Dan Lanning and company didn’t take long to establish Oregon as a major player in the race for the Pac-12 title in the final two seasons of the conference. Now, in Lanning’s third year, the Ducks move to the Big Ten where their staff consistency will hope to give them an advantage.
Oregon Ducks Coaching Staff
The Ducks will hope to make noise in the Big Ten, joining the conference on July 1, 2024, as Lanning has turned the Ducks into a national powerhouse in a quick turnaround.
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 time in, and time out.
His first Ducks team went 10-3 overall and he followed that up with a 12-2 record in 2023.
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.
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 made the jump from UTSA to the Ducks, making Oregon his first Power Five offensive coordinator opportunity. In his first season with the Ducks, Oregon ranked first in a plethora of offensive rankings in the Pac-12 including yards per rush attempt, total rushing touchdowns, and rushes of over 40 yards, to name a few.
Prior to Oregon, Stein 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 brought the RPO (run-pass option) offense with mesh concepts and lots of motions for the slot wide receiver to Eugene with great success.
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 was brought in to be an extra hand in the aerial attack. 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 Defensive Backs Coach, Chris Hampton
Hampton joined Stein as another newcomer to Oregon in 2023. Hampton came 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 in 2022.
That year, his 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.
Special Teams Coordinator and Nickels Coach, Joe Lorig
Lorig is entering season three 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, Ra’Shaad Samples
Bringing in new flavor at the running back spot, Ra’Shaad Samples was announced as the assistant head coach and running back coach on April 9, 2024. At just 29 years old when he was hired, Samples entered his third season at the FBS level before turning 30.
He coached at TCU and SMU previously, but was most recently the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator for the Arizona State Sun Devils in 2023. Samples spent a year with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, coaching the running backs at the NFL level as the youngest coach in the NFL at the time.
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.
Offensive Line Coach, A’lique Terry
Terry was hired back on Valentine’s Day in 2023. He entered the scene 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 completed the 2023 staff and enters his third season with the Ducks in 2024. He’s no stranger to the Big Ten as he previously 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 in just his first year.
Other Coaches on Oregon’s Staff
- Inside Linebackers Coach: Brian Michalowski
- Head Strength and Conditioning Coach: Wilson Love
- GA Defense: Kamran Araghi
- GA Defense: Rashad Wadood
- GA Offense: Jack Smith
- GA Offense: Ryan Walk
College Football Network has you covered with the latest news and analysis, rankings, transfer portal information, top 10 returning players, the college football season schedule, and much more!