3 biggest ‘what-ifs’ in Duck history

What if Mike White stayed?

Mike White saved, improved, built, changed, adapted, and empowered the Oregon softball program. Then, he left.

All of a sudden, the man who had turned the Ducks’ softball team into a perennial powerhouse was gone to Austin. 

White coached the Ducks from 2010-2018 before signing a new contract with the Texas Longhorns and he turned the program into a national power, even a household name. They won five conference titles during his tenure with the program, four of which were back-to-back-to-back-to-back (2013-2016).

If he had stayed at the program, Oregon wouldn’t have experienced the absolute wreckage of their roster as players followed him to UT.

So what if White had stayed and players like Lauren Burke, Mary Iakopo, and Shannon Rhodes had stuck around?

I believe that Oregon would have gone on to take down programs like UCLA and Oklahoma. Instead of those teams being the back-to-back(-to-back) national champions that they became, it would have been White and the Ducks.

Oregon would have sat atop the Pac-12 every year instead of UCLA. The Ducks would have banners to hang instead of Oklahoma, Florida, or Florida State.

If White had stayed, the ring count in Eugene could have been endless. But he didn’t stay. He went to Austin, where he has yet to see a national title. And the Ducks have yet to bring home a conference banner since his departure.

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