Will The Coaching Carousel Kill Oregon’s CFP Chances?

Today marks the first of the early signing day period, but nothing hangs heavier on Oregon football’s future than the potential loss of both coordinators to head coaching jobs.

Now, if there’s anything the Ducks have learned to deal with this season, it’s adversity. Our Oregon football program has been dealing with injuries all season, and forced to step up in big spots against opponents playing for their Playoff lives. That’s landed Dan Lanning and co. at a healthy 11-1 entering the postseason, 23-1 over the past two regular seasons. Now, the Ducks are facing massive personnel changes that will certainly have an impact on their College Football Playoff run. Our Mr. FishDuck shared his concern with me when he took a break from studying the CFB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook and NCAAF latest news, as these changes could certainly impact Our Beloved Ducks.

Superstar offensive coordinator Will Stein is moving on to Kentucky, and Tosh Lupoi is expected to join the Cal Golden Bears. At this moment, not all details have been released, but it’s expected that they both will coach through the College Football Playoff and finish the season with the Ducks. How these roles will be filled can be a topic for a later date, but Lanning has done a pretty stellar job hiring coordinators in the past, so I don’t think he’ll flinch for a second. Georgia Tech’s Buster Faulkner is an under-the-radar candidate I could see filling the OC spot, while  UCLA’s Jerry Neuheisel and Texas Tech’s Mack Leftwich are some other intriguing prospects. The next few games in the postseason will also offer great opportunities for the rest of the staff to step up and earn larger roles in 2026, potentially allowing Lanning to promote from within.

The bright side (unfortunately) of all this? The broken college football calendar is affecting every program. Coaches are getting poached left and right, teams are playing with new coaches ENTERING the playoffs, and the Penn State job STILL remains open at the time of writing this article. In just year two of this newly formatted College Football Playoff, we are clearly still working out all the kinks.

So how will Oregon adjust? Will this be hanging in the back of the team’s minds heading into the College Football Playoff? Are the Ducks going to be able to tune out this noise and play their best ball when it really counts?

Tosh Lupoi’s departure isn’t finalized yet, but his presence on the sideline will be dearly missed in 2026 – Photo via Max Unkrich

Bottom Line: Don’t Panic, Just Prepare and Get Healthy

Fortunately for the players, these changes in staffing are just distractions and aren’t going to force schematic changes heading into the postseason. Stein may be a bit absent in the coming days, especially with team meetings and pressers he’ll have to attend, but I just don’t see that being a major detriment to this program. With how Lanning has had this team ready to go every week despite injury, circumstance, or any number of factors, I have full confidence he’ll push this team to compete with complete focus. All the Ducks need to do is put their collective heads down and get healthy.

With a couple of weeks off and extra prep for a home College Football Playoff game, I expect to see Dakorien Moore, Gary Bryant, and others return to full strength. As much as Malik Benson and others have massively stepped up in their absence, I think getting these players back for a title run will have a far greater impact on the team than our coordinators leaving after the season’s over.

Considering the potential outcomes for the Ducks’ chances at a title with these staff changes looming, I have personally never believed in a coach more than Dan Lanning. I never doubt his ability to prepare this team, and I expect he’ll continue to recruit at the incredible standard he’s set for himself, which in turn will lead to more coordinators of his earning head coaching opportunities. He really means it when he says he wants to be at Oregon forever. With that in mind, he’s going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that this team puts its best foot forward entering the playoffs, regardless of the looming coordinator departures. I’m sure Will and Tosh will do the same, and are going to absolutely crush their prep in their last few games with the Ducks.

Anyway, what do you think? How do you feel the coordinators’ pending departures will impact this year’s Playoff run? Who do you think Lanning will go after to replace his two keystones of the program? Let us know in the FishDuck Forum with decorum.

GO DUCKS!

Alex Heining
Los Angeles, California
Top Photo By: Max Unkrich

Alex Heining

Alex Heining is an Oregon alumni from the graduate class of 2021. After studying sports business and media studies, he has moved into the field of digital marketing as a copywriter and content manager in the Los Angeles area. Still, he loves his Ducks and goes to local high school games all over the Los Angeles and Orange County area to check out new recruits of the future (and a SoFi game or two with the pros). On any given Saturday, expect to find him doing martial arts, playing the guitar, or screaming at the tv over a missed holding penalty.