More than three years after 14 former Oregon Ducks signed a letter asking Rob Mullens to hire the Ducks' next head coach from within the "Oregon family," instead of yet another coach who would leave after a few seasons for his dream job in the southeast, Dan Lanning has redefined Oregon football, built bonds with the pillars of Oregon's past, and humbly cemented himself at the head of Oregon's family table.
The alumni letter to the athletic director came in response to the consecutive brief tenures of Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal, who left Oregon for Florida State (Taggart's home state) and Miami (Cristobal's alma mater), respectively. While Lanning has ties to the South, being from Missouri and having coached at several SEC schools, he has affirmed that Oregon is where he plans to be.
That kind of commitment from a coach is rare in college football, especially in the Pacific Northwest — as Washington fans learned last year when Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama — and it allows a program to grow without long-term, unimpeded vision. A massive part of Oregon football's legacy is a lineage of great quarterbacks, and since Lanning was hired, he's ensured elite quarterback play isn't just Oregon's legacy but its identity.
The Ducks quarterback legacy was on display last month when Justin Herbert and Bo Nix attended Oregon's 2025 Pro Day, supporting their siblings Patrick Herbert and Tez Johnson and the next quarterback of Oregon's past, Dillon Gabriel.
"You hope that we get to continue to create special moments like that," Lanning said in his Tuesday press conference. "I would say proof's in the pudding, right? And you look around here, if you're a great quarterback and you come to the University of Oregon, you've got a chance to have a lot of success. A chance to go perform in pro days, get drafted high, and go have the opportunity to play in the NFL."
Lanning is two-for-two at quarterback in three seasons, having hit with Nix and Gabriel. If we believe the hype being built by former players, Dante Moore has the potential to outshine his two predecessors going forward.
Herbert was gone before Lanning, but Lanning has prioritized cherishing Oregon football's past, as it helps seed the Ducks' future, particularly at the quarterback position.
"Being able to see the way Bo Nix takes notes every single day in a meeting benefits the younger quarterbacks on our team," Lanning said. "Being able to see the way Dillon competed on the field, or his ability to keep a great temperament in the middle of a game. I think all those things benefited those guys."
While spring football marches on and the Ducks look to develop their quarterback of the present, Lanning and his staff are also embroiled in a recruiting battle over Jared Curtis—the No. 1 quarterback and No. 2 player in the class of 2026. Curtis has set his commitment date for May 5th, and he's narrowed his search to Oregon and Georgia, ...
