Oregon finding value in outside eyes for help assessing struggles

A 4-3 start to the season would be solid for a majority of teams in college football. But when the Oregon Ducks face that situation, the sky is falling. Offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer was fired on Sunday, to be replaced by assistant quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson. That news preceded the announcement that Dante Moore is unlikely to return to the field this season, potentially ending his tenure as a Duck.

The play-calling change and Moore's decision came just weeks after wide receiver Evan Stewart was detained for a DUII. A week later, true freshmen wide receiver Messiah Hampton and Jalen Lott were late scratches and didn't make the trip to Champaign to face Illinois despite a depleted receiver room. The Ducks lost, 21-10, dropping their third game before the calendar has flipped to November.

The product off the field is an issue, but one that head coach Dan Lanning consistently says he'll handle in-house. The product on the field has been an issue as well, as the Ducks have scored 14.0 points per game over the last three games. They've been one of the worst offenses in the nation, with a clear disconnect occurring between the scheme and numerous blue-chippers across the 11 positions.

While Mehringer was fired, the Oregon coaching staff is still searching for what the disconnect has been, even looking for outside perspectives.

"Yeah, in some ways, it's something we've done too," Lanning said when asked about welcoming outside eyes on his team. "It's just not something that you guys would necessarily know about. The great thing about today's technology is there's the ability to Zoom, evaluate film from a distance, right? Put different eyes and perspectives on some of the stuff that we've done."

In the past, Lanning has talked about collaborating with other coaches during the offseason on how they run their programs, name-dropping Clemson's Dabo Swinney. Lanning also visited a Seattle Seahawks practice during Oregon's bye week. Coming from Alabama's staff under Nick Saban, there's no doubt that Lanning has a thorough contact list to choose from if he wants other coaches to take a look at his team.

And if the Ducks in crisis mode and the Oregon staff unable to turn around the ship just yet, Lanning has called on outside perspectives to give him a hand.

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