Oregon football: Dan Lanning is absolutely deserving of huge extension

It’s the offseason so that just means that college football critics and self-proclaimed experts come from all corners of the map to give their opinion on anything and everything and treat it as a fact.

Such was the case when Dan Lanning was rewarded an extension with Oregon football through 2028 despite just taking over last season.

There were critics left and right, saying he didn’t deserve the extension already and that programs make this mistake all the time, getting immediate success from a coach, extending him, and only watching him flame out for the remainder of his contract or until he’s fired.

But Lanning deserves this extension. And I’ll tell you why.

Dan Lanning has brought Oregon football back to the top

In just one season, Lanning took over an Oregon program that many feared would take steps back with the sudden departure of Mario Cristobal, surprise transfers, and decommitments, and led it to a 10-3 finish with a Holiday Bowl win over North Carolina.

Lanning was able to not only keep the culture but build on it. The players bought in immediately and he was even able to land a five-star in Josh Conerly Jr. before he even coached a game.

That elite recruiting carried over in the 2023 class as he landed the No. 9 group in the country and the 2024 class is currently ranked No. 13.

The talent will be there under Lanning. The dude can recruit. And he’s proven that he can coach, winning 10 games in a year when the Pac-12 made a huge comeback.

Oregon has seen coaches leave suddenly too much over the past few years for “better offers” so the Ducks got ahead of this one and I think it’s going to pay major dividends.

Lanning may be one of the best coaches in college football within the next five years.