Urban Meyer Ranks Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning Among Top Coaches In College Football

“The big gold trophy, that’s it. I went to visit him last year, went to spring practice, talked to the team, talked to the staff. Watching him behind the scenes. I think he’s certainly one of the top two-three coaches in the country right now,” Meyer said.

“I love his enthusiasm. And here’s what’s really neat, he loves Oregon. He loves that place. His family loves it. He’s got a niche out there, he’s got Nike, it’s a beautiful school, he’s got great facilities. This one ain’t going away,” Meyer continued.

There are only three current coaches who have led a team to a national championship win: Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, and Ohio State’s Ryan Day. Meyer putting Lanning in the top three is high praise, but with what he is doing with Oregon, the Ducks coach deserves the credit.

Each season under Lanning, Oregon has gotten progressively better, and if the team keeps it up, a national championship win is near. With Lanning being a defensive-minded coach and bringing in a talented coaching staff, Oregon’s defense has been dominant. Even with the move into the Big Ten through conference realignment, the Ducks’ defense has kept up with the physicality and dominance.

In 2024, Oregon averaged 34.86 points per game while opponents averaged just 19.43. The team scored almost double the touchdowns they allowed, scoring 63 total and allowing 32. The strength of the defense will give the offense the time to adjust as needed at the beginning of the season.

With Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel off to the NFL, the Ducks will be starting a new quarterback as Lanning and his staff decide between Dante Moore, Austin Novosad, and Luke Moga, all of whom lack experience. Moore is the projected starter, with the most experience starting five games with UCLA in 2023, but Oregon has its work cut out.

Despite the new quarterback starting, Lanning has a plan to develop them and get them ready for the season. This summer, Lanning is preparing each quarterback by putting them in a position to test them, so that come season, everything comes naturally to them.

“When you have great players, they’ll make routine plays look like elite plays because they execute it at such a high level,” Lanning said on Always College Football. “At times, you’ve got to be creative with your feet, and you’ve got to be able to make plays on the move. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make plays on the move and still be a great decision-maker for your team. We highlight when guys take easy money and they take advantage of what’s in front of them.”

The Oregon Ducks will kick off the 2025 season against the Montana State Bobcats. The first big test for Oregon will be against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sept. 27. While no game in college football is an easy win, the Lanning and the Ducks have a couple of weeks to prepare for the tough matchup and get the team working as one unit.