Oregon Offensive Coordinator Search

 

 

***DECEMBER 2 THOUGHTS*** 

Adding some thoughts here as other names get brought to the surface whether that be fans, other writers, or sites. I see some interesting names out there and will share some of my own thoughts as well. Two additional names I have seen thrown around by various folks today that i want to add thoughts on as well as someone that I think could be a really good hire - just not as offensive coordinator.

Todd Monken - Baltimore Ravens OC (former Georgia OC): Monken was on the same staff as Dan Lanning at Georgia for two seasons so there is surely some familiarity. But Monken is also about to turn 60 years old and I am told he absolutely does not want to return to college coaching at this point. He has all of the tools to be a solid hire, I just don't think this is a fit for him at this point of his career.

Joe Brady - Buffalo Bills OC: Brady seems to be the dream hire for a lot of programs thanks in large part to his work with LSU on their way to the historic 2019 team led by Joe Burrow that resulted in a national championship. Despite seemingly every fanbase talking about luring him back to the college game, he has remained steadfast in coaching at the NFL level. He knows his strengths and weaknesses well and I just don't see him moving from the NFL down to be an OC at the college level. Heck, I am not even sure he would go back to the college game to be a head coach.

Andy Kotelnicki - Penn State OC: I know Dan Lanning has a ton of respect for Kotelnicki and likes his run oriented offense. The thing is, we know what he did at Kansas which was more of a true spread option with Jalon Daniels. He tried to force a square peg into round holes at Penn State. Just don't know how much of that was James Franklin and how much was Kotelnicki trying to run a system rather than adapting to the personnel he has. He is a name that some like. Not sure he is a fit for Oregon, though, as he is not really known as a recruiter - and, oddly enough, he has not been linked to a position as a coach since 2004-05 when he was listed as the Special Teams, Tight Ends, and Offensive Line at Western Illinois.

Kade Bell - OC/QB Coach Pitt: Of all the names out there, this would be a very good hire. He is the son of long time coach Kerwin Bell and has been around the game his entire life. He runs an offense that is very similar to Oregon in its intent and has had great success at every stop creating potent offenses that use Air Raid concepts with a better balance in the run game. The dilemma here is that he has strong ties to Florida and the early word is that Jon Summrall is also very interested in Bell.  

Jerry Neuheisel - QB Coach UCLA: If the Ducks decide to promote Mehringer, Neuheisel might make a really good hire as a young, QB coach with a bright future. We all know his dad was a coach and Rick has been very pro-Lanning and Oregon over the past couple of seasons. The younger Neuheisel is well connected and could be an intriguing name if the Ducks are in the market for someone to coach QBs

Koa Ka’ai - Asst. QB Coach Oregon: For those that do not remember, Ka’ai was a tight end for Oregon from 2011-15 - his lat game was the infamous Alamo Bowl. But he also has some unique ties to the current staff. he worked at Kamehameha Schools with Abu Ma’afala. Ma'afala worked as a graduate assistant with the University of Louisville from 2008-10; Will Stein was a QB for Louisville during that time. Ka'ai would later work fro Todd Graham at Hawaii in 2020. 

This season was his fourth with Oregon and he has worked with  tight ends, running backs and, this spring, was announced as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach during his tenure. A chance to 'promote from within' should he Ducks elevate Mehringer to full time play-calling Offensive Coordinator.

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MONDAY DECEMBER 1 PM 

Given that there are a bunch of places that want to put together a coaching hot board for the Ducks offensive (and likely defensive) coordinator, I am not going to do an official coaching hot board of my own. It tends to be a lot of the same names and ultra repetitive. What I will do with this space is make it more like a running ‘log’ of the names we are hearing and my thoughts on the topic in the moments.

I will keep this as a running blog with newest content at the top of this page. Want to discuss? Go to this link and talk about the search: Oregon Coach Search

TIMING:

The first thing that we need to talk about is how this played out. If anyone thinks that Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart woke up this morning and thought “think I will fire Mark Stoops” and suddenly decided to replace him with Will Stein in less than 24 hours off of reputation alone does not know how this works.

Agents and talks have been happening for some amount of time in the ‘hypothetically speaking, what would you think’ and then deeper discussions about philosophy, transition, plan, etc. can happen.

What does that matter for Oregon? Dan Lanning has known for some time that Will Stein was going to get a job and there was knowledge that his ‘childhood’ dream school where his father had played; So Lanning and Marshall Malchow were already vetting potential replacements as early as September. The Oregon staff did not just start their search after the news broke that Stein was officially going to be hired by Kentucky.

What does that mean as far as potential candidates? There are literally over a hundred people that have expressed interest already. Not all of those people will have the chops for the job, but the number of people who covet the Oregon offensive coordinator job is significant. Why? Because it is a surefire way to get to a head coaching position and those people that want to take the next step love that Lanning actively works to get his guys the next step.

Oregon is not going to rush this hire because they don’t need to. Stein is going to stay with the team throughout the rest of their season whenever that is and be the play caller. If Tosh Lupoi leaves, the same will be the case. With signing day set for tomorrow, and all of Oregon’s commits locked in, there is nothing that makes ‘urgency’ an issue for Oregon. Maybe a hire is announced before the end of the Oregon season, but it is not an issue in the search for either coordinator.

CRITERIA AND INTERNAL CANDIDATES

The first thing to know is that Lanning is not going to hire a coordinator without play calling experience. What that means essentially is that Rashaad Samples is not likely to get promoted to offensive coordinator.

While he is an up and coming coach and has a very bright future there are two confounding issues preventing that next step. First, he has never called plays at any level and Lanning is not going to hand over the reins to someone that is using the position as on-the-job-training. The second confounding factor is that he is a running backs coach who has never coached QBs. This just is not a good fit at this time.

Drew Mehringer, though, is one of those guys that fits both bills. He has called plays in the past and has coached QBs in the past.

I don’t think that being the QB coach is a deal breaker. In other words, Lanning could promote Mehringer, keep him as the TE coach and then go out and hire a young QB coach that can grow into the role.

Mehringer called plays in the Holiday Bowl in 2022 after Kenny Dillingham accepted the Arizona State position. The Ducks rushed for 209 and passed for 205 yards in the game. For the last three seasons, he has been the ‘eye in the sky’ for the Ducks offense. While he has not been calling plays specifically, he is a massive part of the game planning and it is his vision that helps Stein with play calling on the field. If Oregon is going to promote from within this seems like the best option.

EXTERNAL CANDIDATES

This is where it gets tricky. I have already seen and heard multiple names on multiple hot boards, so this will just be a running blog of those candidates.

NOT HAPPENING:

Chip Kelly: Nope. Not a fit. Not really even worth discussing.

Jordan Davis – North Texas OC/WR Coach/Sean Brophy North Texas QB Coach: Neither of these are a play caller at North Texas. Yes, they had a fantastic offense, but mentioning them as serious candidates knowing that play calling is a prerequisite is unserious. Could Brophy get hired as a QB coach? Maybe if he does not follow Eric Morris to Oklahoma State.

D’Eriq King SMU QB Coach/McKenzie Milton UCF QB Coach: Again, no play calling experience. No way they are being brought in as coordinators. Could also be considered for QB coach if Mehringer gets promoted and they want to go outside the program to find a QB coach.

Garret Altman Vanderbilt QB Coach: Same as above – but worse. He has no concept of a structured offense – even as a QB coach. Playground ball history only.

Arthur Sitkowski Co-QB Coach Illinois: I could see a fit as a QB coach, but again, not going to be the coordinator at Oregon. Not even a co-OC

Chandler Whitmer Indiana QB/Co-OC: While he carries the co-OC title, he is not the play caller at Indiana. That would be Mike Shanahan. He has been at Indiana for just this season after two seasons as a GA, then three seasons in the NFL. Not sure if he has the recruiting chops that will be needed to be a QB coach at Oregon, but no chance he gets a coordinator role at Oregon with no play calling experience.

REALISTIC EARLY EXTERNAL NAMES:

Buster Faulkner Georgia Tech OC: Faulkner was the QB coach at Georgia while Lanning was there (2020-2022) . One of the things I like about him is he understands adapting to personnel. He is not a power QB option guy – but Haynes King is that type of QB, so he has adapted his offense. This may not be a big name guy, but would be a solid hire.

Jonathan Brewer Duke OC/QB Coach is another name you may not know and you may think Duke is not very good – but Brewer comes from the Rhett Lashlee tree and is a fantastic coordinator who has called plays. He made Malik Murphy look like a superstar and has done another good job with Darian Mensah this season.

Mack Leftwich Texas Tech OC: Leftwich’s brother Cutter is an offensive line analyst for Oregon so he has plenty of familiarity with the program. He started under the Eric Morris tree at Incarnate Word, but decided to stay when Morris left before moving to Texas State with GJ Kinne. He was not much of the play caller under Kinne at Incarnate Word or Texas State, but has shown an extraordinary step this season with Texas Tech. Would he leave after just one season there for a lateral move? Might be a long shot there.

Corey Dennis UNLV OC: A former DB at Georgia Tech, Dennis spent 2015-2023 in multiple roles including four seasons (2020-2023) as the QB coach at Ohio State before moving on to Tulsa for a season and then UNLV this season under Dan Mullen. He may not have quite enough play calling experience, but he is young and has done some great work with QBs over the years.

Justin Burke UTSA OC/QB coach: Burke replaced Stein when Stein came to Oregon. He has been at UTSA since 2020, but spent 2011-2019 working up the ladder under Charie Strong from Louisville to Texas and South Florida. He had played QB at Louisville under Strong before getting into coaching in 2011.