Entering his fifth season at Oregon, Dan Lanning turns 40 in April. He's 48-8 in the first four, 6-6 against Top Ten teams, 0-2 against Curt Cignetti, 0-3 against Kalen Deboer, 0-1 against Kirby Smart, 1-1 against Ryan Day.
That makes him 47-1 against everyone else, including 2-0 against Kyle Whittingham, the new coach at Michigan.
There's a segment of sports fans who delight in negativism and derision. This is not their website. The trolls will blather the usual arguments about how the Ducks choke in big games, that Lanning is the James Franklin of the West, or Phil Knight has failed in a 30-year quest to buy a title.
Those arguments are specious and casual. The truth is that winning a title is hard, something that takes timing, injury luck, and a special team that stays on course over a season that's longer than ever, too long, now requiring a champion to beat three Top teams over the final five weeks, a season whose climax stupidly coincides with early signing day, the Transfer Portal, the NFL playoffs and the coaching carousel while conflicting with the academic calendar.
A competitor, Lanning will self-evaluate everything after falling short again
Only team that's been impacted more by injuries than Oregon is USC. Also having three of the West Coast Big Ten teams is certainly something that needs to be looked at. https://t.co/tP8w11xEov
— Eric Hovland (@EricJHovland) February 5, 2026
Lanning and the Ducks reached the quarterfinals in 2024, won two playoff games this season before being destroyed by eventual champion Indiana in the Peach Bowl 56-22, a game they trailed 35-7 at halftime, the second season in a row they'd been blown out in their final game after a fine season.
As one of his principal adversaries in the Big Ten, Cignetti is a staunch advocate of keeping players fresh and avoiding injury. That formula worked like magic for the Hoosiers in 2026, but injuries happen in games, training or pickup basketball in July.
Coach Cig giving yall the blueprint to success and I bet people still won’t listen.
— John Davis, CSCS, Pn1, OPEX (@Mr_davisj) February 5, 2026
“We’ve never had depth so I learned how to keep players fresh”
Mark Ingram “players gonna come just cause of your schedule”pic.twitter.com/d3rhnDPqyo
It's funny how after winning one IU fans are making statements like, "The national champion runs through Cignetti now." He's a great coach but winning at the highest level and repeating are more complicated than that. Oregon, Notre Dame, LSU, Texas, Texas Tech, the Buckeyes, Miami will all take their shots.
In the last three campaigns Lanning has gone 12-2, 13-1 with a Big Ten Championship, 13-2 with two playoff wins. That's winning at a high level. He returns his best team with tremendous leadership, imposing talent at quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive line and in the secondary, already one of the favorites to make the playoffs and contend in 2026.
The favorite's role feels like a kiss of death, something Duck fans would rather not have, preferring to sneak up on everyone. That falls into the category of outside noise, among the things a team can't control.
Yesterday Caden Handwork at Oregon Ducks on SI wrote about the challenge Dan Lanning laid out for his team as they begain winter workouts. “What do we got to fight? We can’t be complacent, right? We’re not going to get there just because we have no one on our chest. We got to do some work."
"I’m excited for those guys to come back. I’m more excited to see how much they grow. What are they willing to commit to? What habit can they develop that, you know, matches the goals that they have? And so that’s going to be the new exciting challenge for us as a coaching staff,” Lanning said.
As long as Lanning is in Eugene, the Ducks will be contenders. His ability to motivate, evaluate coaches and players and the resources the program enjoys will keep them in the upper echelon of college football's best conference in this era.
Breaking through to that first title is a question of timing and destiny. Cignetti won his first national title at 64 after 40 years in coaching. Nick Saban won his first after 13 years, Kirby Smart in year six.
Of Lanning's five seasons, this is Oregon's best chance to win one. They've got a veteran quarterback and eight of 11 starters returning on defense, a deep, explosive wide receiver room and two top running backs.
He and the staff have rebuilt depth and added dynamic talent through three years of Top Five high school recruiting. Iverson Hooks and Koi Perich are two sound additions from the portal. There are problems to solve, bringing the linebacker corps up to championship level, establishing an effective rotation on the offensive line, but this is a staff that excels at playing winning football.
Reaching the championship is all about the margins, the timing and perseverance. Anyone who thinks Lanning lacks the latter hasn't been paying attention.