How Dan Lanning, Mario Cristobal, and other second-year head coaches graded out in 2023

At the end of the 2022 season, Oregon Duck fans felt pretty good about their first-year head coach Dan Lanning. He had won 10 games in his first year leading the program and walked away with a victory in the Holiday Bowl over North Carolina to go along with a top-10 ranked recruiting class.

However, losses to both Oregon State and Washington stuck out like a sore thumb. There was a belief that the future should be bright in Eugene, but success against the rivals was going to need to be paramount going forward.

After the 2023 season, I think Duck fans are feeling pretty spectacular about Lanning, now their second-year head coach. A 12-win season landed the Ducks in a New Year’s Six Bowl, and a Heisman-caliber season from QB Bo Nix had the team in the national title conversation all year long. They fell short to a rival — Washington — twice but managed to beat every other team in their path. To add to the good feelings, Lanning punctuated the season with another top-10 recruiting class, and one of the best transfer portal classes in the nation, not to mention his public denial of the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching job, giving Duck fans the one thing they truly desire more than almost anything else: Loyalty.

So while Oregon feels good about their head coach, how is he being publicly? As they do every year, CBS Sports broke down the second-year head coaches and offered a grade for their tenures so far. More than just Lanning, let’s take a look at the grades and analysis for other notable figures like Mario Cristobal, Lincoln Riley, Joe Moorhead, and a few others.

Dan Lanning

2023 Record: 12-2

Overall Record: 22-5

CBS Sports Grade: B+

CBS Sports Analysis

“Of the four Pac-12 schools heading to the Big Ten, none look in better shape to compete immediately than Lanning’s Oregon program. The Ducks are coming off a 12-2…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/dan-lanning-mario-cristobal-other-204845992.html

Author : Ducks Wire

Publish date : 2024-01-19 20:48:45

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