Dan Lanning on why 5-star QBs have success revamping career at Oregon
· Yahoo Sports
Dan Lanning has made a name for himself in several different ways since taking over as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. From viral quotes to post-game celebrations, Lanning has become one of the most famous and popular coaches in college football.
However, one way he has most separated himself and his program during his four years in Eugene is through what they do at the quarterback position. In the last half-decade, Oregon has become a place for former 5-star quarterbacks who need a reset to revamp their careers.
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We saw it in 2022 and 2023 with Bo Nix, a former burnt-out Mr. Alabama who turned his career around, becoming a first-round pick and Heisman finalist after two years in Eugene. A year later, former 5-star Dillon Gabriel found great success running Oregon's offense, leading the Ducks to the College Football Playoff. After that, it was former 5-star Dante Moore who was looking for a restart after struggling mightily as a true freshman with the UCLA Bruins. He came to Oregon, sat for a year, and then flourished as the starter in 2025. Moore enters 2026 as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy and be a first-round pick next spring.
So, why do the Ducks have such a good track record when it comes to giving these high-profile players such a needed reset?
According to Lanning, it's because the program focuses on the right things and blocks out the rest.
"I think we're very clear on how much outside noise matters, which is none," Lanning said on an episode of Y-Option College Football with Yogi Roth. "Those stars, you don't get to carry them to the field. Your bank account, you don't get to carry it to the field. It's about what you do that day. It's about the work that you put in."
The work has been a constant for QBs at Oregon. Nix was notoriously the hardest-working player in the locker room, and stories are still told today of his notebooks and his post-practice efforts to continue his growth. That's something that has carried on with each predecessor, as well.
When it comes down to it, though, Lanning talks a lot about changing expectations for these players. Not necessarily changing the expectation of winning big games or making it to the NFL, but altering the expectations based on what you can and can't control.
"'Expectations' is a big word," Lanning said. "So many people's expectations are based on things they don't control, right? So if you can restructure your expectations to be based on things you control, the right attitude, effort, focus, and going through the right progression, like those things you're in charge of. If you can make sure you're doing that, and it has nothing to do with the result, it's not based on if the ball was caught or not, or what coverage they played, right? It's, 'did I go through the right steps?' and if I set my expectations based on those things, in the long term, good things happen, right? But it's not results-based, it's process-based."
So far, the process has been proven to work. Oregon enters the 2026 season as one of the favorites to win the national championship, with Lanning hoping to bring the first-ever title home to Eugene. If they get it done, it will be with a former 5-star QB who transferred to the Ducks and turned his career around.
In 2027, the expectation is that Dylan Raiola will take over as the starting QB — a former 5-star passer from Nebraska who struggled in two seasons with the Cornhuskers, and landed in Eugene looking for a fresh start.
At this point, it's not hard to see why he chose to try to find that blank slate at Oregon.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning breaks down Oregon's success revamping 5-star QB careers