Dan Lanning is only 37. Lincoln Riley is 3 years older but has amassed a far more impressive resume as a HC. Unless Lanning coaches three consecutive playoff teams and three consecutive Heisman winners in the next three seasons he will not be where Riley is at age 40. And yet….after all that success….Riley had a very humbling season. His coaching was questioned, his culture, even his playcalling which would be heresy a year ago to even suggest. The thru line I see for both is hubris. Lanning is a bit of a blowhard and prone to really cringey moments. Riley can be quietly arrogant and a tad paranoid. Both could learn a bit of humility and in different ways I think this season will help. Both could learn a thing or two from guys like DeBoer and Kyle Whittingham.
I still think the trajectory of both is high. I’d hold my stock in both. You can’t shortcut experience and only with age comes wisdom. Growth thru pain and struggle. Both will be the better for it.
Brother, you should have your own column. I'd subscribe. You have to think that Lanning is not long for Oregon, am I right? How much longer before he bolts to a high profile SEC opening? It will be interesting to see how both be and Riley react to their current jobs if they ultimately fail to lead their teams to the Promised Land.
Thank you my man. No, I don’t think Lanning stays at Oregon long. Taggart didn’t, Cristobal didn’t. It’s not home. And before people say “but but but- he says he loves it and it’s home and…..” ya: Taggart and Cristobal said the same. It’s home until the gig they REALLY covet—close to their real home- comes avail. Canzano has written about the track record of leaving Oregon for other gigs and sure, it shows guys lose more often after. But he’s not factoring quality of life. PNW ppl think it’s the ultimate place to live. Guess what: ppl from Oklahoma think their little corner of the world is great too. Pay Lincoln Riley $100M with a $20M house on the water in RPV and trust me his life just upgraded. If and when a high level SEC job comes avail (Bama, LSU) Lanning will bounce. (Btw I’ve lived in Oregon and the South and neither is my jam but I’d take Oregon all day…..but Lanning is a southern boy) Also- he inherited a stacked roster thanks to MC. His QB just started his 60th (60!!!) game. I’m not as high on Nix as some but he’s better than any QB coming to Oregon in the portal next year and they lose a ton of other talent. They won’t be better. The playoffs are expanded, yes, but the last few years Oregon has not consistently won the P12. Why would anyone think they’ll suddenly win a deeper, better conference (B1G) with two elite brands at the top (Ohio St and UM) and then add in Penn St, SC, and a DeBoer coached UW team that Lanning is 0-3 against. I’m not even sure SC is going to smell the playoffs anytime soon even with a much improved D. Lannings window at Oregon was NOW. Also- NIL about to get regulated and tightened. No more pay for play soon. Oregon hasn’t just been paying kids out of HS to sign, they pay to visit. Yes. (You don’t think kids who are offered at Oregon but end up going elsewhere don’t talk about what they were offered? They do) All of that Wild West stuff will be over soon. I don’t think a top ten class will be a consistent thing for Lanning. If and when he wins a playoff game, imo, it will be while coaching in the SEC
I think Lanning will be just fine. He's in Year 2. He's growing something special at Oregon. 6 points from the CF Playoff, one of the best seasons by any team this year. He just got beat by a more seasoned coach. He's not going anywhere soon. I continue to be amused by people who have never spent five minutes on a football field, having never coached the sport acting like experts. Go back and read your comments from a week ago. You seriously got it wrong, but of course, now your'e always right. The wild west stuff has been happening for a long time in this sport, it isn't anything new, it just has a more modern flavor.
What do you want me to do Ben? Kowtow to you in forgiveness? Yes, I got it wrong but so did hundreds of millions of other people or did the Ducks 9.5 betting advantage come out of thin air? Did you get it right?
How do you know that Lanning isn't going anywhere soon? Did you see Cristóbal and Taggart each leaving Oregon so soon? Fact is, as Scforthewin so eloquently explains, Lanning has zero ties to Oregon and will leave when the right job will present itself. Oregon is what it's always been, no matter the infusion of your favorite oligarch's dollars...a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
For starters, state something that is backed by thoughtful intelligence vs smacking with hyperbolic opinion. He's not going anywhere soon, because he stated that Oregon/Eugene is a special place and he has everything he needs or wants here. He stated that.
Cristobal/Taggert came here as a stepping stone. Eugene is a small town, rumors fly, people are very connected here. Everyone here states he's (Lanning) different, he likes it here, has everything he needs and Autzen is a special place with significant donors (not just Phil Knight) in place. His kids are in good schools, great community to grow up in. They are chasing excellence here at Oregon, they have a plan, they have a vision, people here are all in and Lanning recognizes this, because its not like this at other places. It is truly one of the Top-5 jobs in college football when you factor everything in.
Two, he's a play or two from winning all three of those contests with UW. UW isn't exactly dominating Oregon. They are winning because their coach is playing a very smart tactical game and he's more experienced on both sides of the ball in big game settings.
Three, if you've been a part of the championship process (in multiple sports at multiple levels) you quickly recognize that Oregon must stop beating itself in big games (that's part of the process you go through when you are climbing through the good, to great, to elite stepping stones). Oregon is damn close and it is foolhardy not to recognize this. If they recover the onside, it's likely a different outcome.
Four, as you both compared him to Riley at USC, Riley has never even been remotely close to the championship level because he hasn't placed enough importance on the defensive side of the ball. Riley isn't close to that level. Lanning is damn close (which is the most frustrating aspect of making this climb for him). But, every coach who has gone through this championship climb has to face the music and understand that experience and tough losses are actually the key to winning the championships.
I compare Riley to Bellotti at Oregon. Great offense, won a lot of games, never close to the championship because they couldn't play championship level defense.
Finally, as Lanning often says, home is where your feet are, in the moment. He's not leaving anytime soon. He doesn't exhibit any of the characteristics of someone that is looking to leave. Even after Kelly's first year at Oregon, the rumors were flying that he wouldn't be here long. Cristobal had exposed himself here at Oregon for his vanilla offense and stubbornness (the same stubbornness exposed at Miami). Compare Lanning's interview when A&M opened and Smith's at Oregon State. You can clearly read the tea leaves in those interviews.
So please state something that is backed with intelligence and thoughtfulness instead of acting like a hyperbolic clown.
Miami, SCForthewin also said UO could not beat OSU or USC in an earlier post and has made repeated almost childish comments about Lanning.
The bottom line, despite SCForFiveLosses posts, many of which are interesting, is he fails to recognize that Lanning has been nimble in adapting to a changing football universe & assumes he will lack that ability down the road.
Interesting. Haven’t seen anything on NIL regulation yet, but I have been clamoring for it all year. The current Wild Wild West course is not sustainable. Thanks for that insight
It’s coming. None of this is any secret. It’s out there for anyone to document. There may not be a better sports journalist in the state of Oregon than Canzano. His work exposing Larry Scott and the inept P12 chain of conference leaders and school execs was spot on. Yet I have not read a single Canzano piece regarding the mechanisms of payment from say Division Street or other U of Oregon backed NIL funding to prospective athletes. NIL endorsement is one thing. Compensating a Bo Nix for his name, imagine and likeness while playing for Oregon is within the rules. Paying a prospective U of Oregon player…..while still in HS……to sign with the school or even just to VISIT the school……is not NIL. It’s pay to play. It’s blatant cheating. It happens at several schools…notoriously. Texas A&M, Miami…..and Oregon. This is no secret. Why isn’t Oregons best sports journalist writing or talking about this? Because his readers are comprised of a heavy percentage of rabid Oregon fans. They don’t want to know. And the schools lone majority benefactor……fully complicit…..is not to be crossed by Canzano or any other sportswriter when it comes to this topic. OR……..did you thing Oregon was suddenly signing massive HS stars from Texas and California at previously unseen rates- simply because Oregon was winning more games and also for their notoriously well regarded academic diploma, excellent year round weather, and reputation for entertainment and cultural diversity in the town of Eugene?? Justin Wilcox, a legacy Oregon former player, passed on an Oregon HC offer because he was NOT comfortable with these illegal recruiting practices he was expected to use, leading to Oregon hiring Dan Lanning and a staff like the notoriously dirty Tosh Lupoi, to lean fully into these practices. Where is the award winning journalism done to look into all of this? You’ll never find it locally. Understandably…..John needs to keep his subscription base and access to his most in demand topic.
You might have a point. I have noticed how Oregon, which was a 30ish or 40ish recruiting team 10=15 years ago and earlier, while OSU in the same locale and a larger school was running 50ish-60ish, all of a sudden jumped to Top 10 in recruiting. How does that happen? Oregon already had the Nike aura 10 years ago and earlier, back to 1985 or so. So that was no step change. Why did Oregon jump over 20 or more of the top football programs in the country in a 5-10 year period? This would explain all of that. They paid for it. I always knew that PK was trying to buy a championship, but this explains how.
Chip Kelly had multiple teams that were more successful than either Lanning coached Oregon team. Mario cristobal as well. So it’s not “winning big” Also the facilities and uniform combinations and any other reason given have been factors for years. Still doesn’t explain a massive sudden uptick. Lanning is just a great recruiter? I don’t doubt he’s persuasive and relentless. But those qualities didn’t get last minute flips from guys like Conerly and Matayo U. Cash did. Pay for play. This isn’t even a secret. Oregon is known and talked about for this in CFB. And for half the investigative reporting effort Canzano or Wilner have put into multiple other topics it wouldn’t be hard to uncover this but that will never happen. If you are Phil Knight you don’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars desperately trying to win your alma mater a title but stop short of paying the actual key players a relatively small percentage of that. Of course they do. And to your point Brian- of course nothing else make sense to explain it. And listen: Im stating it, I’m not even judging it. It’s CFB today and the SEC has done it for decades, now they just have NIL as a front. I just think it’s hilarious that Lanning has brown bag money to buy players and STILL can’t be the best team in the PNW much less west coast. Must be maddening to watch UW operate clean and come out on top.
Brian, according to Rivals, UO was ranked 13th in 09 and according to 247, UO was ranked 12th in 2010, 12th in 2011, 14th in 2012 and 19th in 2013, your so called 10-15 year window when you said they were a 30th or 40thish recruiting team.
And yet with all of the change, the sport has produced 10 days of the most epic drama you can get from life. Watched the game at a sports bar last night and you’d have thought people were watching their own children being born it was so epic. This sport is not defeatable.
What needs to be bought is a new defensive coordinator. Tosh Lupoi has been outcoached every game against UW and last year against OSU. I also just can’t forget him tripping a player when he was a d coach at Cal. Oregon is paying him top dollar and he’s not delivering top results.
Dec 2, 2023·edited Dec 2, 2023Liked by John Canzano
Moving on to the bowl games for the Ducks and Beavers I'm wondering how many players will opt-out this year?..It appears the list is already beginning to grow....How sad.
Wonderful piece, John. Thoughtful and perceptive and written with the heart as much as the head. It’s one of many things that sets you apart. You have a way of connecting on all levels.
Agree that the Ducks seemed flat from warmups on. I watched them in pregame wondering if they paid too much attention to the point spread. They are a better team when fully engaged. Last night they were not the better team.
Oregon looked flat from the start last night. The +9.5 incentivized a UW team that felt disrespected.
0-3 vs. UW by a total of 9 points. DL is doing a terrific job in his 2nd season as an HC, and DL is an excellent recruiter. The 2024 class today is ranked 2nd in the B1G behind Ohio State. I expect that DL will pick the portal in 2024 as well as he did last season.
DL's right. No excuses. UW outplayed Oregon. But going against that WR corps of UW down a starting CB and having another starter at CB leave the game did not help Oregon's cause.
Jim Harbaugh was 0-7 vs Ohio State before breaking through, and it took time for Kirby Smart to catch up with his mentor, Nick Saban.
The Ducks football future is in good hands. And notwithstanding a terrible start Oregon never gave up.
John, it’s possible to overthink the results of any athletic contest between teams (rather than individual sports). The term out-coached is often used as an excuse. In this day of high stakes football (celestial salaries) and state of the art technology it’s incredulous that one staff devises a superior game plan over another equally capable staff. These coaches all have exceptional football IQ’s, dedication and resources. The obvious coaching interference from the UO staff displayed in Seattle aside, coaches don’t win or lose games. Players do.
As soon as the almost double digit point spread for the Ducks was posted, I pulled all my chips off the table. At that point two things happened, the Ducks lost their edge of playing angry, and the Huskies inherited it. Game over. If you break each team down by position you couldn’t live on the difference. There is none. So, if it’s not schematics or ability, what is the difference? DESIRE! When the assets are equal, the team with the highest level of desire wins. You observed it yourself in your pregame warmup summary. The Ducks were sullen. The Huskies were energized.
Watching PAC 12 play this year revealed so clearly the difference between very good, maybe even exceptional QB play and elite QB play. Bo Nix, Caleb Williams and Michael Penix were elite this year. The other nine were something else. Maybe very good, or not so good, but not elite. The small sample size of Ty Thompson indicates he doesn’t have a much higher ceiling. He’s good. Maybe very good. But short of elite. If the Ducks want success in the B10, they must find their next elite QB in the portal and provide a seven figure NIL to get him here.
Rather than share the Dan Lanning story with us post championship game, I hunger for the Phil Knight story. Give us your sourced deep dive into what he is experiencing. You think there was disappointment in the Duck locker room, how about uncovering for us in depth what Phil was experiencing. Please. Cheers. Brad
The first three plays--3 incompletions--out. The second pass and Bo gets happy feet for the first time this year--he looked rattled and panicked. I love Nix as a leader, a player and mostly as a Godly man. But I sensed from the first three plays something was off.
It reminded me of my golf game--when it starts out bad it usually end the same way.
The Huskies just handled the Ducks all night. They were the better team with the better players who made plays when they needed them. It's hard to admit it as a Duck alum and 50+ year fan, but that doesn't make it any less true. Props to UW.
Um. Are your referring to UW coach as "best young coach" on college football? I get claiming that for Lanning. But, DeBoer quit being a young coach at least 5 if not 10 years ago. Perhaps you can call him less experienced as a head coach specifically with only 4 seasons under his belt, but at 49 he is no longer young. . .
It's obvious that Dan Lanning is a class act. It sounds like his family upbringing was stellar. In fact it sounds like a copy of Kalen DeBoer's. Kalen is 104-11 as a head coach, wrap your head around that for a moment. Lanning wasn't going to cop out and blame the loss on injuries, he knows his sidelines is stocked full of 4 and 5 star back ups. Here is how I see it. the conference has A-1 and A-2 programs and those two were head and shoulders above the others. Washington had 5 weeks of the flu circulating through the locker room and a bunch of injuries to key players. They still won every game, they had stellar coaching, the best in the conference, elite. Kalen developed his staff over years, Grubb and others were with him back in South Dakota. Lanning is stuck with recruiters because that's what Phil Knight wants. Tosh won't win a head to head against Grubb's offense, Grubb forgot more than Tosh knows. Phil Knight is old and if Lanning sticks around, he will see a day when he can pick coaches rather than recruiters. Much is made of 3 point margins but in reality, the game is won or lost by who has the most points at the end of the day. Kalen knows how to reach that goal better than Lanning and the vast majority of head coaches in the game. Think about this fact too, Kalen is 24-2 after taking over for a train wreck of a coach and program in disarray. Lanning walked into a locker room stocked to the hilt with talent. It wasn't by luck that Kalen won the day. I like Dan Lanning and hope he sticks around.
Dwight, nice piece you wrote there. My advice is let's see where Washington is at 2-3 years into their B1G adventure before you give DeBoer a lifetime contract. The dialectic is about to change in a major way for your team and nothing is ever guaranteed or assured.
Respect is not given but earned. (apologies for the cliche) I am encouraged by the post game expressions of mutual respect among the players, coaches and - surprisingly- fans of Oregon and Washington. Here’s to hoping it continues as we both move to the Big Ten.
Absolutely agree! Other than the minority of drunk morons (on both sides) I thought both fan bases were passionate but respectful. Walking out of the stadium, along the Strip, at the airport the next day - I was part of many conversations with groups of Huskies & Ducks. Virtually everyone appreciated the effort put forth by “their” team and the opponents. Very refreshing after the Bile Bath in the comment section the last 7 weeks. Maybe being face to face (without booze in your system) shows how similar we are.
A touch out of lane, but here i go: A grrrreat game to end the Pac 12/2, well done Dawgs; I will not miss Pac 12/2 officiating, last night was a season long example of "not goodness" (lol); Well done to Judd Fisch, a joy to watch his season; Kudos as well to Cal and J Wilcox, played hard to the end, well coached, Dad is smiling down; Disappointed in Caleb W, character and lack of leadership; How does Chip keep his job?; Thanks Beavers for a wonderful season, you and we will remember this season and lessons for a long time. Thanks John for your coverage and scoops, but esp. for keeping the Leadership in the spotlight for their sig. shortcomings and responsibility for the demise. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Thanks John for your additional thoughts on the game. As a Duck fan, the first two possessions were particularly painful to watch. I thought they looked flat. To go 3 and out back to back while WA scores hurt their psyche. The Huskies D shut down the running game, and their O line kept Penix safe. When a team is playing with that kind of intensity, it’s tough to rally fast enough to take control of the game. HC Lanning needs to regroup and infuse confidence and humility in his team. I’m sad to say that Washington was hungrier than Oregon.
OR recruiting classes in top 10. UW in the mid 20’s. This is all coaching. Deboer > Lanning at the actual XOs. As BFT points out that experience gap is huge. Hopefully that closes. Because losing to UW every year is the worst.
I'm trying not to overreact. The Ducks were beaten by a better team. Outcoached? I don't know but will say this: DeBoer wasnt Jesus with a Headset until he had M Penix and the best trio of recievers, plus 10 or so 6th year seniors contributing. Lets see if they go 13-0 next year. And I'll hold my stock in Lanning. I think he will continue to grow.
He was 67-3 at the NAIA level and 9-3 in his only full season at Fresno State. He was 79-9 before he ever came to Washington. The man can coach. Bitterness isn't becoming.
He inherited a four win team from Jimmy Lake. No coach is “Jesus.” Deboer is a very good coach, and yet very few teams go undefeated in back-to-back years, so that can’t be the bar for future success.
Pretty easy to build when you can give bags of cash to players in the transfer portal. Don’t worry about developing your own talent. NIL has ruined college football.
130 years of tradition is gone. Sorry but I just don’t like where it is all going. I have no problem with players getting more but there has to be some limits or it all comes down to the haves and have nots. Smaller funded programs used to have a chance but now handlers just reach out and offer cash. LSU in baseball is a perfect example. They pulled in 3 or 4 transfers and gave them a huge bag of cash and won a national championship. Did LSU develop those players? Nope! Paul Skeens was a 1st rounder before he even got on campus. It’s all about competitive integrity where the playing field is somewhat equal. It’s gone now and programs like U of O have bought their relevance. It makes it all unwatchable. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I love the stories of programs built, not bought. OSU baseball is a perfect example of this.
Josh, I feel your pain but I also don't agree with your premise. I don't think it's EVER been a level playing field in college sports. No one ever played by the same rules; teams never had equal proximity to recruits; teams were never located in equally attractive cities; teams never had the same level of alumni support, etc., etc. More importantly, teams were never equally scrutinized by the NCAA, the very organization responsible to keep the field level. Yes, NIL will be exploited by some but it's also making some mid-tier teams more competitive. Spreading the wealth, so to speak. Better yet, it's getting more kids off the bench and onto the field. Point is, wherever someone can get a competitive edge, they'll do it. Can't stop it.
Yes. The difference now is that the money goes over the table instead of under it. The NCAA too often looked the other way, sanctioning small and mid-level programs for doing what the traditional powers were did -- and had been doing for many years.
How about spreading the wealth among the whole team? Without all the other players and positions doing their jobs the QB would be sh**t. Heck, even share with support staff. They do all like saying it’s a team sport.
Dan Lanning is only 37. Lincoln Riley is 3 years older but has amassed a far more impressive resume as a HC. Unless Lanning coaches three consecutive playoff teams and three consecutive Heisman winners in the next three seasons he will not be where Riley is at age 40. And yet….after all that success….Riley had a very humbling season. His coaching was questioned, his culture, even his playcalling which would be heresy a year ago to even suggest. The thru line I see for both is hubris. Lanning is a bit of a blowhard and prone to really cringey moments. Riley can be quietly arrogant and a tad paranoid. Both could learn a bit of humility and in different ways I think this season will help. Both could learn a thing or two from guys like DeBoer and Kyle Whittingham.
I still think the trajectory of both is high. I’d hold my stock in both. You can’t shortcut experience and only with age comes wisdom. Growth thru pain and struggle. Both will be the better for it.
Really wanted to disagree w this take but I can’t.
The USC fan base has been humbled.
Let's hope you are too.Your arrogance bit you in the arse. Just like Lincoln Riley's did too.
Brother, you should have your own column. I'd subscribe. You have to think that Lanning is not long for Oregon, am I right? How much longer before he bolts to a high profile SEC opening? It will be interesting to see how both be and Riley react to their current jobs if they ultimately fail to lead their teams to the Promised Land.
Thank you my man. No, I don’t think Lanning stays at Oregon long. Taggart didn’t, Cristobal didn’t. It’s not home. And before people say “but but but- he says he loves it and it’s home and…..” ya: Taggart and Cristobal said the same. It’s home until the gig they REALLY covet—close to their real home- comes avail. Canzano has written about the track record of leaving Oregon for other gigs and sure, it shows guys lose more often after. But he’s not factoring quality of life. PNW ppl think it’s the ultimate place to live. Guess what: ppl from Oklahoma think their little corner of the world is great too. Pay Lincoln Riley $100M with a $20M house on the water in RPV and trust me his life just upgraded. If and when a high level SEC job comes avail (Bama, LSU) Lanning will bounce. (Btw I’ve lived in Oregon and the South and neither is my jam but I’d take Oregon all day…..but Lanning is a southern boy) Also- he inherited a stacked roster thanks to MC. His QB just started his 60th (60!!!) game. I’m not as high on Nix as some but he’s better than any QB coming to Oregon in the portal next year and they lose a ton of other talent. They won’t be better. The playoffs are expanded, yes, but the last few years Oregon has not consistently won the P12. Why would anyone think they’ll suddenly win a deeper, better conference (B1G) with two elite brands at the top (Ohio St and UM) and then add in Penn St, SC, and a DeBoer coached UW team that Lanning is 0-3 against. I’m not even sure SC is going to smell the playoffs anytime soon even with a much improved D. Lannings window at Oregon was NOW. Also- NIL about to get regulated and tightened. No more pay for play soon. Oregon hasn’t just been paying kids out of HS to sign, they pay to visit. Yes. (You don’t think kids who are offered at Oregon but end up going elsewhere don’t talk about what they were offered? They do) All of that Wild West stuff will be over soon. I don’t think a top ten class will be a consistent thing for Lanning. If and when he wins a playoff game, imo, it will be while coaching in the SEC
Told you you should write columns. That's straight up truth sprinkled with some in-depth analysis right there. Exactly the way I see it.
I think Lanning will be just fine. He's in Year 2. He's growing something special at Oregon. 6 points from the CF Playoff, one of the best seasons by any team this year. He just got beat by a more seasoned coach. He's not going anywhere soon. I continue to be amused by people who have never spent five minutes on a football field, having never coached the sport acting like experts. Go back and read your comments from a week ago. You seriously got it wrong, but of course, now your'e always right. The wild west stuff has been happening for a long time in this sport, it isn't anything new, it just has a more modern flavor.
Big 10 will eat him up.
And spit him out...
What do you want me to do Ben? Kowtow to you in forgiveness? Yes, I got it wrong but so did hundreds of millions of other people or did the Ducks 9.5 betting advantage come out of thin air? Did you get it right?
How do you know that Lanning isn't going anywhere soon? Did you see Cristóbal and Taggart each leaving Oregon so soon? Fact is, as Scforthewin so eloquently explains, Lanning has zero ties to Oregon and will leave when the right job will present itself. Oregon is what it's always been, no matter the infusion of your favorite oligarch's dollars...a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
For starters, state something that is backed by thoughtful intelligence vs smacking with hyperbolic opinion. He's not going anywhere soon, because he stated that Oregon/Eugene is a special place and he has everything he needs or wants here. He stated that.
Cristobal/Taggert came here as a stepping stone. Eugene is a small town, rumors fly, people are very connected here. Everyone here states he's (Lanning) different, he likes it here, has everything he needs and Autzen is a special place with significant donors (not just Phil Knight) in place. His kids are in good schools, great community to grow up in. They are chasing excellence here at Oregon, they have a plan, they have a vision, people here are all in and Lanning recognizes this, because its not like this at other places. It is truly one of the Top-5 jobs in college football when you factor everything in.
Two, he's a play or two from winning all three of those contests with UW. UW isn't exactly dominating Oregon. They are winning because their coach is playing a very smart tactical game and he's more experienced on both sides of the ball in big game settings.
Three, if you've been a part of the championship process (in multiple sports at multiple levels) you quickly recognize that Oregon must stop beating itself in big games (that's part of the process you go through when you are climbing through the good, to great, to elite stepping stones). Oregon is damn close and it is foolhardy not to recognize this. If they recover the onside, it's likely a different outcome.
Four, as you both compared him to Riley at USC, Riley has never even been remotely close to the championship level because he hasn't placed enough importance on the defensive side of the ball. Riley isn't close to that level. Lanning is damn close (which is the most frustrating aspect of making this climb for him). But, every coach who has gone through this championship climb has to face the music and understand that experience and tough losses are actually the key to winning the championships.
I compare Riley to Bellotti at Oregon. Great offense, won a lot of games, never close to the championship because they couldn't play championship level defense.
Finally, as Lanning often says, home is where your feet are, in the moment. He's not leaving anytime soon. He doesn't exhibit any of the characteristics of someone that is looking to leave. Even after Kelly's first year at Oregon, the rumors were flying that he wouldn't be here long. Cristobal had exposed himself here at Oregon for his vanilla offense and stubbornness (the same stubbornness exposed at Miami). Compare Lanning's interview when A&M opened and Smith's at Oregon State. You can clearly read the tea leaves in those interviews.
So please state something that is backed with intelligence and thoughtfulness instead of acting like a hyperbolic clown.
Miami, SCForthewin also said UO could not beat OSU or USC in an earlier post and has made repeated almost childish comments about Lanning.
The bottom line, despite SCForFiveLosses posts, many of which are interesting, is he fails to recognize that Lanning has been nimble in adapting to a changing football universe & assumes he will lack that ability down the road.
You yavevv CNN list your mind
Interesting. Haven’t seen anything on NIL regulation yet, but I have been clamoring for it all year. The current Wild Wild West course is not sustainable. Thanks for that insight
It’s coming. None of this is any secret. It’s out there for anyone to document. There may not be a better sports journalist in the state of Oregon than Canzano. His work exposing Larry Scott and the inept P12 chain of conference leaders and school execs was spot on. Yet I have not read a single Canzano piece regarding the mechanisms of payment from say Division Street or other U of Oregon backed NIL funding to prospective athletes. NIL endorsement is one thing. Compensating a Bo Nix for his name, imagine and likeness while playing for Oregon is within the rules. Paying a prospective U of Oregon player…..while still in HS……to sign with the school or even just to VISIT the school……is not NIL. It’s pay to play. It’s blatant cheating. It happens at several schools…notoriously. Texas A&M, Miami…..and Oregon. This is no secret. Why isn’t Oregons best sports journalist writing or talking about this? Because his readers are comprised of a heavy percentage of rabid Oregon fans. They don’t want to know. And the schools lone majority benefactor……fully complicit…..is not to be crossed by Canzano or any other sportswriter when it comes to this topic. OR……..did you thing Oregon was suddenly signing massive HS stars from Texas and California at previously unseen rates- simply because Oregon was winning more games and also for their notoriously well regarded academic diploma, excellent year round weather, and reputation for entertainment and cultural diversity in the town of Eugene?? Justin Wilcox, a legacy Oregon former player, passed on an Oregon HC offer because he was NOT comfortable with these illegal recruiting practices he was expected to use, leading to Oregon hiring Dan Lanning and a staff like the notoriously dirty Tosh Lupoi, to lean fully into these practices. Where is the award winning journalism done to look into all of this? You’ll never find it locally. Understandably…..John needs to keep his subscription base and access to his most in demand topic.
You might have a point. I have noticed how Oregon, which was a 30ish or 40ish recruiting team 10=15 years ago and earlier, while OSU in the same locale and a larger school was running 50ish-60ish, all of a sudden jumped to Top 10 in recruiting. How does that happen? Oregon already had the Nike aura 10 years ago and earlier, back to 1985 or so. So that was no step change. Why did Oregon jump over 20 or more of the top football programs in the country in a 5-10 year period? This would explain all of that. They paid for it. I always knew that PK was trying to buy a championship, but this explains how.
Chip Kelly had multiple teams that were more successful than either Lanning coached Oregon team. Mario cristobal as well. So it’s not “winning big” Also the facilities and uniform combinations and any other reason given have been factors for years. Still doesn’t explain a massive sudden uptick. Lanning is just a great recruiter? I don’t doubt he’s persuasive and relentless. But those qualities didn’t get last minute flips from guys like Conerly and Matayo U. Cash did. Pay for play. This isn’t even a secret. Oregon is known and talked about for this in CFB. And for half the investigative reporting effort Canzano or Wilner have put into multiple other topics it wouldn’t be hard to uncover this but that will never happen. If you are Phil Knight you don’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars desperately trying to win your alma mater a title but stop short of paying the actual key players a relatively small percentage of that. Of course they do. And to your point Brian- of course nothing else make sense to explain it. And listen: Im stating it, I’m not even judging it. It’s CFB today and the SEC has done it for decades, now they just have NIL as a front. I just think it’s hilarious that Lanning has brown bag money to buy players and STILL can’t be the best team in the PNW much less west coast. Must be maddening to watch UW operate clean and come out on top.
Brian, according to Rivals, UO was ranked 13th in 09 and according to 247, UO was ranked 12th in 2010, 12th in 2011, 14th in 2012 and 19th in 2013, your so called 10-15 year window when you said they were a 30th or 40thish recruiting team.
You speak truth here, inconvenient for Nike U and it’s fans, but truth nonetheless.
Your cred is shot. You were so wrong about USC this year that your opinions on anything else are suspect. You are a know it all blowhard.
If he needs “better defensive backs and pass rushers”, he can BUY THEM. I don’t recognize this sport any more.
And yet with all of the change, the sport has produced 10 days of the most epic drama you can get from life. Watched the game at a sports bar last night and you’d have thought people were watching their own children being born it was so epic. This sport is not defeatable.
What needs to be bought is a new defensive coordinator. Tosh Lupoi has been outcoached every game against UW and last year against OSU. I also just can’t forget him tripping a player when he was a d coach at Cal. Oregon is paying him top dollar and he’s not delivering top results.
In the first game, I do not think that Tosh was outcoached.
Last night he was down a starting CB against one of the best WR groups in the country.
IMO, Stein and not Tosh was outcoached and Oregon still put up 31 points.
CB’s weren’t responsible for letting Johnson run for over 6 yards a carry..
Free agency always ends up the same way:
rooting for a uniform and a logo rather than athletes whose development one has watched.
So many beautiful “turns of phrase” in here John.
“But Oregon also found itself in the worst place a team be in college football — locked into a one-score chess match vs. DeBoer and Penix Jr.”
Moving on to the bowl games for the Ducks and Beavers I'm wondering how many players will opt-out this year?..It appears the list is already beginning to grow....How sad.
One of the main reasons I am happy to see going to a 12 team PO that I believe will grow to 16 teams in 2026.
Wonderful piece, John. Thoughtful and perceptive and written with the heart as much as the head. It’s one of many things that sets you apart. You have a way of connecting on all levels.
Agree that the Ducks seemed flat from warmups on. I watched them in pregame wondering if they paid too much attention to the point spread. They are a better team when fully engaged. Last night they were not the better team.
Terrific article, JC. Thank you.
Oregon looked flat from the start last night. The +9.5 incentivized a UW team that felt disrespected.
0-3 vs. UW by a total of 9 points. DL is doing a terrific job in his 2nd season as an HC, and DL is an excellent recruiter. The 2024 class today is ranked 2nd in the B1G behind Ohio State. I expect that DL will pick the portal in 2024 as well as he did last season.
DL's right. No excuses. UW outplayed Oregon. But going against that WR corps of UW down a starting CB and having another starter at CB leave the game did not help Oregon's cause.
Jim Harbaugh was 0-7 vs Ohio State before breaking through, and it took time for Kirby Smart to catch up with his mentor, Nick Saban.
The Ducks football future is in good hands. And notwithstanding a terrible start Oregon never gave up.
Go HUskies! Win the Rose Bowl.
John, it’s possible to overthink the results of any athletic contest between teams (rather than individual sports). The term out-coached is often used as an excuse. In this day of high stakes football (celestial salaries) and state of the art technology it’s incredulous that one staff devises a superior game plan over another equally capable staff. These coaches all have exceptional football IQ’s, dedication and resources. The obvious coaching interference from the UO staff displayed in Seattle aside, coaches don’t win or lose games. Players do.
As soon as the almost double digit point spread for the Ducks was posted, I pulled all my chips off the table. At that point two things happened, the Ducks lost their edge of playing angry, and the Huskies inherited it. Game over. If you break each team down by position you couldn’t live on the difference. There is none. So, if it’s not schematics or ability, what is the difference? DESIRE! When the assets are equal, the team with the highest level of desire wins. You observed it yourself in your pregame warmup summary. The Ducks were sullen. The Huskies were energized.
Watching PAC 12 play this year revealed so clearly the difference between very good, maybe even exceptional QB play and elite QB play. Bo Nix, Caleb Williams and Michael Penix were elite this year. The other nine were something else. Maybe very good, or not so good, but not elite. The small sample size of Ty Thompson indicates he doesn’t have a much higher ceiling. He’s good. Maybe very good. But short of elite. If the Ducks want success in the B10, they must find their next elite QB in the portal and provide a seven figure NIL to get him here.
Rather than share the Dan Lanning story with us post championship game, I hunger for the Phil Knight story. Give us your sourced deep dive into what he is experiencing. You think there was disappointment in the Duck locker room, how about uncovering for us in depth what Phil was experiencing. Please. Cheers. Brad
I don't think this fall on the coaches this time.
The first three plays--3 incompletions--out. The second pass and Bo gets happy feet for the first time this year--he looked rattled and panicked. I love Nix as a leader, a player and mostly as a Godly man. But I sensed from the first three plays something was off.
It reminded me of my golf game--when it starts out bad it usually end the same way.
The Huskies just handled the Ducks all night. They were the better team with the better players who made plays when they needed them. It's hard to admit it as a Duck alum and 50+ year fan, but that doesn't make it any less true. Props to UW.
Ditto on golf game!
So, how do Washington and Oregon fit into their new conference?
I’m thinking they’ll fit in just fine and I look forward to instant success
Two established programs with rabid fan bases, and the two best young coaches in college football
Oregon will react well and prosper
Washington will sustain and improve,much to the chagrin of HuskyHaters
Looking forward to the CFP - two more wins💪🏼🏈💪🏼
GO DAWGS
You can think whatever you want. It's free of charge.
Um. Are your referring to UW coach as "best young coach" on college football? I get claiming that for Lanning. But, DeBoer quit being a young coach at least 5 if not 10 years ago. Perhaps you can call him less experienced as a head coach specifically with only 4 seasons under his belt, but at 49 he is no longer young. . .
Semantics of a 65 year old man/fan
GO DAWGS
It's obvious that Dan Lanning is a class act. It sounds like his family upbringing was stellar. In fact it sounds like a copy of Kalen DeBoer's. Kalen is 104-11 as a head coach, wrap your head around that for a moment. Lanning wasn't going to cop out and blame the loss on injuries, he knows his sidelines is stocked full of 4 and 5 star back ups. Here is how I see it. the conference has A-1 and A-2 programs and those two were head and shoulders above the others. Washington had 5 weeks of the flu circulating through the locker room and a bunch of injuries to key players. They still won every game, they had stellar coaching, the best in the conference, elite. Kalen developed his staff over years, Grubb and others were with him back in South Dakota. Lanning is stuck with recruiters because that's what Phil Knight wants. Tosh won't win a head to head against Grubb's offense, Grubb forgot more than Tosh knows. Phil Knight is old and if Lanning sticks around, he will see a day when he can pick coaches rather than recruiters. Much is made of 3 point margins but in reality, the game is won or lost by who has the most points at the end of the day. Kalen knows how to reach that goal better than Lanning and the vast majority of head coaches in the game. Think about this fact too, Kalen is 24-2 after taking over for a train wreck of a coach and program in disarray. Lanning walked into a locker room stocked to the hilt with talent. It wasn't by luck that Kalen won the day. I like Dan Lanning and hope he sticks around.
Dwight, nice piece you wrote there. My advice is let's see where Washington is at 2-3 years into their B1G adventure before you give DeBoer a lifetime contract. The dialectic is about to change in a major way for your team and nothing is ever guaranteed or assured.
There is a lot of truth in that take.
Respect is not given but earned. (apologies for the cliche) I am encouraged by the post game expressions of mutual respect among the players, coaches and - surprisingly- fans of Oregon and Washington. Here’s to hoping it continues as we both move to the Big Ten.
Absolutely agree! Other than the minority of drunk morons (on both sides) I thought both fan bases were passionate but respectful. Walking out of the stadium, along the Strip, at the airport the next day - I was part of many conversations with groups of Huskies & Ducks. Virtually everyone appreciated the effort put forth by “their” team and the opponents. Very refreshing after the Bile Bath in the comment section the last 7 weeks. Maybe being face to face (without booze in your system) shows how similar we are.
A touch out of lane, but here i go: A grrrreat game to end the Pac 12/2, well done Dawgs; I will not miss Pac 12/2 officiating, last night was a season long example of "not goodness" (lol); Well done to Judd Fisch, a joy to watch his season; Kudos as well to Cal and J Wilcox, played hard to the end, well coached, Dad is smiling down; Disappointed in Caleb W, character and lack of leadership; How does Chip keep his job?; Thanks Beavers for a wonderful season, you and we will remember this season and lessons for a long time. Thanks John for your coverage and scoops, but esp. for keeping the Leadership in the spotlight for their sig. shortcomings and responsibility for the demise. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Thanks John for your additional thoughts on the game. As a Duck fan, the first two possessions were particularly painful to watch. I thought they looked flat. To go 3 and out back to back while WA scores hurt their psyche. The Huskies D shut down the running game, and their O line kept Penix safe. When a team is playing with that kind of intensity, it’s tough to rally fast enough to take control of the game. HC Lanning needs to regroup and infuse confidence and humility in his team. I’m sad to say that Washington was hungrier than Oregon.
OR recruiting classes in top 10. UW in the mid 20’s. This is all coaching. Deboer > Lanning at the actual XOs. As BFT points out that experience gap is huge. Hopefully that closes. Because losing to UW every year is the worst.
I'm trying not to overreact. The Ducks were beaten by a better team. Outcoached? I don't know but will say this: DeBoer wasnt Jesus with a Headset until he had M Penix and the best trio of recievers, plus 10 or so 6th year seniors contributing. Lets see if they go 13-0 next year. And I'll hold my stock in Lanning. I think he will continue to grow.
He was 67-3 at the NAIA level and 9-3 in his only full season at Fresno State. He was 79-9 before he ever came to Washington. The man can coach. Bitterness isn't becoming.
He inherited a four win team from Jimmy Lake. No coach is “Jesus.” Deboer is a very good coach, and yet very few teams go undefeated in back-to-back years, so that can’t be the bar for future success.
Point taken, Rhino. Good luck to UW - go get thst Natty.
Pretty easy to build when you can give bags of cash to players in the transfer portal. Don’t worry about developing your own talent. NIL has ruined college football.
Sigh. How about moving into the era of today's football?
Penix wasn't making good NIL money? Rome came back for peanuts.
NIL is spreading deserved sugar on guys whose work carries athletic departments.
130 years of tradition is gone. Sorry but I just don’t like where it is all going. I have no problem with players getting more but there has to be some limits or it all comes down to the haves and have nots. Smaller funded programs used to have a chance but now handlers just reach out and offer cash. LSU in baseball is a perfect example. They pulled in 3 or 4 transfers and gave them a huge bag of cash and won a national championship. Did LSU develop those players? Nope! Paul Skeens was a 1st rounder before he even got on campus. It’s all about competitive integrity where the playing field is somewhat equal. It’s gone now and programs like U of O have bought their relevance. It makes it all unwatchable. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I love the stories of programs built, not bought. OSU baseball is a perfect example of this.
Josh, I feel your pain but I also don't agree with your premise. I don't think it's EVER been a level playing field in college sports. No one ever played by the same rules; teams never had equal proximity to recruits; teams were never located in equally attractive cities; teams never had the same level of alumni support, etc., etc. More importantly, teams were never equally scrutinized by the NCAA, the very organization responsible to keep the field level. Yes, NIL will be exploited by some but it's also making some mid-tier teams more competitive. Spreading the wealth, so to speak. Better yet, it's getting more kids off the bench and onto the field. Point is, wherever someone can get a competitive edge, they'll do it. Can't stop it.
Yes. The difference now is that the money goes over the table instead of under it. The NCAA too often looked the other way, sanctioning small and mid-level programs for doing what the traditional powers were did -- and had been doing for many years.
How about spreading the wealth among the whole team? Without all the other players and positions doing their jobs the QB would be sh**t. Heck, even share with support staff. They do all like saying it’s a team sport.
Good points. I still don’t think smaller town programs lacking huge donors will benefit though.