On the Sunday following another brutal performance on offense for the Oregon Ducks, a change was finally made. Dan Lanning announced the Ducks are parting ways with offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, who was in his first season in the role.
Will Stein left Oregon in the offseason to become the head coach at Kentucky, and Lanning made his first big hiring mistake by promoting from within, elevating Mehringer from tight ends coach to the main play-caller. The Ducks averaged 24.7 points per game against FBS opponents with Mehringer, and in a loss to Illinois, snapped a streak of 61 consecutive games scoring more than 10 points.
As the Ducks move forward, preparing to host Northwestern on Halloween, Lanning named assistant quarterbacks coach Jay
Johnson to lead play-calling efforts moving forward, although Lanning described the game planning process as a collective effort.
Johnson arrived in Eugene ahead of this season and brings plenty of play-calling experience with him. He previously worked as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Wyoming, Michigan State and Colorado in recent seasons. He also was part of the staff at Georgia in 2018 with Lanning.
"He's gonna head the efforts (in play-calling) with the offensive staff," Lanning said on Monday. "But it will still be a collaborative effort with a lot of the work that we do. He's also coming in with a different perspective, a different view not being with us the last few years, where he can provide a couple of things that might be different than what we've done that I think can trigger some success for us on that side of the ball."
The Ducks will likely look to hire a new offensive coordinator in the offseason as more coaches become available. Depending on how Oregon's offense changes throughout the rest of the regular season, Johnson could contend for the role, but after internal promotions failed to produce this season, it appears more likely that the Ducks will go to an outside hire.
Oregon will also need to figure out its quarterback situation moving forward, as Dante Moore will sit out the rest of the season following the Ducks' third loss of the season, likely eliminating the team from College Football Playoff contention. Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas have battled for the starting role since Moore went down, but the direction the season has turned and the change in play-caller could lead to more changes under center.
Oregon will try to get the offense fixed before Northwestern comes to town on Saturday. The game is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. PT and will stream live on Peacock.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Jay Johnson to lead play-calling duties for Oregon Ducks
