Oregon Linked to National Championship-Winning Offensive Coordinator

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning pulled the plug on the Drew Mehringer experiment early, and there is a lot of buzz growing about who could become the Ducks’ next offensive coordinator amid a relatively dull coaching carousel this year.

The Ducks’ offense ranks 42nd in total offense in the FBS this season. Oregon has scored just 83 points in their first four Big Ten games, one fewer point than they scored against Portland State in Week 3. 

Things were off early in the season before the Ducks lost quarterback Dante Moore to a nasty hit in their game against USC on Sept. 26.

Lanning admitted during the team's 4-3 start that he's learned the most as a head coach during this trying season. One of the biggest offseason decisions Lanning made was to promote Mehringer to offensive coordinator after Will Stein left to become the head coach of Kentucky instead of hiring an elite and experienced offensive coordinator, much like what Ryan Day does with Ohio State.

Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire put Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly on his hot board list of candidates who could become Oregon's next offensive coordinator. That would be an interesting hire for a couple of reasons.

Kelly went 46–7 during his time as head coach at Oregon from 2008 to 2011. He took the Ducks to the national championship in 2010. Kelly ultimately left Oregon to become a coach in the NFL.

In recent seasons, he served as the head coach of UCLA, offensive coordinator of Ohio State (he won a national championship with the Buckeyes in 2024), OC with the Las Vegas Raiders.

There would be a lot of questions about the potential hire. Would Kelly want to return to Oregon to coach as an offensive coordinator? Given Kelly's success as an OC with Ohio State and Northwestern, he could be up for a head coaching job for another Power 4 program in this hiring cycle.

Lanning would have to have a lot of faith in Kelly to hand over the keys to the offense. One wouldn't assume Kelly would want Lanning to be too hands-on with his scheme and play-calling.

Any elite offensive coordinator Lanning would want to hire would want more autonomy with the role. As Oregon saw this season, going with a more conservative approach can have its problems.

It doesn't seem likely for a Kelly reunion, but anything is possible.