As the Oregon Ducks gear up for their College Football Playoff quarterfinal clash with Texas Tech on New Year’s Day, head coach Dan Lanning is doing more than just prepping for kickoff-he’s offering a pointed critique of the playoff calendar itself. And frankly, he’s got a case worth listening to.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the showdown, Lanning didn’t mince words when asked about the structure of the new 12-team playoff format. "There's clearly a better way," he said.
His main concern? The long layoff between games-especially for teams like Texas Tech, which earned a first-round bye and hasn’t played since December 6.
That’s a full three-plus weeks without game action. In football terms, that’s an eternity.
Timing gets rusty, rhythm fades, and the momentum that teams work so hard to build can evaporate. Lanning’s solution is simple but bold: compress the playoff schedule so games are played every weekend until a champion is crowned.
“Every playoff game should be played every single weekend until you finish the season,” Lanning said. “Ideally, the season-even if it means we start Week 0 or you eliminate a bye-the season ends January 1.
That should be the last game, the championship game. And then the portal opens [on Jan. 2] and coaches that have to move on to their next opportunities get to move onto their next opportunities.”
Dan Lanning continues on his crusade this week against the current CFP schedule.
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) December 31, 2025
"There's clearly a better way... Every playoff game should be played every single weekend until you finish the season... The season ends January 1st... We've given up some of our days to the NFL...… pic.twitter.com/UcBdCNmQVh
It’s not just theoretical for Lanning-he’s living it. Oregon is one of several programs navigating the chaos created by the expanded playoff, the transfer portal, and the coaching carousel, all colliding at once.
His offensive coordinator, Will Stein, is set to take over at Kentucky. Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi is heading to Cal.
That’s two key lieutenants preparing for new jobs while also trying to help Oregon make a title run.
And they’re not alone. Ohio State’s Brian Hartline is in a similar spot, balancing his duties as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach while preparing to step into a new role elsewhere. Two other head coaches, Bob Chesney and Jon Sumrall, are coaching in the playoff for their former schools-James Madison and Tulane-even though they've already accepted jobs at UCLA and Florida, respectively.
The result? A postseason landscape that feels more like a juggling act than a championship march. Lanning sees it firsthand: the strain on coaches trying to build a staff while still game-planning for elite opponents, the uncertainty for players navigating the transfer portal and official visits, all while trying to stay locked in on the biggest games of their careers.
“Our national championship game this year is Jan. 19, and that's really hard to envision as a coach that's going out and trying to join a new program and start a staff,” Lanning said. “It's hard for players to understand what continuity looks like and where they're going to be at and to manage that with visits, the portal, everything else that exists.”
That’s the heart of Lanning’s argument: the current setup doesn’t just stretch the season-it stretches everyone involved. And with the playoff potentially expanding even further in the coming years, the complexity is only going to increase unless the structure gets a serious overhaul.
Lanning’s call to action is clear: start the season earlier, tighten the playoff schedule, and wrap it all up by January 1. That timeline would bring clarity to players, stability to staffs, and a cleaner transition into the offseason frenzy of transfers and coaching moves.
Whether or not the powers that be will act on that vision remains to be seen. But as the Ducks prepare to take the field, their head coach has already made one thing clear: the system may be bigger, but it’s not yet better-and he’s not afraid to say so.