The difference in the Oregon offense under Will Stein vs. Kenny Dillingham

Oregon has a fresh face as offensive coordinator in Will Stein. Yet, some insiders believe the Ducks’ offense might not look too different.

Stein was hired on Dec. 9, 2022, after Kenny Dillingham announced he was moving on from Oregon to take over as head coach at Arizona State. Dillingham had initially joined Oregon with head coach Dan Lanning in 2022. The offense was a success, and ScoopDuck’s Justin Hopkins doesn’t expect that to change.

“I just don’t think it’ll be all that different. I think you’ll see a little nuances there. It wouldn’t surprise me that they throw the ball a little bit more, but I don’t know that that means it’ll be a big, vertical, deep downfield attack.

“Of course, you’re returning Troy Franklin, who had a really good year last year. You brought in Traeshon Holden from Alabama. You’ve got some other guys there. You’re bringing in Jurrion Dickey, who was one of the No. 1 receivers in the 2023 recruiting class,” Hopkins told On3’s own JD PicKell.

Oregon has it all in the wide receiver department: returners, transfers and incoming freshmen. Stein isn’t used to such a surplus of talent. Before joining Oregon, the 33-year-old coach was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Under Stein, UTSA ranked No. 9 nationally in total offense (486.1 yards per game), No. 12 in scoring offense (38.7 points per game) and No. 12 in passing offense (308.6 yards per game). While some outsiders point to UTSA’s opponents’ lower skill levels, insiders imagine what Stein can do with Oregon’s talent at his disposal.

“You’re gonna see will Stein really leaning on Bo Nix and his expertise. He had a phenomenal year last year. We’re talking about Bo Nix. There’s no reason to go and change this thing, right? It ain’t broke, don’t go fix it, right?” Hopkins said. “You’ll see Will Stein come in and say, “Hey, look, Kenny Dillingham did a really good job here. I’m going to put a little bit of my stamp on it. But I think we’re going to keep this thing going.'”

And, if Hopkins was forced to say what might change under Stein?

“We might see a little bit more passing.”

With star quarterback Bo Nix behind center, more passing might as well be music to Ducks’ fans’ ears. Watch Stein make his debut with Oregon on Sept. 2, when the Ducks take on Portland State in their season-opener.