The Oregon Ducks struggled on almost every side of the ball in their Rose Bowl matchup in the College Football Playoffs. Much to the dismay of fans, a high-caliber offense and a powerhouse defense struggled to produce against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Despite the defense giving up an embarrassing 41 points in the game, most fans are directing their criticisms toward Oregon's offensive coordinator, Will Stein, who received a lot of gripe from the Ducks throughout the season.
Will stein should not return to Eugene. He hates his QBs running the ball. The focus on looking downfield instead of just trying to gain yards for 2 years been bad
— Johnny GB (@JohnnyGB412) January 2, 2025
Throughout the Rose Bowl Game, Oregon repeatedly followed the pattern of running the ball twice and then going for a deeper pass because the Ducks had so many yards that they had to gain on third down. Oregon fans quickly caught onto the pattern and so did the Buckeyes.
This morning I am still mind blown how Oregon played last night. They were basically dead on arrival. Will Stein’s play calling of run-run-pass was abysmal when you gain 2-3 yards on the two run plays. I can’t believe Muhammad wasn’t following Smith all game. Just embarrassing..
— Darien (@DarienRoberts) January 2, 2025
Throughout the regular season and the Big Ten Championship game, fans only spoke up when they were unhappy with the Oregon OC – despite Stein sending yet another quarterback to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist and coaching an offense to a 13-0 season before the CFPs.
However, once the Ducks faltered in the Rose Bowl, when winning mattered the most, fans immediately took to social media to call for Stein's removal from the offensive coordinator position.
Will Stein getting severely out coached right now for Oregon
— Bad Benny (@HereREGOagain) January 1, 2025
Zero answers. Zero creativity.
Under head coach Dan Lanning, the Ducks have been a defensively-minded program – with Lanning's background coming from the defensive coordinator role and Oregon's current DC Tosh Lupoi being a main character on the sidelines.
Yet, Stein's offenses have produced (for the most part) when they needed to over the last two seasons. In Lanning's first year with the Ducks, Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State's current head coach) was the Oregon OC.
Time will tell if Lanning sticks with his guy at offensive coordinator or if Stein wants to stay in Eugene with the coaching carrousel always in motion. For now, Lanning, Stein, and Lupoi have not mentioned any thoughts of changes.