Dan Lanning delivered 'B' grade for first year at Oregon by Greg McElroy

With National Signing Day in the rearview and college football programs into the phase of winter workouts, it is truly the offseason. Thus, it’s the optimal time to give some grades for coaches for the 2022 season, and that’s exactly what ESPN’s Greg McElroy did on the “Always College Football” podcast.

When taking stock of Dan Lanning and his first season at Oregon, McElroy considered a few things in awarding a B. The beatdown the Ducks took in the opener against Georgia and their late-season falter came up, but so did the fact that Oregon won 10 games. And McElroy readily acknowledged that the middle span of the season was A worthy.

“So, I think that not only does Dan Lanning get an A for how his team played in the middle of the year — if it was only the middle of the year, he’d get an A,” McElroy said. “But if you take into account how he started and how he finished, it’s difficult to kind of wrap your head around. Still, 10 wins in your first season, very, very solid. Have him as a B.”

After starting the season by getting the doors blown off against Georgia, Lanning and Oregon embarked on an eight-game win streak. They hit a skid in November, losing a pair of games to Washington and Oregon State.

The trajectory reminded McElroy of another first time head coach in 2022.

“Little bit similar to Marcus Freeman in the sense that their first start, their first games, if you will, not a great feeling,” McElroy said. “Then you lose two of your last three regular season games to squander a trip to the Pac 12 championship. You lose to your rival, in Oregon State. That’s a difficult thing to kind of deal with. But you got Bo Nix to return. And you did so in spite of losing your offensive coordinator, Kenny Dillingham, to Arizona State.”