Dan Lanning and company didn’t take long to establish Oregon as a major player in the race for the Pac-12 title in year one. Now, in his second year as head coach, despite losing an integral assistant within the conference, Lanning has maintained continuity on his staff heading into 2023.
Oregon Ducks Coaching Staff, 2023
This season will come with aspirations of reclaiming the conference title for Oregon while ending Utah’s current reign at the top.
Head Coach, Dan Lanning
Lanning elevated himself from a Broyles Award finalist (honoring the nation’s top assistant coach) to being in the running for Conference Head Coach of the Year.
His first Ducks team went 10-3 overall and rebounded immediately after the 49-3 opening day onslaught of his former employer, Georgia. Lanning coached the Ducks to a 41-20 romp of No. 12 BYU, while also beating two top 10 conference teams in No. 9 UCLA (45-30) and No. 10 Utah (20-17 over the eventual champions).
Known as a defensive whiz, Lanning’s first Duck defense ranked fifth in the conference in scoring defense and was fourth against the run. His unit also shared the second fewest touchdowns allowed average of 1.3 per game alongside Washington State, Utah, and Oregon State.
Lanning will have to replace four defenders who were drafted in late April, including first-rounder Christian Gonzalez and third-round outside linebacker DJ Johnson. However, Lanning has additionally left an imprint on the recruiting trail and helped put together the nation’s ninth-ranked recruiting class for 2023 by 247Sports.
MORE: Pac-12 QB Rankings, 2023
Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach, Will Stein
Stein was hired on December 9, 2022, making him one of the significant new hires for Oregon.
Stein is additionally making the jump from the University of Texas-San Antonio to the Ducks, making Oregon his first Power 5 OC opportunity.
The 33-year-old, however, helped build the Roadrunners into a top 10 national offense by averaging 486.1 yards per game last season. UTSA also ranked No. 12 in scoring offense with 38.7 PPG, and that includes UTSA hitting 30 points or more in 12 of its 13 games.
Lastly, Stein coached the nation’s second-leading dual-threat passer in Frank Harris, who accumulated 4,453 yards of total offense while ranking sixth with 40 combined touchdowns. He’s bringing an RPO (run-pass option) offense with mesh concepts and lots of motions for the slot wide receiver… all anticipated to be identical to what new Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham leaves behind in Eugene.
Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach, Tosh Lupoi
Lupoi was one of Lanning’s first staff hires on January 10, 2022, and he was plucked away from the NFL ranks.
While as a defensive line coach in the league, Lupoi helped coach Josh Allen and Dawuane Smoot with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who combined for 13.5 sacks in 2021. Before Jacksonville, he coached Grady Jarrett and the Atlanta Falcons front line, ranking sixth against the run in 2020. But in 2019, Lupoi coached a then-third-year pro in Myles Garrett to a 10-sack season with the Cleveland Browns.
Lupoi, additionally, is part of the Nick Saban coaching tree. He spent 2014 to 2018 with Alabama during a time when Quinnen Williams was there and when Lupoi was the defensive coordinator. The 41-year-old, who has another area of expertise in linebackers, helped oversee Johnson’s career-best season in Eugene before going off to the 2023 draft.
Co-Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach, Junior Adams
While Stein is being given the OC reins, Adams is likely to have an extra hand in the aerial attack, especially as he enters season two in Eugene.
Adams previously coached top five WRs Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan at Washington before joining the Ducks on January 3, 2022. He also shares two connections to a pair of Los Angeles Rams wideouts: Puka Nacua (before transferring to BYU) and a young Cooper Kupp (when Adams coached at Eastern Washington).
Co-Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach, Chris Hampton
Hampton joins Stein as another newcomer to Oregon. Given his past as a previous DC, he’ll also have co-reins of that unit alongside Lupoi.
Hampton comes over following a historic season at Tulane, which saw the Green Wave finish 12-2 and end with the school’s first-ever Cotton Bowl win over USC. His 2022 unit ranked No. 32 in scoring defense but delivered its leapfrogging movement in pass defense, going from No. 115 in 2020 before he took over to finishing No. 37 two seasons later.
Third-round linebacker Dorian Williams of the Buffalo Bills was one of his most recent players.
Special Teams Coordinator and Nickels Coach, Joe Lorig
Lorig is entering season two with Lanning and the Ducks. He spent his previous three seasons with Penn State, overseeing numerous All-Conference honorees in the special teams department. That includes the 2021 Big 10 Punter of the Year, Jordan Stout.
Before that, he spent 2016-2018 at Memphis when the Tigers had Tony Pollard returning kicks before he became the Pro Bowl running back for the Dallas Cowboys.
Running Backs Coach, Carlos Locklyn
Continuing with the theme of 2022 hires, Locklyn is in season two with the Ducks. Bucky Irving became his 1,000-yard rusher in season one with 1,058 yards. Noah Whittingham was another impact runner with 779 yards.
While he’s had previous stops with Western Kentucky and Florida State (the latter having him as the director of high school relations), he coached at Memphis from 2017-2019 and won two AAC titles.
MORE: Pac-12 Season Predictions: Game-by-Game Analysis, Marquee Matchups, and More Odds for 2023
Pass Defense Coordinator and Cornerbacks Coach, Demetrice Martin
“Coach Meat” was a big priority hire for Lanning on December 23, 2021, as Martin has nearly two decades of experience as a Pac-12 assistant. Known as a distinguished DB mastermind, Martin helped coach Gonzalez during their time at Colorado and then during their one season with the Ducks.
He also had a strong hand in recruiting future New York Giants CB Darnay Holmes and managed to coach Holmes in his true freshman season of 2017 at UCLA. Furthermore, 2017 third-rounder Fabian Moreau was one of his past players.
Tight Ends Coach, Drew Mehringer
Mehringer isn’t just someone with expertise in aerial play, but he is also one of the nation’s top recruiters. In 2019, 247Sports named him the Big 12’s top recruiter during his time coaching at Texas. While in Austin, he helped develop Devin Duvernay, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Collin Johnson into future NFL wideouts.
He was equally effective as a recruiter under Tom Herman in Houston, which included landing future Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver. His Oregon TE Terrance Ferguson was second on the Ducks with five touchdown catches.
Offensive Line Coach, A’lique Terry
Terry is the most recent newcomer as he was hired on Valentine’s Day 2023. However, Terry is familiar with the campus as he was a graduate assistant at Oregon in 2019 and 2020.
During his first stint in Eugene, he helped coach future top 10 pick Penei Sewell. He went to Hawaii to coach the Rainbow Warriors’ trenches in 2021 before joining the Minnesota Vikings last season as an assistant defensive line coach.
Defensive Line Coach, Tony Tuioti
Tuioti completes the 2023 staff and enters his second season with the Ducks. He’s no stranger to the Pac-12, though, as he was with Cal from 2017-2018, helping improve one of the nation’s worst defenses.
He spent 2019-2021 at Nebraska, contributing to the improvement of the Cornhuskers’ defense in the categories of scoring defense and run defense. At Oregon, Casey Rogers became his top interior defender, producing a career-high 34 tackles, including 15 solo tackles.
