Spring practice kicked off in Eugene on March 12, and the Ducks are operating with a kind of controlled urgency that gets college football fans and bettors paying attention months ahead of schedule. If you completed your 1xbet sign up before bowl season even wrapped, Oregon’s offseason might have justified the decision on its own.
Dan Lanning lost both coordinators, gained a five-star quarterback, and the best tight end in program history ran a 4.39-second 40 at the Combine on his way out the door. That’s a lot of roster churn for a team that went 13-2 and reached the CFP Semifinal.
Two Coordinators and a Short Leash
Will Stein left for the Kentucky head coaching job. Tosh Lupoi took the Cal gig. Lanning promoted from within, as Drew Mehringer now runs the offense, and Chris Hampton the defense. Both held co-coordinator titles in 2025, so this is not a leap into the unknown. But Mehringer is Lanning’s third OC in five seasons, and that pattern alone makes you wonder how long any coordinator’s chair stays warm in Eugene.
Mehringer spent four years coaching tight ends, and it showed. Under his position coaching, Oregon tight ends combined for 287 catches, 3,454 yards, and 38 touchdowns across 56 games. The question now is simple enough. Can he do for the full offense what he did for that one room?
New Full DC Chris Hampton is ready for this moment. (Photo By: Gary Breedlove)
Hampton has the easier narrative. He was Tulane’s DC during their 12-2 Cotton Bowl season in 2022 and helped Oregon recruit at a staggering clip, including four top-100 defensive backs in the 2025 class. A peer-reviewed study on programmatic culture in college football found that sustained success tends to correlate more with keeping organizational DNA intact than with constant roster shopping through the portal. Oregon, so far, seems to agree on the coaching side of that equation.
“We haven’t been the best. We’ve been pretty good,” Hampton told media after the first practice day. Hard to argue with that kind of honesty from a coordinator who inherited a defense returning 14 starters.
The Number Eight Gets a New Owner
Dylan Raiola showed up to spring practice wearing No. 8, which was Marcus Mariota’s and Dillon Gabriel’s number. The kind of jersey you do not hand out lightly in Eugene. Raiola transferred from Nebraska after a broken fibula ended his sophomore season in November. He has been throwing in practice, and a clip of him hitting freshman wideout Hudson Lewis made the rounds on social media, but the expectation is a redshirt year behind Dante Moore.
Moore, who threw for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns at a 71.8% completion rate last season, came back to Oregon instead of entering the NFL Draft. He could have been a first-round pick and walked away from an estimated $50 million payday. He wants a national title instead.
Oregon has had weapons at wide receiver such as Malik Benson. (Photo by Scott Kelley)
The QB room dynamic matters more than you might expect. Moore compared the situation to how Dillon Gabriel mentored him during the 2024 season. And Raiola’s ball-pat habit before throws has sparked a minor internet argument. It is the same mechanical quirk that fueled debates around Shedeur Sanders at his Pro Day. Some NFL scouts hate it. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes have done it their entire careers. Pick your camp.
What Left for the NFL
Nine Ducks earned Combine invitations. The departures hit hardest at tight end, safety, and the offensive line, and here is what the draft-bound group showed off in Indianapolis…
–At tight end, Kenyon Sadiq ran the fastest 40-yard dash in NFL Combine history at 4.39
–At safety, Dillon Thieneman ran a surprising 4.35 40-yard dash, and 18 bench reps that led all safeties.
–At receiver, Malik Benson ran a swift 4.37 40-yard dash.
–At running back, Noah Whittington did 24 bench reps, which was second among all running backs.
–At offensive line, Emmanuel Pregnon jumped a 35-inch vertical, which tied for second among all offensive linemen.
A photo of this catch by Jamari Johnson surely needs to be hung somewhere – Photo via Max Unkrich
Sadiq’s departure opens space for Jamari Johnson, a tight end Mehringer knows well from coaching that position group for years. If you have been tracking Oregon’s preseason futures odds, that tight end production pipeline matters. Sportsbooks tend to reward offensive systems with proven positional continuity, and early wagering lines should reflect a program still building momentum.
What the Spring Game Could Reveal
The Spring Game at Autzen Stadium kicks off at 1 p.m. PT on April 25, broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Free admission. Food drive at the gate. Sounds routine, but this one carries more diagnostic weight than most.
You get to see Mehringer call plays for the first time, and you might see Raiola thrown into the first live-action setting since his fibula surgery. And you get to see how a defense with 14 returning starters operates under a coordinator who freely admitted the goal is to move from “pretty good” to elite.
With Evan Stewart and Dakorien Moore both returning from injuries, the receiver group alone could look like a different unit from the one that managed just 22 points against Indiana in the Peach Bowl. So many entertaining things to watch for!
OregonReigns
Lakeside, Oregon
Top Photo by Evan Bernstein
OregonReigns is an occasional contributor to FishDuck and loves his Ducks!