Oregon’s window to win a national championship could close sooner than you think

This season may be Oregon’s last chance to win a national championship. At least with Dan Lanning. 

He’s taken an Oregon team and built a Gladiator-like culture to put them into a position of winning a Big Ten championship in their first year in the conference and even as a heavy favorite for a national championship. 

But his rise as one of college football’s smartest and successful coaches, has quickly landed him in contention of being a coach in the NFL. According to an ESPN+ article, Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler believe Lanning could be the next college coach to get a shot in the NFL.

Last season it was Jim Harbaugh that tried his hand in the NFL after spending nine seasons at Michigan. He’s currently 6-3 in his first season with the Los Angeles Chargers. 

While college coaches haven’t been able to translate their success in college to pros, Harbaugh has managed both and potentially Lanning could follow in his tracks. And honestly, with his potential landing spots, he could end up being successful. 

Dan Lanning to the NFL could be good for him, bad for Oregon if they don’t win a title this year

This seems like the perfect storm of a season for the Ducks to win a national championship. They have a Heisman candidate at quarterback, a coach that’s made his team believe and an expanded College Football Playoff that favors the conference they’re in. 

If Lanning doesn’t take Oregon through the CFP and come out as the No. 1 team in the country, it may not get the chance again. At least not anytime soon. Lanning has a 32-5 record with Oregon since taking over for Mario Cristobal back in 2022. 

He’s one win away from averaging 11 wins in his career at Oregon and hasn’t more than three losses in a season since he’s taken over, including being undefeated this year. Truthfully, if he wins a title at Oregon, it wouldn’t make sense for him to forego a job in the NFL, especially when he’ll get a chance to work with talented, young players. 

As of now, Chicago, Jacksonville and the New York Giants will all most likely have vacancies when the season’s over. That means he could work with Caleb Williams and their young offensive core, Trevor Lawrence or get a quarterback this upcoming draft and rebuild with the Giants. 

All are intriguing and could be enough to pull Lanning from Oregon. And if he leaves, if Oregon doesn’t win a title this year, he’ll be taking their title hopes with him.