New play caller?

Assistant QB coach according to wikpedia

Offensive analyst

Johnson played quarterback for the FCS U Northern Iowa Panthers from 1989 to 1992. In 1992, he was second-team all-conference. In his final three seasons, he was the starting quarterback, leading UNI to three straight playoff appearances. One of his backups for these three seasons was future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. In those four seasons the Panthers were 8-3, 8-4, 11-2, 12-2.

Since 1994 he has been part of staffs at Missouri, Kansas, So. Miss, Louisville, C. Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, Colorado, Mich State and Wyoming.

The last outpost was Wyoming where the Cowboys were 3-9 in 2024 including a win in Pullman, and 3-4 when he was fired in 2025.

He joined Oregon in March 2026. Johnson is the only Oregon staffer with significant offensive play calling experience, with stops at Louisiana-Lafayette, Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan State and Wyoming.

"He’s also coming in with a different perspective and a different view, not being with us the last few years," Lanning said. "He can provide a couple of things that might be different than what we’ve done that I think can trigger some success for us on that side of the ball."

Work has already begun to identify Oregon's next full-time offensive coordinator, though Lanning doesn't expect that to be finalized any time soon.

"I don’t think an announcement is gonna happen right around the corner," Lanning said. "Again, to think that you’re not always preparing for moments like that, I think would be wrong, too. So there’s an awareness, there’s an evaluation process. You want to be really thorough as you go through that. Is that going to be occurring over the next few weeks, months? Yes. Does that mean that we make an announcement tomorrow? It just doesn’t really fit with the cycle of football."

A snippet of Johnson's history as a play caller:

Michigan State (2020–2023): Outside of a brilliant 2021 season anchored by Doak Walker Award winner Kenneth Walker III, Johnson's offenses in East Lansing heavily struggled. By 2023, the Spartans finished near the bottom of the Big Ten in nearly every major offensive metric, leading to widespread fan frustration over predictable sequencing

Wyoming (2024–2025): Handed the reins to the Cowboys' offense, his tenure was short-lived. Following highly predictable play-calling—often criticized by fans for an over-reliance on standard inside zone runs out of the shotgun regardless of the down-and-distance—Johnson was fired midway through the 2025 season.

Lanning has stated that the offensive strategy moving forward into the Northwestern game will be a "collaborative effort" across the entire offensive staff rather than putting the entire system on Johnson's shoulders.

Could be interesting. Could be a dumpster fire. Which is most likely?

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by John Charles

6 minutes ago, John Charles said:

A snippet of Johnson's history as a play caller:

Michigan State (2020–2023): Outside of a brilliant 2021 season anchored by Doak Walker Award winner Kenneth Walker III, Johnson's offenses in East Lansing heavily struggled. By 2023, the Spartans finished near the bottom of the Big Ten in nearly every major offensive metric, leading to widespread fan frustration over predictable sequencing

Wyoming (2024–2025): Handed the reins to the Cowboys' offense, his tenure was short-lived. Following highly predictable play-calling—often criticized by fans for an over-reliance on standard inside zone runs out of the shotgun regardless of the down-and-distance—Johnson was fired midway through the 2025 season.

Lanning has stated that the offensive strategy moving forward into the Northwestern game will be a "collaborative effort" across the entire offensive staff rather than putting the entire system on Johnson's shoulders.

Could be interesting. Could be a dumpster fire.

Jeez man. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

I can't believe we didn't have anyone on our roster to call plays that doesn't have a history of sucking at doing it.

Things aren't going to magically get better here. Frankly the best strategy going forward is to put the play sheet on a poster and have one of Lanning's kids throw darts at it.

Or just have the position coaches take turns calling plays for a half.

At least that would give us the element of surprise. I'm not really joking.

Put Jorgy in the booth with Johnson. Jorgy can remember a lot of ugly Ducks play calling and might be able to coach Johnson about what to avoid.

He was Mel Truckers OC at Colorado and went with him to MSU. Mel had that big year with Kenneth Walker III and got that huge $95 million extension and then Mel got himself fired for cause and didn't get his buyout.

When Mel got that stupid extension, it was the start of it all going stupid!!

James Frankilin got his big extension, LSU hired Brian Kelly for over $100 million, Riley got $100 million at USC. Miami bought out Mario and gave him like $85 million.

Now players move every year, some get $5-mil a year and NIL rosters are up to $40 or 50 mil

17 minutes ago, Solar said:

Jeez man. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

I can't believe we didn't have anyone on our roster to call plays that doesn't have a history of sucking at doing it.

Things aren't going to magically get better here. Frankly the best strategy going forward is to put the play sheet on a poster and have one of Lanning's kids throw darts at it.

Or just have the position coaches take turns calling plays for a half.

At least that would give us the element of surprise. I'm not really joking.

I hear Dante Moore is available, between Lanning's kids and him we could have something.

It's not really that surprising that we don't really have anyone with experience calling plays, this is fine as a stop gap, we aren't going to get much better with the personnel that we have at QB and the O-line.

You have to be kidding.

My friends, I have finally answered that long ago framed philosophical question. "THERE APPARENTLY IS NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL."

Welcome to the

Dan Lanning Experiment 2026

Washing out at 2 consecutive OC positions is why he's stuck as an assistant QB coach. DL has to turn to him because apparently there just isn't any other choice.

Is this good?

I would try contacting either Jeff Tedford or Marc Helfrich to see if either of them are interested in being Offensive Analyst.

Yes, it's a long shot for either one, but let them say "no" before moving on.

Dan Lanning announces Jay Johnson will take over playcalling duties after Drew Mehringer firing

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has slated veteran coach Jay Johnson as the team's interim playcaller. Johnson served as the offensive coordinator at Colorado, Michigan State and Wyoming most recently.

https://247sports.com/college/oregon/article/dan-lanning-announces-jay-johnson-will-take-over-playcalling-duties-after-drew-mehringer-firing-291835499/

Meh got fired... why is everyone shocked its not another play caller behind him?

Critiqued at Wyoming for predictable play calling. This certainly sounds a bit like same ol' same ol' to me.

At least the defense is playing pretty well and should keep us in most games.

Fingers crossed.

Three Things to Know About Oregon Ducks’ New Play-Caller Jay Johnson

Let’s just hope no other player gets hurt this year and we don’t lose our 2027 class. About what this season has come to, Sigh.

MSU fans are roasting us right now.

2 hours ago, Lrod said:

Meh got fired... why is everyone shocked its not another play caller behind him?

I'm shocked that Lanning cares more about a smooth operation than putting someone else who sucks just as bad as the guy he just fired in the role.

Someone else, anyone else is better than someone that has already proven they can't do it.

How about Jonathan Smith, the ex Oregon State coach? Good offensive coordinator at Washington, successful head coach for the Beavers. I asked AI and he doesn't seem to be currently employed after getting dumped by Michigan State. Dude played quarterback for one of the best Oregon State teams ever. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned his name.

6 minutes ago, DVH69 said:

How about Jonathan Smith, the ex Oregon State coach? Good offensive coordinator at Washington, successful head coach for the Beavers. I asked AI and he doesn't seem to be currently employed after getting dumped by Michigan State. Dude played quarterback for one of the best Oregon State teams ever. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned his name.

That Beaver team would have been a huge problem in a twelve team playoff. I'd say if Lanning has not at least been in contact with J Smith or Locksley from Maryland by now, something's wrong. If either one wants the job, sign them up ASAP before the roster and recruits start looking elsewhere.

Always thought that one of the strengths of DL's program was a REAL connection to the wider Oregon Football community, including many former Ducks with NFL offensive experience. Now, it's hard to escape the perception that Lanning is operating as a lone wolf, and he seems to be swinging in the wind.

I hope I'm wrong and there is a wealth of collaborative wisdom being shared and listened to behind the scenes of OBD 2026 train wreck.

Go Ducks

It's JJ! What could go wrong? (🤬😧🥸)

This guy has more CFB frequent-flyer miles than a United Airlines pilot.

He doesn't seem to be at the apogee of his career. (DUH!)

Chip brought back the Winged T, and Northwestern and QB Aiden Chiles are lighting it up. Win one for the Gipper and bring back the Single Wing?

No place is finer on December 22nd than Shreveport, Louisiana, and it's only a 40-hour drive from Eugene. 😁

I like the idea of Locksley. I hope this doesn't last more than one or two weeks.

We have a 75 million dollar staff and roster going to waste. Have the headhunters put out a APB for a $100,000 a week gig as the OC and see who picks up the phone.

Is that really that off limits to do?

I think it's a good move for the remainder of the season, but I'd be a little concerned if it turned into a permanent hire.

Johnson isn't some inexperienced assistant being thrown into the fire. He's been an offensive coordinator at several programs, including Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan State, and Wyoming. His 2021 Michigan State offense was pretty impressive, averaging nearly 429 yards and 32 points per game on the way to an 11–2 season. Granted, having Kenneth Walker III in the backfield certainly didn't hurt.

But there's another side to that résumé. Johnson was relieved of his offensive coordinator duties at Wyoming in the middle of the 2025 season, with his offense averaging just 20 points per game. That's not exactly the kind of recent success that screams he's the answer for a program with Oregon's expectations.

That said, I think the interim designation makes sense. He's already in the building, knows the personnel, has experience calling plays, and has an established relationship with Lanning. Given the circumstances, bringing in someone completely unfamiliar with the program would probably create more problems than it solves.

My bigger concern is whether changing coordinators actually changes anything offensively. Are we going to see a different philosophy, better adjustments, more creativity, and an offense that plays to its personnel's strengths? Or are we just going to have a different guy calling essentially the same plays?

I'd like to see a commitment to establishing the run, better use of play-action, smarter quarterback management, and some actual creativity on third down. We have enough talent that moving the football shouldn't feel like pulling teeth.

Ultimately, I give Lanning credit for recognizing something wasn't working and making a change rather than stubbornly riding it out. But I also think Oregon is in a position where it shouldn't have to settle when it comes to hiring an offensive coordinator. We have the resources, recruiting power, and national reputation to attract someone with a proven track record of consistently producing elite offenses.

So I'm fine with Johnson taking the reins for now. Give him an opportunity to show what he can do, evaluate the results, and then conduct a serious national search when the season ends.

The real question, at least to me, isn't whether Jay Johnson is capable of calling plays. It's whether Lanning recognizes that Oregon might need more than a different play-caller. It might need a different offensive approach altogether.

Because changing who's holding the playbook doesn't accomplish much if we're still running the same damn offense.

As disappointing as our coaches are at developing talents and calling plays, at least they have been good at ranking the pieces - clearly Moore > Raiola > Thomas. AS Jr is an unknown but judging from how the coaches tried to keep him off the field, we probably know the answer also. Same thing with coordinators too. Johnson's history looks more diasterous than Meh. So don't expect any turnaround in offensive production. The real question is how are we so unprepared for contingencies and why did we hire coaches that lesser programs fired?

Why do people think you can just bring in another play-caller from somewhere outside the program the week before a game, also Locksley or most other coaches would wait until the end of the year to join a staff. I don't think I've heard of anyone joining a staff midseason and starting to call plays right away.

It makes no sense to bring someone in right now from out of the blue. Johnson is a stop gap for a season that is already over, it's not like he's going to get the job for next year.

Johnson has been up in the booth sitting next to Mehringer the entire season.