Morning all and happy Tuesday.

I know Lanning has restored a lot of our trust and faith in him these past two weeks with two back to back ranked wins and I think he's proving he has what it takes to get the job done.

Lanning is the Right Coach to get the Ducks a Championship

The Ducks are a long shot from making the College Football Playoff, though it's not impossible, they are also an long shot to make the Big Ten Championship game, but again, not impossible.

Nice article David.

I think Lanning is a great coach for both the Oregon fanbase and the Oregon brand. He's a modern guy that relates to the modern player. He believes in an exciting style of play which is entertaining to watch. His style of coaching translates to many players moving on the next level and having success there.

I know it was impossible to make the OC change after the Nebraska win. It's hard not to contemplate the what ifs about making that change at halftime at Illinois. It has been wild watching Lanning 2.0 materialize right before our eyes.

I think he has been listening to the force ghost of Kenny Rodgers. You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

I think he has been listening to the force ghost of Kenny Rodgers. You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Well I DO hear "The Gambler" term used to describe DL often. So, I have to agree with your Kenny Rodgers reference cuz,

"There will be plenty time for counting....when the "scoring" is done! (Poor, abused, pushups marathon for "The Duck").

🦆🏈🪨's.

I am not so sure Oregon can't get it done now. They need a ton of help to get into the post season and losing Tatum makes it difficult.

Oregon is playing outstanding football right now and getting better. Make it in and anything can happen. Especially with the talent on this team.

I know we saw some ugly this year and its hard to imagine with the ugly we saw. But Oregon can stand toe to toe with anyone in game.

Maybe I am crazy, maybe not. This is football and anything can happen when you have one of the top rosters in talent.

Thanks, David, total agreement with your take on Dan.

The Gambler? Good reference.

However, if 'you never count your money when it's sitting on the table', how in Hades do you know how much to bet? 🤑🤪

1 hour ago, MicroBurst61 said:

Well I DO hear "The Gambler" term used to describe DL often.

He does like to play aggressively and take risks when he sees something he likes. I mean the fake punt absolutely shows what Dan wants to do and how it can change the entire game when it's executed.

Which is something Dan needs to know about himself and needs to be part of his guiding needs for a new OC. He needs someone who can be creative enough to have some of these plays in the back pocket and with a scheme solid enough that when it is 4th and 1 at the Oregon 45 yard line they can make the call to go for it and know they can get it.

This gambler or aggressiveness of Lanning has paid off in the past. He just needs an OC that makes the gamble less of a risk.

Think of Stanford in the 2010's. They would go for it on 4th and short all the time and it would be an almost guarantee they would convert the down. Those were relatively low risk 4th down plays because they knew they could always get a yard. In 2022 with Dilly at the helm of the offense Nix did so many QB sneaks that 4th and short was never even a question.

With Mehringer we didn't have the ability to do that... with Johnson it feels like more of a possibility but not a guarantee. Lanning needs an OC that can scheme up this as a guarantee.

Thank you very much, but I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid; there needs to be some accountability.

Lanning is in year five. This shouldn't be a growth year! He isn't meeting the challenge. His team's lost three games after entering the season with the number two ranked roster on the 247Sports composite and arguably maybe the most lauded and highly touted defensive returning line in college football

After getting blown the hell off the field in the last two playoffs. Lanning executed coaching malpractice by doing two internal coordinator hires of unproven P4 candidates. His approach was, if we got outcoached, my teams weren't ready to play and got run off the playoff field the last two years, this is the change I'm going to do to fix that: I'm gonna bring in unproven coordinators and keep the same offensive scheme.

I mean, come on. Let's not give credit where credit isn't due. Let's face the truth. Lessons learned in years one through four should have had him reaching the promised land this year, not in another year or two.

As far as the offense rolling now, that's another area he dropped the ball. He should have seen in the last couple of years that elite teams were shutting down Will Stein's horizontal spread RPO offense and made an adjustment instead of sticking to the same scheme with Meh.

I've been yelling at my TV since the 2023 Pac-12 title loss to Washington that we need to go back to being more multiple on offense while featuring a gap scheme run game. I've wondered why Lanning couldn't see last year his offense was built to run the same system Todd Monken ran at Georgia. He had a better QB, better TE's, great RB's and a great OL.

I'm going to say it again. That Monken Pro-Style scheme was built for a QB like Donte, and we would have won the Natty last year if we were running it with a good play caller. No one was going to be able to shut down that OL line and TE's running gap, without bringing the safeties up and stacking the box. Then hard play action puts them into pick your poison spot, Sadiq's 4.39 speed going Seam, Benson taking the top off, Dak crossing, and Johnson chipping and releasing.

The bottom line is Lanning is getting paid 10 million, he has elite facilities, a $40 million NIL budget that bought him an elite roster. In conclusion looking at the facts, Lanning is not producing an acceptable return on investment.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by dazednconfused

26 minutes ago, dazednconfused said:

In conclusion looking at the facts, Lanning is not producing an acceptable return on investment.

I'd say that is mostly true...

But honestly... fire Lanning and realistically get who?

He's not getting fired, but it's disappointing in year-5 that he needs to make major course corrections. IMO Dan has the next two years to go deep in the playoffs, and he need to be competitive even in a loss, or he will be in hot water. If he can do that then it's progress, he is getting deep in the playoff and losing tight games. If he keeps getting run off the field, then the question becomes with all the Oregon resources why not give someone else a shot? In two years, that could be a really fair question.

But in the here and now... JJ should be showing Dan the value of experience, even from someone who wasn't lauded for his tenure as a OC. JJ has been around long enough to about seen it all at this point, and that is a valuable trait.

Imagine the conversation in the film room: Johnson likely telling Lanning, "I love outside zone—We won a Doak Walker with Kenneth Walker III running it—but we can't block it here, and our spread RPO leaves our struggling tackles on an island. We have to play the cards we're dealt, and that means changing it up to suit the players strengths.

Coach Meh couldn't solve that riddle and didn't have clue how to run gap. He thought gap was a 13 personal goal line formation, and he was bringing the defense in to stack the box with the formation and trying to run into it.

That go-ahead 4th and 2 TD against Northwestern, JJ had them spread out and ran Duo. Lanning said in the post-game JJ want to run it on second down, so Lanning is meddling in the play calls. (BTW- I loved that call, as we haven't run up the middle well all year in short yardage, so spread them out to try it)

Hopefully moving forward Lanning will place the deserved value on experience that allows an OC to be a better teacher and evaluate and solve scheme problems. Hopefully he takes that approach across the entire staff.

I mean if JJ can turn the offense around, Dan should be wondering what an OC like Mike Locksley or Mike Norvell could do.

I'm with you that if things go perfect that Lanning could get us that Natty, but I'm pessimistic and really irked by some of the mistakes he has made. It's hard for me right now to give him lots of pats on the back.

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by dazednconfused

1 hour ago, dazednconfused said:

...with all the Oregon resources why not give someone else a shot?

I have a suggestion...wait until we lose before you unload on him?

Doing it after a great victory detracts from your legitimate criticisms; it makes me wonder, quite a bit, about the timing of your concerns. Very few coaches have done what Lanning has done in his first five years, and after all your berating....who do you replace him with?

The coaches on par are either comfortably in their current jobs in college or the NFL, or you take a chance on someone unproven. Of all the candidates out there--Dan is the best of them.

I come at this with a little different perspective.

As a first time head coach of a major program, Dan Lanning was bound to have a hic cup and this year he had one.

So far, he has responded A+, although I feel it took too long to make the change at OC.

I think he can learn and get over his past coaching mistakes. So that part does not concern me... much.

The part that is lacking is not getting the cream of the crop players. Yes, he is getting 5 stars and high 4 stars, but he is not getting the best of the best - those at the very top. Especially OT and edge. The elite programs get those guys.

And increasingly in modern college football, safety is important. Minnesota blew an upset of UCLA due to poor safety play and Oregon got burned when Perich was not playing well.

A Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ohio St and even USC can get those guys a little easier than Oregon.

Could ANY head coach get those guys at Oregon? It remains to be seen.

Cristobal got Kayvon Thib and Chip got DAT. Those two players beat teams all by themselves. The blue bloods get players like that every year. We had some busts at 5 star, but so does everybody else who can get them.

If you want a championship, you need those kinds of players. Right now, we have some of those at WR and DB. We can also include TE and the linebackers are mostly playing very well too. DT can make the cut, but we need more athleticism at edge.

Safety does not make the cut. Neither does O line. RB is a little short, but I like Brandon and T. Ball. Dante would have been that player. Raiola is a prayer that sometimes gets answered.

Dan Lanning is a very good coach and maybe the best fit Oregon could ever hope for.

But if you want that championship, you need to build the roster just a little bit better.

Oregon under Dan Lanning, is not that far away.

Lanning made a mistake in hiring Mehringer ... I have also gone on record multiple times at this point saying that he has made a lot of internal promotions that has weakened the overall team and this season it has come to fruition. Need a new QB coach, and I wouldn't be surprised if Johnson has quietly taken over a lot more of that role too now. Might need a new TE coach ...

Linebackers has been a problem over the past few years but it kinda feels like this year's group has worked it out and maybe the LB coach finally has a good understanding of what he needs to do in year 3 or 4? Again... Lanning went young with that internal hire too.

Looking at Lanning's track record though in the last two years. 2024 won the Big Ten Championship and beat Ohio State in the regular season... yeah got blown out in the playoff which sucked but 13-1 season.

2025 a loss to Indiana during the regular season in a game where Moore fell apart as a young starter... and then went on a tear the rest of the season with a multitude of injuries and made it to the semi final... and got blown out by Indiana in a game that the OC and DC were both distracted with their new jobs and the runningback room was down to it's No.3 and No.6 runners.

In a way I can understand why Lanning went with Mehringer. He was a guy who was loyal in the program and seemed to want to stick around. He knew the offense and I am sure he is great with the Xs and Os on paper. He is an absolutely awful play-caller with no feel for it. But I kinda think it was a knee jerk reaction to the loss of two coordinators.

I think Hampton was always the plan to promote when Lupoi left. Hampton has taken some time to get his feet under him but the defense feels pretty good and I am sure Lanning himself had a big role to play in getting them on track.

But what we can all say is... holy crap... this Oregon team is still ranked!? This team was dead and the 2026 season's grave was dug and we were about to bury the season and call it a day when the Ducks get a jolt of life back in them and they take down two top 25 teams in two weeks including a blue blood in a blow out. It sucks that it has taken this long into the season to get this team rolling but they are now... this team honest to goodness would beat Oklahoma State, UCLA and Illinois if they had those games today.

Lanning has the coaching chops... but yeah he made some BAD hires and they took awhile to reveal just how bad they were. I expect coaching changes this off season and if there aren't any I'd be really concerned moving forward. As for mid season fixes... I can't think of anyone who has done it better.

Remember Penn State last year just fell apart before our eyes and James Franklin couldn't get the team back on track. That was a highly paid NIL roster with all the resources in the world that should have made a National Championship run. Instead the team fell apart, the HC fired all by mid season.

That is not what is happening at Oregon and if we are seeing this kind of growth this season... what happens when Lanning has built the correct staff with the correct roster? Year 6 of Lanning can be special. The end of year 5 is frankly still a mystery.

It is one thing to say I hope my team meets my expectations. It is another thing entirely to judge based on metrics like we have superior talent, we pay the players 50M, and pay our coaches another 20M, we are owed better.

NFL teams pay 150 to 200M to their coaches and players. About 4 of them are truly excellent. Do we not pay attention to reality?

If you don't like the tone of my post, consider I am matching the tone of our fan base. It is toxic. A lot of entitlement mentality is being expressed. Worse, we aren't demonstrating the excellence we expect.

What Dan Lanning has done this year is no surprise if you've been paying attention. The drama, disappointment, and shattered dreams never changed that.

He showed you just over three years ago in Seattle who he was. He told you why 3 days later. He proved it year after year. He even told you two weeks ago the process will fix itself. He didn't say when.

You didn't want to hear it. You wanted Kool-Aid and Candy Canes. We are not children. We all know life throws us obstacles and challenges we're built to overcome, especially when we make mistakes.

Nobody in Oregon's program can guarantee a National Championship. Not one person. If you don't like that, you are going to be disappointed a very long time.

Dan Lanning is your coach. It's up to you how you want to handle it.

I don't know what happens from here. I am rooting like heck for my Ducks. Pumping sunshine and going full on rabid, bleed green and yellow fanatic.

Ducks are on the move and getting above the line play from both sides of the ball and from coaching.

No matter what happens, the coaching job Lanning has pulled out of his backside has been epic. Dude grew up as a coach and has solidified who he is as a coach.

All the micro analysis is great and fun to read. But right now, Oregon is just playing ball and playing it well.

Nothing to lose hair on fire controlled chaos. And I love it. Players are bought in when many could have threw in the towel. And they are dangerous.

The committee knows it and jumped them up 7. Just keep winning Ducks. Imo, the conner is turned and some haven't recognized it yet. But man, you can sure feel it.

With as crazy and frustrating as this season has gone, if the Ducks don't lose again this year, they still may end up National Champions. I'm letting this thing play out.

Internet coaching is easy. Real-life coaching is hard.

31 minutes ago, jrw said:

Internet coaching is easy. Real-life coaching is hard.

Heck, I give my coaching advice every Saturday while having at least 3 beers from my recliner!

14 hours ago, dazednconfused said:

Thank you very much, but I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid; there needs to be some accountability.

Lanning is in year five. This shouldn't be a growth year! He isn't meeting the challenge. His team's lost three games after entering the season with the number two ranked roster on the 247Sports composite and arguably maybe the most lauded and highly touted defensive returning line in college football

After getting blown the hell off the field in the last two playoffs. Lanning executed coaching malpractice by doing two internal coordinator hires of unproven P4 candidates. His approach was, if we got outcoached, my teams weren't ready to play and got run off the playoff field the last two years, this is the change I'm going to do to fix that: I'm gonna bring in unproven coordinators and keep the same offensive scheme.

I mean, come on. Let's not give credit where credit isn't due. Let's face the truth. Lessons learned in years one through four should have had him reaching the promised land this year, not in another year or two.

As far as the offense rolling now, that's another area he dropped the ball. He should have seen in the last couple of years that elite teams were shutting down Will Stein's horizontal spread RPO offense and made an adjustment instead of sticking to the same scheme with Meh.

I've been yelling at my TV since the 2023 Pac-12 title loss to Washington that we need to go back to being more multiple on offense while featuring a gap scheme run game. I've wondered why Lanning couldn't see last year his offense was built to run the same system Todd Monken ran at Georgia. He had a better QB, better TE's, great RB's and a great OL.

I'm going to say it again. That Monken Pro-Style scheme was built for a QB like Donte, and we would have won the Natty last year if we were running it with a good play caller. No one was going to be able to shut down that OL line and TE's running gap, without bringing the safeties up and stacking the box. Then hard play action puts them into pick your poison spot, Sadiq's 4.39 speed going Seam, Benson taking the top off, Dak crossing, and Johnson chipping and releasing.

The bottom line is Lanning is getting paid 10 million, he has elite facilities, a $40 million NIL budget that bought him an elite roster. In conclusion looking at the facts, Lanning is not producing an acceptable return on investment.

Lanning got busy when the oven reached 800 degrees. And stayed calm while people lost their damn minds.

There's a reason it takes more than 5 years to earn the opportunity to win a title. It's called developing amongst extreme excellence.

You can be skeptical. I know Lanning is the dude. The GOAT. Lanning has to run a gauntlet Chip never faced. The blowouts are meaningless. Chip experienced them too.

Lanning sealed holes in the Titanic. And people are still talking about the ship hitting the iceberg.

Few people have the stones to swallow their pride the way Lanning demonstrated. Few people have the character to dismiss ridiculous expectations and turn an aircraft carrier around in less than a mile.

If grasp my concepts, you understand Dan Lanning is one the best damn coaches in football period. You are witnessing greatness. Embrace it. Or don't.

I know I am.