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Lanning needs to leverage the resources at his disposal and surround himself by verified talent. Oregon is a destination job opportunity. He should be conducting a national coaching search for every high end position on the staff. Promotions from within should only come after it is abundantly clear the person in line deserves the promotion. They should have other high end job offers on the table to prove their worth as well. The "Ol' Boys Club" hires need to end, period.

Yes David I fully agree. In fact I think this step back may be what's needed to take that elusive step forward. Without these awful faceplants, an 11-1 type season with another playoff humiliation is what would have been the future and Lanning probably doesn't change a thing. I Think between NIL, GMs and the portal, recruiter first coaches will lose significance anyway and coaches that can prep 4-5 stars for the NFL will be the priority and UO would be a great place for those types of coaches to locate to.

Good news is that he rights the ship in a timely fashion in the off season he reloads the roster with talent from the portal quickly and can be right back in contention next year. Rebuilds are faster than ever. Holding onto key pieces on this roster will be difficult but again communicating to players at least behind closed doors can ensure players stick around.

Oregon has had some pretty good success rates on 4th down under Lanning and if he wants to keep that going he needs an offensive coordinator who can make sure those short yardage situations are effectively a freebie. Anyone remember how frustrating some of those David Shaw teams at Stanford were? Fourth and 2 and here comes the jumbo package and they convert almost every freaking time. Part of that is power and part of that is scheme and part of that is just darn good coaching. I need to dig up the old article I had from 2022 but Dillingham's jumbo package was a thing of beauty. With that package it was almost a guarantee of converting in short yardage situations. Lanning wants to play like he has top tier coaches in the sport and is making decisions with that in mind. The reality is that he doesn't have those coaches. Lanning is the one who is going to need to make those changes to his coaching roster and he will need to own it. If not in public at least with himself. At the end of the day Lanning is ultimately accountable and the fan-bases' trust in him is breaking but I am not saying broken. He will get an opportunity to prove himself in the off season and next season. And yes, I am aware we still have half a season ahead of us still.

I think a lot of this discussion needs to be focused on Dan Lanning himself. How did we end up hiring a riverboat gambler? I don't think he learned his way too agressive behavior (IMHO) from Kirby Smart or Nick Saban. The most recent examples are the Oklahoma State game where his go for it attitude on 4th and 8 yards arguably cost us the game. Against UCLA his poor decision to go for two points after the first TD probably cost us the game. Our defense is playing relatively well considering they had to play the 2/3rds of the last game due to offensive miscues. The offense is a mess. Mehringer has done a poor job and his resume is poor but he works for the Head Coach who is ultimately responsible. Changes need to be made now because we are trending in the wrong direction.

Great article David. Your weekly articles have become one of the best parts of the forum. Keep it up! In the big picture, I think this will just be the one step back after many steps forward for Lanning if he learns the right lessons which I think he will. I think Lanning's biggest mistake has been an out of balanced priority of recruiting over coaching. I did a little research in another thread and was actually shocked at how little actual coaching history most of the offensive position coaches have vs how much recruiting history they have. For example, here's what the QB room looks like from QB1-QB4: 5 star, 5star. 3 star. 4 star. That's a galaxy of stars been lead by a QB coach that played tight end in college (UO) and has never even been a position coach before and only been an assistant QB coach with Stein in 24-25 before the promotion. What? The three elephants in the room are QB regression, lack of O line development and lackluster play calling. Here are the guys responsible for those jobs. The line is being coached by a guy with only one year at Hawaii as an O line coach before arriving at Oregon. They are all being lead by an OC with only one year at Rutgers as OC under his belt. They are being lead by QBs that are being lead by a guy learning his job in real time. This is the level of experience that is guiding a team with national championship aspirations. Unbelievable. I would expect more experience at a mid level Sun Belt conference team. All of those guys primary responsibilities at their earlier stops was recruiting. Lanning is a smart guy but obviously miscalculated the priorities for long term success. I think he'll right the ship in the off season but this year won't be what we had hoped but if it's the one step back before the championship step forward, it will be worth it.

I haven’t read the article, yet, but it sounds as though Coach Lanning is starting to feel the pressure and break a little based on his press conference responses. He was very defensive about his offensive coaches. I’m by no means calling for his head but the PR team needs to help him out. It would be better to say I have no comment or will have to evaluate that after ____.

I've been saying it since the Ok St loss... but this coaching staff is just too young. When you get down to it a veteran teacher or coach is just going to run circles around a first or second year one. Talent is not an issue, the Ducks are getting out coached. Some Uncomfortable Decisions Are Coming at Season’s EndOregon demolished Portland State 84-0 on Friday night.

Marsh Duck Tuesday? Well I was unable to get to editing the article on Sunday evening so I pushed the publishing date off until today. I also had sword classes on Sunday which was great for my mental health but also made me a bit too tired to want to deal with some of these issues facing the program right now. Anyways I hope you find the article interesting... it wasn't the article I wanted to write and probably not the article you wanted to read this year about the coaching situation but here we are. Trust in Lanning is BreakingThis isn’t the article I wanted to write and this isn’t the article you wanted to read.

In the main post above, I didn't mention all the times that the various coaches main duties included some variant of recruiting coordinator. I should have as it would have underscored my main point. Most of the coaches main jobs seemed to be recruiter first, assistant position coach second followed by moving up to position coach while maintaining lead recruiter titles. It's the common theme among them. I found most of this info from the goducks website if you want to check it yourself. Also notice how the most experienced position coaches are at receiver and running back where they are having the least problems.

UCLA is still waiting for confirmation to the extent of the injury from doctors but they will probably not disclose it until they have to.

And not to mention the beat downs Oregon has endured the past two playoffs by getting out coached by more experienced coaching staffs. You would have thought that this offseason would have been an opportunity to bring in more experienced coaches to correct that problem. Instead we got younger and more inexperienced…

A coach has a good breakdown of the UCLA game in the below video. According to this coach: • The offensive line technique is really bad, including by players who have been at Oregon for 3 years. Are they not being taught fundamentals or are they not listening to the coaches? Either scenario is bad. • Dylan Riola was not making the right reads, was late with the ball, had poor fundamentals (e.g., throwing off his back foot) and felt pressure when there was none. The coach felt, based strictly on the UCLA game, that Brock Thomas should start if DM is not able to go, as he was making quick decisions and getting the ball to his playmakers on the perimeter. • The coach says that as a coach you have to know what your players are capable/not capable of, where your strengths are and have counters ready. Oregon’s weakness this year is our offensive line and specifically running between the tackles. Why are we trying to run up the middle for the 2 point conversion instead of trying to get the ball outside? Our receivers are the strength of the offense, why are we not trying to get them the ball in space, quickly more often? He suggested having a counter to the option, where the QB pulls the ball and gets it to the WR in space quickly (this play was open in the tape but we never tried it). While Oregon’s offensive line play has been terrible it also sounds as though our OC has not adjusted to the team’s strengths and weaknesses, and does not have creative counters ready. We keep trying to run the same failed plays with the same results.

Intense exchange between Coach Lanning and reporters. Lanning defends his decision not to share details of what the team is doing to get ready for next game. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning Promises Oregon Changes During Tense ExchangeThe Oregon Ducks’ second loss in five games has raised a plethora of questions about the program’s preparation and the job security of members of the coaching s

Dan Lanning Promises Oregon Changes During Tense ExchangeOregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning provided a heated and long-winded answer to whether he will disclose staff changes. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning Promises Oregon Changes During Tense ExchangeThe Oregon Ducks’ second loss in five games has raised a plethora of questions about the program’s preparation and the job security of members of the coaching sEverything Dan Lanning said ahead of Oregon's game against Nebraskahttps://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2026/10/12/oregon-football-dan-lanning-preview-nebraska-cornhuskers-dante-moore/92225968007/

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule Identifies Oregon Threat Beyond Dylan RaiolaThe Nebraska Cornhuskers may have to prepare for three different Oregon Ducks quarterbacks entering the Week 7 matchup. Oregon Ducks On SINebraska’s Matt Rhule Identifies Oregon Threat Beyond Dyl...The Oregon Ducks enter a must-win matchup against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 7 to keep any hope of playoff contention alive after a shocking loss to the N

I hope Oregon finds a fix for putting the ball on the ground. Nebraska is a good football team. Ducks will have their hands full

The defense has a few things working for them right now. The coaching staff has more longer term coaches and stability. Tuioti has been around for awhile and has a decent history. Hampton has had success as a DC before. And only the edge coach is actually a first year coach at this point. LB and DB coach are young and both were internal hires but they have at least been doing the job for a few years now. More vets on defense... All the defensive line is back and linebackers have two returning starters (though Jackson didn't start last year due to injury). DB has some absolute athletes. Defense is often more reactive than offense so a strong athletic showing can make up for a lot of flaws. Lanning knows defense and has probably stepped in tonight the ship a bit. Offense has 3/5 new line and no one is on the same page. Two new position coaches. An OC with limited past success and a team that just doesn't seem to be on the same page. Special teams has looked decent... Lorig is been with the program since Lanning got here. Kick offs have been a bit suspect but I don't know if that is partially by design or not because against BSU like all the kick offs were out the back of the end zone. Oregon has fantastic athletes and often those athletes keep the Ducks in the game despite the coaching malpractice. Seriously... Oklahoma State was only a loss by 9 points considering just how bad that game played out. UCLA was only a loss by 2 points with the defense on the file for 2/3rds of the game! That's all on the players... The coaching is the problem here.

It is a shared payday for the conference. Of course you play.

WOW! This team is 2-2 against the top 25. The only team that has played 4 ranked teams. The D was outstanding on Saturday. The game should have gone into OT; a missed spot by the B1G refs did not help. Going for 2 after the first TD was simply stupid. A 10-2 Oregon team is in the PO. Who gets fired then? Half a season is left to figure it out on offense. Oregon may have defeated G6 and B12 playoff teams. The good news is that solid Nebraska, Northwestern, and Michigan teams visit Autzen, and Illinois and Michigan State are not lighting it up. And Ohio State is not as good as last season. A season in which the Buckeyes dropped their last two games. A close loss last Saturday. Close wins the rest of the season? The defense we saw vs. UCLA is good enough to win many games. And I am not a Sunshine Pumper. More good news? No more bye weeks. What was wrong with the defense on Saturday? Did the D overcome the coaching? 6 games remain, and nothing positive or negative is inevitable.

for Yes, I believe had we done that last half Sat that we win the game. We could not have fumbled anymore.

Bummer!

This question prompted me to do some research on the coaching history of the offensive coaching staff. I posted the results on a different thread. The short conclusion: With very little experience across the board, this is mostly a recruiting staff posing as coaches. Very few have more than a couple years of experience coaching their positions. A couple didn't have any experience at all. I think not bringing in an A list Offensive Coordinator set the Ducks on an inevitable collision course with where they're at now without much ability to course correct until after the season. Talent alone could and should still win most of the remaining games but I don't see the Ducks really moving forward until they bring in some real coaches.

Im not worried about the hype train departure, Im worried about the portal train depature.

To Summarize a long post: The Offensive Coordinator looks like he has held that position once for a year at Rutgers. The Offensive line coach looks like he held that position once for a year at Hawaii before joining the Ducks. The QB coach hadn't been a QB coach before the Oregon job. The running back coach has had four similar jobs at four different stops prior to joining the Ducks The receiver coach had three years of experience before the Duck job. The tight end coach is a position coach for the first time this year. This is the staff we're expecting to figure things out. Good luck. To me this looks like a collection of under qualified coaches who's main duties at their other stops was recruiting. I think Lanning has put all his eggs in that basket and just doesn't have anyone on staff that is qualified to figure things out. Maybe this is why well coached teams give the Ducks so many problems but a poorly coached team like USC doesn't.