The Transformation of Oregon Football: From Cinderella to National Powerhouse

The Ducks aren't just the team with flashy uniforms and exciting, up-tempo offenses anymore.

The heyday of Oregon Ducks football is on the horizon.

In today's college football world, the teams that hoist the golden trophy in January have elite players at every position. On top of that, they have dependable depth, so when a star player goes down in crunch time, his replacement won't miss a beat.

What's more, today's championship teams also boast elite coaching staffs that can do it all. They can identify and recruit the best players, develop them at the college level, and take their game to the next level, molding them into players fit for NFL Sundays. Those championship programs also beat the best teams in the country to earn their spot on top of the sport.

Oregon proved it can recruit five-star players from around the country during the Mario Cristobal era, and the Ducks were able to win some big games, including multiple Pac-12 titles, a Rose Bowl, and a road trip to Columbus that won't be forgotten any time soon.

It's early to say, but new Head Coach Dan Lanning and the star-studded staff he's assembled are built to turn the Oregon Ducks into a dynasty. Many of them, Lanning included, understand what it takes to build a championship program, and Oregon realistically is not that far away from being one itself.

While the standard for Oregon football is as high as any program in college football, and rightfully so, it hasn't always been this way.

Rich Brooks 1994 :: © Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oregon coach Rich Brooks is carried off the field following the Ducks' 17-13 victory over Oregon State.

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Chip Kelly 2011 BCS National Championship / © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly kneels alongside secondary coach John Neal against the Auburn Tigers during the 2011 BCS National Championship game

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Chip Kelly 2012 Fiesta Bowl / © Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly smiles on the field after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl.

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Marcus Mariota and Tony Washington 2015 Rose Bowl / © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Rose Bowl Offensive MVP Marcus Mariota and Defensive MVP Tony Washington Jr. hoist the Leishman Trophy after defeating Florida State 59-20.

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Marcus Mariota 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Game / © Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Mariota scrambles against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

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Justin Herbert 2020 Rose Bowl Game / © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Herbert rushes for his third of three touchdowns in the 2020 Rose Bowl Game against the Wisconsin Badgers.

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Oregon Celebrates After 2021 Ohio State Win :: © Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Members of the Oregon Ducks pose with The Duck after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.

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New Head Coach Dan Lanning :: Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Dan Lanning smiles at his introductory press conference as the new Oregon Ducks head football coach.

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From the time Oregon moved into the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968 through Rich Brooks' tenure to 1994, the Ducks had only won at least seven games on three occasions over 27 seasons. It took Coach Brooks 13 years to win a bowl game, as the 1989 Independence Bowl win over Tulsa was the first bowl victory in 26 years.

It wasn't until 1994 that the Oregon football program began to garner national attention, with upset victories over No. 19 USC, No. 11 Arizona, and No. 9 Washington. The latter of which presented an iconic moment, as Kenny Wheaton picked off Damon Huard for the game-sealing pick six.

It was Oregon's first ever outright conference title and first Rose Bowl berth since 1957. Despite falling short in "The Granddaddy of Them All" to No. 2-ranked Penn State, the 1994 Ducks seemed to change the complexion of the program and raised the standard for what a successful season looked like in Eugene.

In the Mike Bellotti era, the Ducks were a perennial bowl team and got as close to the BCS title game as possible in 2001 with star quarterback Joey Harrington, as the Ducks were the No. 2-ranked team behind Miami at the conclusion of the regular season, but Nebraska slipped into the BCS title game despite not winning its own conference's division title. 

But Oregon had once again caught the attention of the college football world and was a "Cinderella" team of sorts, as the Ducks hadn't won at this level before and were on the same tier as national powerhouses like Miami and Nebraska. They were an underdog that was growing more popular, especially after Nike's "Joey Heisman" billboard in New York City.

It seemed a tide had turned for the Ducks. They were no longer playing for a winning record and a bowl game. They wanted to win the Pac-10 and play for national championships.

Enter new Head Coach Chip Kelly, who previously served as offensive coordinator for the Ducks in 2007 and 2008.

If the days of Rich Brooks, Mike Bellotti, and Joey Harrington put the Ducks on the map, the Chip Kelly era punctuated their presence on the map in sharpie. The Ducks made it to the BCS in all four seasons while Kelly was in Eugene, including the BCS National Championship Game in 2010 after an undefeated regular season.

Not only were the Ducks winning on the field (46-7 under Kelly), they were making noise on the recruiting trail, consistently landing four-star talent and even picking up the occasional five-star prospect. They were an exciting product on Saturdays, putting up 50 points any given weekend and playing in big games like the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. 

The standard was set during the early 2010s: the Oregon Ducks were national championship contenders. They were developing into a program where every season was BCS or bust.

But with those expectations comes disappointment. A program that hadn't won 10 games in a season until 2000 was now on the brink of the BCS every year, and a 12-1 season with a win in the Fiesta Bowl in 2012 was still considered a "what could've been" season, if not for a heartbreaking 17-14 overtime loss to Stanford.

With Mark Helfrich at the helm and Marcus Mariota putting together a Heisman Trophy campaign, Oregon seemed unstoppable. They thrashed a Florida State team that had won 29 straight games by 39 points in the College Football Playoff. But a loss to Ohio State in the national championship game further proved that Oregon was still not on the same tier as the elites in college football.

In the past decade, the greatest Oregon teams have always seemed to be one win away from glory. The glitz and the glam didn't lead to the gold. Maybe it was due to coaching, lack of five-star talent, or the cannibalistic nature of the Pac-12 Conference year after year.

For whatever reason you want to concoct, Oregon has been scrapping to get over the hump and bring national glory to Eugene. But in the past five years, baby steps have been made to bring the Ducks closer to their goal.

Mario Cristobal and his staff put together the best stretch on the recruiting trail the program had ever seen. With four straight top-15 finishes, including two classes in the top 10, the Ducks were reeling in elite players from the around the country, a caliber of talent they had never consistently recruited to Eugene before. They stole top players from SEC country, proving that Oregon is not to be underestimated on the recruiting trail.

With Dan Lanning and his staff taking over, expectations will still be high with a roster loaded with talent. The experience on the Ducks' new staff in terms of development, recruiting, and X's and O's may be the best in program history on paper and stacks up with the top programs in the country. 

Lanning and co. have already proven what they can do in terms of recruiting, flipping a rather barren 2022 class to a solid class that finished in the top 25 nationally. They've also utilized the transfer portal to enhance their roster and brought back a couple of players who considered leaving amid the transition.

The Ducks have yet to take the field with Lanning as their leader, but the recruiting capability of this staff ensures that the momentum built by Cristobal won't subside, it might even snowball.

Oregon used to be comparable to The Little Train That Could, a symbol of the years of shortcomings and mediocrity up until it began to compete on the national stage and win big games like never before. Now, with a recruiting powerhouse backing him and elite talent on his roster, the time is now for Dan Lanning to get the Ducks over the hump and take their spot among the nation's elite.

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