REPORT: Oregon to Hire Penn State's Joe Lorig as New Special Teams Coordinator

Dan Lanning is getting close to filling out his staff at Oregon before the calendar flips to 2022.

Oregon will reportedly hire Penn State Special Teams Coordinator Joe Lorig to hold the same position for the Ducks, as first reported by Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman.

SOURCE: Oregon is targeting Penn State special teams coordinator Joe Lorig to join the Ducks staff. He and Dan Lanning spent two seasons coaching together at Memphis.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 30, 2021

Lorig is expected to replace Bobby Williams, who coached the Ducks' special teams and tight ends for four years. The Ducks' new special teams coordinator spent the past three seasons at Penn State and has a coaching career that spans 25 years.

Lorig returns to the state of Oregon, where he went to school at Western Oregon University to earn his bachelor's degree in law enforcement and his master's degree in correctional administration. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, working as the secondary coach from 1997-98. 

Among his other stints during his early career include eight years at Idaho State (which included a four-year tenure as the Bengals' defensive coordinator), one year at UTEP as the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, and four years at Central Washington as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

Lorig made the jump from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and Ellensburg, Wash., to the Pac-12 Conference and Tempe, Ariz., to coach special teams and cornerbacks at Arizona State. Oregon will be his first job in the Pac-12 since his two years at ASU, where he got to coach eventual NFL players Matt Haack and Zane Gonzalez, the latter of which earned the 2016 Lou Groza Award.

He moved on to Utah State, where he coached the linebackers in 2014 and safeties in 2015. Lorig moved to Memphis in 2016, spending three years as the special teams coordinator for the Tigers. He crossed paths with Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning, who was the inside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2016-17.

Memphis had some of the best special teams players in the country, and the Tigers were elite at both returns and return defense. Tony Pollard, who is now a budding star running back for the Dallas Cowboys, was a two-time AAC Special Teams Player of the Year and returned an FBS record seven kickoffs for touchdowns during his career.

Lorig was hired at Penn State in 2019 to be the special teams coordinator. He also was a defensive assistant in his first year, and has coached outside linebackers each of the last two seasons as well as nickels in 2021.

Penn State was one of four FBS teams in 2020 to have a kick return for a touchdown and a punt return for a touchdown.

Oregon ranked 41st in the country averaging 10.0 yards per punt return but struggled to defend punt returns, ranking 112th in the country allowing 11.07 yards per punt return. The Ducks sit 45th in the FBS in kickoff return average (22.53 yards per return) and tied for 101st in kickoff return defense (23.00 yards allowed per return). They also saw standout seasons from kicker Camden Lewis and punter Tom Snee.

The Ducks' special teams looks to be in good hands with one of the top coaches at the position in the country.

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