Oregon is finding out the hard way what the reality of college football looks like right now. The Ducks’ loss to UCLA has the outrage machine running, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you Dan Lanning should be fired or that Oregon is the most disappointing team in college football. That’s not where I land, and it’s not where I think the evidence points.

Last season, Clemson and Penn State gave us a preview of where this sport might be heading. Maybe Penn State firing James Franklin was a knee-jerk reaction. Whatever you think of that decision, Oregon should not want to end up in that same camp. And this loss is exactly the kind of moment that pushes programs toward it.

Coaching in college football is harder than ever

Roster construction, talent evaluation, hiring a staff, and then keeping that staff together are all more difficult than they have ever been. And you may say, Tegan, these coaches get paid more than enough, so they shouldn’t be complaining. I hear that. But it doesn’t change the fact that this is a brutal job now. There’s a reason coaches leave for the NFL instead of taking higher-level college jobs. It’s a difficult thing to do.

Now look at what Lanning just had to absorb. He lost not one but two Power 4-level coordinators, one on offense and one on defense, to head coaching jobs. That is difficult to replace no matter how much talent sits on your roster. You have to have the coaches who put those players in the best position to win.

Will Stein is a perfect example. What he’s doing at Kentucky is incredible work. Oregon knew he was a hugely impactful piece of that operation, and he was on the staff for a long time. Replacing him in one offseason is one thing. Replicating that production is harder. Trying to elevate it to a higher standard at the same time? That’s a hell of a lot to ask of anyone.

Frustration is fair, but this isn’t a firing offense for Dan Lanning

You can criticize Lanning. You can criticize the hires. You could make that same case about a lot of teams around the country, and I’m not trying to carry water for the guy. Oregon fans have every right to be frustrated because they know how talented this roster is.

They can be frustrated that their starting quarterback is out and that their very expensive backup disappointed against UCLA. And now the Ducks have to turn around and face Nebraska with a lot more questions than answers. That’s a bad situation, and nobody in Oregon should pretend otherwise.

But I absolutely believe Oregon still has the coach we have all watched build this thing. If we’re being honest, there’s a real chance we look back in five to 10 years and see this stretch as growing pains on the way to the best version of Oregon yet.

Think about how high the bar already is. Getting past what Lanning has done in Eugene is really hard. Is he capable of it? I think he has every capability of doing so. But it may simply take a year or two of bumps along the way, and that’s the reality of losing elite assistants to the very success you created.

The margin of error has never been thinner

Timelines in college football are as short as they’ve ever been. The breathing room is gone. Coaches get one bad stretch, sometimes one bad loss, and the conversation jumps straight to their job security. Penn State showed us how fast that can happen.

I’m stamping this: the problem in Oregon isn’t Dan Lanning. The problem is how quickly we have decided that any dip from a successful coach means the end. Losing two coordinators to head coaching jobs is a sign you built something worth stealing from, not a sign you’re failing.

Oregon has a high-stakes game in front of it against Nebraska, and the pressure will only grow if things go sideways. But if the Ducks panic over a season like this one, they’ll be making the same mistake we’ve already watched other programs make. It’s time to reevaluate how much pressure we put on coaches when the margin of error is this thin, and Oregon should be the program that proves patience still pays off.