He has signed up for most Duck Alum tournaments this summer (under alias names)and for those tourneys in August, he's hoping his assistants can run the practices. Helf was pretty funny too. He said Chip loved playing golf as much as hemmorhoid removal. He's already torn out the hot tub and had it replaced with a putting green.

2. Open Practices-Open for everyone except Thurday. Catch here is practices will be $65 per person. This was enthusiastically approved as a revenue generator. Sixty percent going to Duck Athletic Fund and forty percent to the Paul Westhead Retirement Fund as the one charity that can help someone in need out.

3. Mullens thought it would be a good idea to get Helfrich out there and mixing elbows with the boosters on the links. There was one glitch created with switching out Nevada with Virginia. Helfrich had planned to miss Thursay/Friday after having accepted to play a Tahoe Pro-Am. Mullens has allowed him to miss game and have Scott Frost step in as HC for that game.

4. Mark Helfrich may spend more time breaking down film than CK but its divided equally. One part game film of opponents, one breaking down PGA pro's games and the last part Disney movings with his kids who tend to commandeer the audio visual when around!

Other than the small tweaks above, Helf said "If it aint broke then tinker with it but don't fix it.