As soon as former offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham was named head coach at Arizona State, the speculation began for his replacement.
It’s been nearly two weeks and according to Orgon head coach Dan Lanning, the search for that replacement is close to a conclusion.
But he’s not quite ready for that big announcement.
“It’s going really well. I’d love to sit here and say I can tell you an announcement right now. I’m not ready to be in that position,” Lanning said in his press conference concerning Oregon’s invitation to the Holiday Bowl to play North Carolina. “But we are getting close. I feel that the interest in this job is obviously extreme. And you get an opportunity to be thorough and diligent as you go through that process and look for opportunities to answer them.
When Lanning was hired last year, he was able to put together an impressive group of coaches and many of them are qualified to replace Dillingham.
“I’ll also tell you that we have some phenomenal coaches here on our staff that are certainly qualified to be the offensive coordinator here. And that’s something that we’ll definitely explore every opportunity here as we move forward and what that will look like.”
One thing is for sure. One of those assistants will be the OC for the bowl game. Lanning said having a brand new voice come in and run the offense in wouldn’t be fair or even feasible.
“I’m not going to ask anybody to come in right now and call the bowl game. I don’t think that’s fair to bring a brand new coach and ask them to call the bowl game when there’s terminology and some differences there,” he said. “That being said, Drew Mehringer or Junior Adams, Adrian Klemm, Carlos Locklyn, our offensive staff will prep us. Jordan Somerville will prep us as we move into the bowl game and be ready to take on the bowl game and compete with some of that same terminology and things that we’ve attacked this season.”
One huge advantage the Ducks will have is the guy receiving the snap from center. Quarterback Bo Nix will play Dec. 28 against the Tar Heels. It was speculated that Nix might forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the NFL draft. While he might still do that, that particular announcement will have to wait until the Holiday Bowl concludes.
Hopefully with a win.
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