The Oregon Ducks will fly into the 2024 college football season with a lot of hype. Heading into the new Big Ten, Oregon will be one of the teams expected to contend at the top of the conference. Some have even suggested the Ducks could win the Big Ten in their first year in the conference.
Expectations are high, and Dan Lanning knows it. The exuberant Oregon head coach has led the Ducks to two great seasons after some coaching instability took over the program from 2016 onward. Oregon has recruited like it has never recruited before, either, showing the fruits of its labor from winning so often last decade.
Teams have tried to pry Lanning away, but so far, he’s said no. He even turned down Alabama this past year and made a recruiting pitch out of it. It’s clear he thinks the world of Oregon, and Oregon thinks that of him.
In an ESPN interview, Lanning discussed his time in Eugene and what he expects of himself. He also made it clear what the goal is with the Ducks.
“When you make decisions before opportunities arise, I think it’s really easy,” Lanning said via ESPN. “And my family and I made a decision a long time ago, this will be, for us, the last place that we coach …. That means I have to win.”
Oregon has never won a National Championship in football. So if, and when Lanning wins at Oregon, it will be a historic victory for the Ducks.
[ESPN]
