Dan Lanning thinks Drew Mehringer is the guy. 10,000 armchair quarterbacks disagree

Drew Mehringer is a former quarterback at Rice, once the passing game coordinator under Tom Herman at Texas for three seasons.

At Rutgers in 2016 he became the youngest player caller in the Power Five at 28. Trouble was, the Scarlet Knights were woeful, averaging 15.7 points a game that season, dead last in yards per play at 4.13, 0-9 in the Big Ten and 2-11 overall.

While that's not encouraging, it's mean and pointless to define anyone by the worst job they ever had. After injuries cut short his playing career, Mehringer worked as a grad assistant at Iowa State and then Ohio State, earning a master's degree in sports management.

Over his career he's coached the offensive line, receivers, quarterbacks and tight ends. He's been a quarterbacks coach and a passing game coordinator, but there's only the one season calling plays, and it wasn't a good one.

Dan Lanning's had a superb record hiring coaches and coordinators

The best endorsement of him is Dan Lanning's confidence. He's been on the Oregon staff all four seasons in 48-8 run, working under Kenny Dillingham and Will Stein, who both became head coaches. The Ducks have had one of the best offenses in college football the entire time.

He's a brilliant recruiter; he coached Terrance Ferguson and Kenyon Sadiq and developed them into NFL players. Sadiq's a certain first-rounder. He brought along Jamari Johnson, who proved to be an explosive addition from the Transfer Portal, and he's back this season for another year.

He likes multiple formations and using the tight ends in the offense, which is good because the Ducks are loaded again at that position with Johnson and two five-stars, Kendre Harrison and Andrew Olesh.

Back in 2023 when he had Ferguson and Patrick Herbert, Mehringer said, "I think that because the tight end position is so versatile, the more of those guys can play and play effective football, it gives you a lot more options."

Yet the challenge is exponentially greater now because he's in charge of the whole room. He's the lead driver for Ferrari and the chief mechanic, as well as the guy in charge of the pit stops. Oregon has the potential to have a "Greatest Show on Turf" style of offense in 2026, with a 3,565-yard passer with 30 touchdowns, an explosive cast at wide receiver including Evan Stewart, Jeremiah McClellan and Dakorien Moore, plus Iverson Hooks.

Mehringer has Thunder and Lightning in the backfield in Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill. At quarterback he has a five-star backup with 22 college starts. This is a 16-cylinder race car, gleaming green, with corner-hugging aerodynamics. His job is to get it into sixth gear and blow away the money-guzzling monster trucks from Ohio State and USC.

In 2023 he said, "I think the mark of a good offensive coordinator is saying 'OK, how can I utilize my pieces the best,' right? So, having different experiences and being in different systems that utilize players differently, gives you a more well-rounded approach."

Back then Lanning passed him over to hire Will Stein, a move that worked out really well until they met Ohio State and Indiana in the College Football Playoff, though it earned Stein a heading coaching job.

It's Mehringer's time now. At 38 he's chairman of the board for the offense once run by Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Dillingham, though it was run into the ground, literally and figuratively, by a few others.

Moore came back to compete for a national championship. For that to happen, this offense has to achieve its Version 5.0, explosive on the order of 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama. It has the talent to be that potent, if their newly promoted offensive coordinator has the skills and determination to reach that high.

As Admiral Hyman Rickover once said to a young Lieutenant Jimmy Carter, "Why not the best?"