When Dan Lanning was hired following the 2021/22 season, he brought a pair of coordinators familiar to him to Eugene. Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi.
After just one season at Oregon, Dillingham earned a head coaching role at Arizona State, in a return to home. Lupoi is still in town. With his experience, proven on-field coaching ability, and a more than impressive recruiting record, he could easily be a head coach himself. It is fair to assume that he simply does not want to be, and is perfectly fine being second fiddle to Dan Lanning. Similar to an article I did on Oregon OC Will Stein, Duck fans should be thankful for that.
Tosh Lupoi is a very experienced coach. He spent six seasons combined at Cal and Washington as a defensive line coach before joining the impressive Nick Saban staff at Alabama in 2014. He stayed at Alabama through the 2018 season, as he climbed the ranks from being a defensive analyst to eventually becoming the defensive coordinator the Tide.
Lupoi then moved onto the NFL, where he coached the defensive line for the Browns, Falcons, and Jaguars, before finally landing with the Ducks.
The Good
His defenses at Oregon have not been bad by any stretch. In 2024, they ranked 16th in the nation in points per game against, and were 10th in that metric in 2023. They were much more susceptible in 2022, Lupoi, Lanning, and company's first season, but that team wasn't made up of "their guys."
One thing that is well known about this coaching staff, is that they do not let unranked, and bad teams affec them much. Sure, there have been close calls, but Lanning is yet to lose to an unranked team, and the defense in particular rarely, if at all lets up big points to teams that shouldn't.
In 2023, the Oregon defense allowed 13 or less points on eight occasions, and less than 10 points in six different games.
In 2024, they moved to a stronger conference, but the defensive play still held up. The Ducks allowed two or less scores in half of their matchups, and a couple of the occasions where the opposition went above two scores were garbage time efforts that didn't matter toward the end result.
Considering those were year two and three of this regime, and their recruiting classes are still just coming together into full development, it's certainly not bad. In fact, it's been good. However, considering Lupoi as DC and Lanning as HC were both coordinators of smothering, elite, dominant defenses, it's a rarity to see Oregon be in a big game where the defense is in complete control. Rather, it has been Dillingham and Stein's offenses that have won those games.
The Bad
Oregon has been able to squeak out wins in spite of a struggling defense. I call it the bad, but not the ugly. Even in these games, the defense came up with big plays, with the right players in the right places at the right times.
Specifically, I look at 2023 matchups with Texas Tech, USC, and Washington State. These are games where I believe that Lupoi was not always outcoached, but the defensive output was not good, and big time stars were able to shred the Oregon defense.
Tyler Shough, Tahj Brooks, Caleb Williams, Brenden Rice, Zach Branch, Tahj Washington, Duce Robinson, Cam Ward, Kyle Williams, Lincoln Victor. That's a lot of stars to deal with.
The Oregon defense got diced through the air in these matchups, allowing over 1000 yards passing in those three matchups. These offenses were led by great offensive minds, with lots of talent on the field. Lupoi was outcoached in some instances throughout these games, but I believe that these instances are proof of high-level talent being too much to keep up with.
These matchups exposed what myself and many others believe to be the biggest weakness of Oregon's defense in the Lanning era: the safeties. Though Bennett and Evan Williams were excellent in the box, they struggled immensely in coverage, as did the linebackers and some of the corners.
Luckily, the additions of Thieneman, Jett Washington (2026), Trey McNutt and others should reverse that trend.
Overall, these games were bad, but turnovers showed up, and big time plays were made by the defense to allow for a win.
The Ugly
In Lupoi's tenure, there have been some ugly performances, and all but two games produced a loss.
Both games against Washington in 2023, Boise State in 2024, the Big Ten championship against Penn State, and the Rose Bowl against Ohio State,
Washington's menacing air attack shredded Bennett Williams and the Oregon safeties, especially with corners Khyree Jackson and Jahlil Florence not playing at one-hundred percent health. It was never more obvious than the instance in the regular season game when Washington got the ball on their own 47 yard line, with 2:11 on the clock, and drove down the field in just two plays, scoring with 1:38 left in the fourth.
That was a NFL offense by every definition. In most cases in both Washington games in 2023, the Oregon defensive players were in the right position, but simply couldn't make the plays. Michael Penix, Dillon Johnson, Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja'lynn Polk were simply too much. Oregon was out-talented.
Boise State's wide zone scheme and mega-star RB Ashton Jeanty shredded the Oregon defense for 34 points, with Jeanty going for 192 yards. Oregon has consistently struggled against wide zone run schemes, as the linebackers consistently struggle to get downhill and close cutback lanes. This game completely exposed Jeffrey Bassa, Bryce Boettcher and the other backers.
That Boise State instance was a mix of both being out-coached, and out-talented, but only at one position. It was understandable to let up those numbers to Jeanty, but not excusable. It's especially not excusable to let the same scheme dominate you again in the same season.
Enter the Big Ten championship against Penn State. Though Oregon came out on top to win the conference, the defense still played poorly. Nikko Reed and Dontae Manning were the defensive stars of this game, coming up with key interceptions, especially Reed, as his essentially secured the victory.
Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicolas Singleton combined for 229 yards on the ground. Just like the Boise State game, their wide zone scheme ripped Oregon to shreds, as the linebackers again struggled to make the necessary, routine plays in order to contain their ground game.
It wasn't all bad in the front seven, as I felt that the defensive tackles were great in this game, especially A'mauri Washington coming in rotationally.
Oregon proved that they can survive a game in which the opponent is able to run the ball very effectively. What was most unacceptable was the air attack that Penn State unleashed. Allar threw for 226 yards, a fairly average mark, but specific plays showed that Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki outcoached Lupoi.
With 1:30 to go in the 1st quarter, Penn State ran a slot fade concept to the field, and slipped Nick Singleton into the seam for a walk in touchdown. Oregon's safeties were split wide, and dropped to seven yards depth, bracketing the inside receivers on each side. It was a great playcall and throw by Penn State, but exposed the weaknesses of some players in coverage on Oregon's defense.
With 6:50 to go in the 2nd, Penn State came out in an odd formation, with an offensive lineman split out into the slot. Oregon looked to be in a cover two defense, but safety Kobe Savage bit on a wheel route by all-American tight end Tyler Warren, leaving Nikko Reed stranded trying to make up ground on a receiver, leading to an easy touchdown for Allar and his Nittany Lions. It's always tough to tell who is responsible for what in Oregon's complex defensive system, but whether this was scheme or player related, it was ugly.
Against Penn State, Oregon got gashed through a wide-zone run scheme, and on multiple coverage busts.
They proved they didn't learn their lesson and improve on past mistakes going from Boise State to Penn State, and again failed to learn from one game to another, as Chip Kelly and Ohio State destroyed Oregon's coverage rules in a splattering at the Rose Bowl.
From the first snap from scrimmage, Ohio State ran a fake screen to tight end Gee Scott, leaving him wide open on a wheel route. The "nail in the coffin" touchdown to Jeremiah Smith in the 2nd quarter left the all-world true freshman untouched at the line of scrimmage, and a coverage blunder by both safeties, Tysheem Johnson and Kobe Savage left the best player in the sport wide, wide, WIDE open.
Oregon fans don't want to, and don't need to re-live that game. It was ugly. Moreso than any other instance, Oregon was intensely out coached, and although they defeated Ohio State earlier in the season, were out-talented in that particular game.
My Conclusion
Tosh Lupoi's defenses at Oregon have failed to show up in most big time games. Full stop. However, I feel that almost all of these instances are a result of opposing squads exposing a visible talent gap, rather than the 44 year old defensive coordinator being out coached. Go back and watch (if you dare) the Washington games in 2023, or the Rose Bowl in 2025. It is clear that Oregon did not have the horses to run with the likes of Jeremiah Smith, Rome Odunze, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, and Ja'lynn Polk.
The corners have been very talented, but in the case of 2023, were playing hurt, and in 2024, were too small (and confused) to keep up. The safeties have lacked top-end talent in a big way. Though the individual players have made an impact, they have failed to come up with the needed plays on the back end.
Every season is a new opportunity for growth, not only for players, but for the coaches as well. Lupoi's defensive schemes will only improve, especially as the impressive recruiting classes continue to stack.