This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Oregon football's 2017 is not going well.

Since firing their football coach and hiring Willie Taggart from USF, the Ducks hoped for order and winning ways to return to Eugene. What's transpired so far: Three players were hospitalized last week after a workout, and http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2017/01/oregon_to_fire_david_reaves_co.html";>now an offensive coordinator has been fired after a DUI.

I still very much believe in Taggart. I believe he was the right hire. I think he's going to win games. He's socially intelligent, football smarI still very much believe in Taggart. I believe he was the right hire. I think he's going to win games. He's socially intelligent, football smart, and is such a good recruiter that he could convince the luau pig to crawl into the hole and pull the banana leaves over itself.

That aside, if the types of embarrassments of the last week don't subside, Taggart is toast. He'll be done-in not by USC's offense or Washington's defense, but by the very men he surrounded himself with. Like good parents tell their children, "You learn a lot about people by who they surround themselves with."

Make no mistake: It's not like Taggart is on the hotseat. But his grace period has already wound down since his hire, and Oregon isn't even to spring football yet.

Other items:

• ESPN asked several former players under anonymity to talk about workouts, and http://insider.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/18538118/after-oregon-ducks-players-hospitalized-offseason-workouts-former-players-say-there-thin-line-how-far-push-oneself";>if they had seen teammates pass out during workouts. Half said they had. They said some other interesting things, too.

• Justin Wilcox is assembling an interesting and possibly powerhouse staff: The two latest additions are stealing away http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/21/cal-reportedly-hires-ex-raider-marques-tuiasosopo-as-quarterbacks-coach/";>quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo from UCLA and http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/tim-deruyter-cal-defensive-coordinator-justin-wilcox-012317";>bringing in fired Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter as defensive coordinator. That's after Wilcox already hired Beau Baldwin from Eastern Washington.

• The Daily Camera tries to tacklehttp://www.buffzone.com/mensbasketball/ci_30743690/fighting-through-downward-spiral-challenge-cu-buffs";> why exactly the Buffaloes haven't been able to win a conference game despite coming very close. Defense is key for CU.

• Not an article, but hopefully relevant: A lot of folks have been asking about Utah's NCAA tournament hopeshttp://bracketmatrix.com/";>allow me to redirect you to Bracket Matrix, which tracks projections. Out of 78 projections, Utah is currently in six with an average seed of 11.17. There's a lot of work left to do.

APPROPOS OF NOTHING •https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/23/power-five-leagues-adopt-new-rules-lessening-time-demands";> The NCAA autonomy group (Power 5) very quietly passed legislation adjusting athlete time demands last week, something that was tabled last January and resubmitted after the NCAA could convince itself to agree on something do more research on the topic.

The proposals werehttp://www.sltrib.com/home/4126304-155/college-sports-time-demand-proposals-may";> virtually unchanged from those made by the Pac-12 last year.

In the wake of those adjustments, I found this column from The Columbus Dispatch's Todd Jones to be informative. Why have things calmed down in college athletics after a few firestorms just a few years ago? The NCAA made very minor governance changes that were PR friendly but have a surface-level effect on how things get done in college sports.

The O'Bannon lawsuit and Northwesterm union push didn't bring historic change. Perhaps the pending Kessler lawsuit against the NCAA could alter the landscape. The track record suggests a futile mountain climb.

And it doesn't appear the NCAA is going to radically change itself now that outside noise has been quieted by guaranteed scholarships, stipends to cover the full cost of attendance, and a small percentage of legislative voting rights for athletes.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon