College football may finally be inching toward the kind of calendar Dan Lanning has been pushing for.
On Friday, the NCAA announced a new set of Division I FBS football scheduling guidelines for the 2027 season, and several of the changes line up closely with the Oregon coach’s recent criticism of the sport’s current setup. The package includes a shorter 10-day January transfer portal window, a season that starts in week zero and ends the week after Thanksgiving, and a revised offseason structure that pushes the postseason to Jan. 1.
The offseason piece is a major one. Under the new plan, teams would get two out-of-season training periods with 21 on-field practices spread across a combined seven weeks, with neither block allowed to run longer than five weeks.
“The new playing and practice schedule is a great step forward for our game,” said Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea in the NCAA’s release. “This will allow for more flexibility for team building in the spring and summer and will benefit the development of our student-athletes. I am grateful for the partnership between the AFCA and the NCAA and look forward to continued collaboration to advance college football.”
Lanning, meanwhile, had been saying much the same thing before the NCAA ever made the announcement. Just two weeks earlier, on Aug. 14, he laid out his view on The Rich Eisen Show.
"I think the biggest rule we can change in college football is one that I've been a huge advocate for, for a long time is the season ending earlier," Lanning said on Aug. 14 during an appearance for The Rich Eisen Show. " I think solves a lot of problems. A portal open in season creates a market that's really hard to keep track of."
He continued with a blueprint that sounds awfully familiar now.
"Most likely you have to start week zero for games which you know a lot of teams are already playing week zero games anyway," Lanning added. "The championship games for Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, like these conferences that would probably either have to move up, right?
With [the end of the season] moving to [Jan. 1], limited bye weeks, and then playing a playoff game every single week similar to the NFL. You play on Saturday, guess what?
You play the next Saturday."
None of this is official yet. The changes still need approval from the Division I Cabinet at its Oct. 6-7 meeting to take effect for the 2027 season.
If they do pass, Oregon would be dealing with a schedule model that addresses problems Lanning has already called out. He has pointed to the bye built into the College Football Playoff quarterfinal for higher-seeded teams and tied that setup to Oregon’s 2024 Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State, when the Buckeyes arrived in Pasadena, California, after a win over Tennessee.
The coaching ripple effect is another piece of the puzzle. Because of Oregon’s playoff run in 2025, Lanning had to manage the looming departures of defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi and offensive coordinator Will Stein while getting the Ducks ready for the Orange Bowl against Texas Tech and the Peach Bowl against Indiana. Both assistants also had to balance their Oregon responsibilities with their future jobs.
If these rules go through, the Ducks will be looking at a very different operation across the board.
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