After a third loss this season and a third straight game when the Ducks scored 17 points or fewer, Oregon fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, the team announced Sunday morning.
“Drew has been a valued member of this staff since 2022, and I am appreciative of everything he’s done for Oregon,” head coach Dan Lanning said in a statement. “He played a tremendous role in what this program has accomplished over the last several seasons. This was a decision I felt was in the best interest of our football program, as I believe a new direction is necessary to move our offense forward. I thank Drew for his efforts and wish him all the best.”
Mehringer joined Oregon’s staff as a tight ends coach in 2022 and was promoted to offensive coordinator ahead of this season in the wake of Will Stein’s departure to Kentucky. But while Lanning appeared to prioritize continuity with the hire, Mehringer never quite got the offense to work as well as his predecessor.
The Ducks’ offense went from a top-20 rushing unit and a top-10 scoring unit to 88th in rushing and 40th in scoring under Mehringer. After the loss to UCLA at home two weeks ago, Lanning said the entire offensive approach needed to be evaluated, including the playcalling and preparation. He did not elaborate on what specifically was changing and whether Mehringer would be asked to change his approach. Previously, Lanning had defended his decision to promote from within with Mehringer.
“I think it’s the easy thing to say if you’re watching, like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s obviously an OC-DC thing.’ No, it’s a combination of the staff, right? The decisions I make, right? The decisions we make as an offensive staff, the decisions we make as a defensive staff, and then execution,” Lanning said after the team’s loss to Oklahoma State. ” We have to go execute plays. If we were executing plays and they weren’t working, that’d be different.”
Oregon, which came into the season ranked second in the country and had championship aspirations, lost starting quarterback Dante Moore to a concussion in their game against USC during Week 4. With Moore still out, they have had to rely on a combination of backup Dylan Raiola and third-string quarterback Brock Thomas.
But the back-and-forth between both players nearly cost them a win against Nebraska last week and though Raiola started and played the entire game against Illinois, the offense could only muster 10 points. Since that win over USC, the Ducks have also turned over the ball 10 times in a three-game span.
Lanning did not immediately share who would take over playcalling duties the rest of the season.
