The coaching move Dan Lanning must make to get over the hump at Oregon

College football is undergoing a seismic shift. With NIL and the Transfer Portal the game is changing from one of star ratings and talent (the era of the blue-chip ratio) to one of coaching, scheme and experience.

After Ohio State and Michigan won titles with veteran rosters, Curt Cignetti and Indiana are closing in on one with a disciplined, well-coached squad of three-star players with experience. In toppling Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon in their last three games, the Hoosiers put on a display of relentless execution and flawless preparation.

Meanwhile in their blowout playoff losses to Ohio State and now IU, the talent-laden Ducks have been outcoached and out schemed.

This is not a fire everybody/bash Dan Lanning post. Lanning deserves full credit for building a strong culture and an impressive roster in Eugene, but to get over the hump and win championships, the Ducks need that added edge of a coordinators and play-callers who can give the team a game plan advantage in big games.

While 2025 was a great season in which the Ducks exceeded expectations at 13-2, there's no denying the offense underperformed its talent, suffering an absolute power outage at times under Will Stein.

Six times this season they were held to 26 points or less:

Offensive execution wins championships while protecting and promoting a defense

@ Penn St W 30-24 (17 points in regulation)

1 Indiana L 20-30

@ Rutgers W 56-10

Wisconsin W 21-7

@ Iowa W 18-16

Minnesota W 42-13

16 USC W 42-27

@ Washington W 26-14

19 James Madison W 51-34

4 Texas Tech W 23-0

Indiana L 22-56

Even with Kenjon Sadiq, Jamari Johnson, Malik Benson, Noah Whittington, Jordon Davison, Dakorien Moore and Jeremiah McClellan in the lineup, this was an offense that lacked a consistent identity or an effective answer to defensive pressure. In turn, they put too much pressure on their defense.

Weird fundamental errors cropped up at the end of year, snaps dribbled back to the quarterback, quarterback and running back running into each other.

Indiana's flawless execution was a lesson in what championship football should look like. The Ducks have to grow as a team, and they need a coordinator or quarterback coach who can take this offense to the next level, a mastermind who is a step ahead of opponents, an attack to be feared.

The Ducks need a wizard and a football savage in the booth. It's time for Dan Lanning to hire some brains to enhance the productivity of the offense. It's gone stale.

In the last two games they've converted 4-10 on fourth downs. It's fine to be aggressive, provided a staff has a plan for plays that can succeed. This fourth down stretch play against an overloaded box provides the worst example:

It's a recruiting and portal issue too. To be successful, a program has to be an operation good players want to be a part of. If they don't upgrade their presentation, the Ducks are in danger of missing their window.

The true, valid measures are consistency, results and productivity. That's been missing.