Greg McElroy gives Dan Lanning a 40% chance to win a national championship at Oregon
Dan Lanning, one of the best up and coming coaches in college football, stayed in Eugene for a reason this offseason. That decision could now pay off for the Ducks with how likely that Greg McElroy feels it is that he wins a national title there.
McElroy listed off the likelihoods of several coaches to win championships during a recent episode of ‘Always College Football’. Lanning was an exception on that list based on his success so far at a program like Oregon. Proving to be a great coach in general, though, also didn’t hurt his odds for McElroy.
“This is the one caveat,” McElroy prefaced. “I’ve been saying the place, the place, the place. Oregon has never won a national championship. Oregon has played for two back in 2011 and 2014. A lot of people thought last year that they had one of the best teams in the country, understandably so.”
“The world of NIL has been very beneficial to Dan Lanning. I also think Dan Lanning is a phenomenal coach. I mean this guy is a game-changer. He’s 22-5 overall, he’s 15-3 in the Pac-12,” said McElroy. “All that will help Dan Lanning moving forward.”
Recruiting has also been a big deal for Lanning’s case. He has already shown, whether in the preps or the portal, that he can bring top talent to Autzen Stadium.
“If you look at how active they’ve been in being able to attract players, via the portal or via the high-school ranks? Dan Lanning is absolutely killing it as far as talent retention and talent attraction – absolutely killing it,” said McElroy.
McElroy’s opinion is also as optimistic as it is because of what this upcoming fall could be for Oregon. They’re coming off great seasons in his first and second years as head coach and could now be set up for another one in his third.
“If you were to sort them right now in 2024, how far down the list in the Big Ten do you have to go before you get to Oregon? I don’t think you can make a case for Oregon being any worse than number three in the Big Ten right now. I don’t know how you can do it,” said McElroy. “Oregon brings back so much, they have a veteran quarterback who’s going to fit in the system beautifully. They’ve got great playmakers, great additions made on the outside. You’ve got Tez Johnson back at wide receiver, you bring in Evan Stewart. They have brought in a lot of talent. They’ve got some really good second-year players along the line of scrimmage defensively that I think is only going to continue to propel them moving forward.”
With all that together, McElroy gave Lanning almost a coin-flip’s chance to win the school’s first-ever national title during his tenure there. That’s all because of what he has shown so far and what that suggests that he can do into the future, including next season
“We’ve seen them compete at the top of the game for a long time. They’re not going anywhere. Dan Lanning, I think, has a very strong chance of bringing the first national championship home to the Oregon Ducks. That’s why I am putting his percentage chance of winning a natty at Oregon at 40%,” McElroy said. “I think Dan Lanning is going to get it done. I think it could be sooner than later with the trajectory that his program is currently on.”