Now no matter how many awards college football head coaches bring home, ONE factor determines their worth. And what’s that? How many national championship titles do they have in their name? The final run is what makes and breaks the fame of college football head coaches. Woah! Buckle up, Oregon Ducks fans! The year 2025 is probably going to be your year. Will it be another ‘rise from the ashes to glory’ kind of narrative? When it comes to their history, the Ducks are already blessed with a rich history. 

They have a reserve of 14 conference titles between Pacific Coast Conference and Pac-12 titles. But when it came to winning the national title? The drought is yet to get over. That’s when David Pollack believes that their special someone will turn out to be the rainmaker. Already the Ducks are locking the doors tightly for that savior. But who’s that?

Why is David Pollack betting high on Dan Lanning’s Ducks?

Looks like $66 million HC Dan Lanning will be a phoenix this season, wrapping it up and lifting the golden trophy. The Ducks fans might still be carrying with them the two big regrets! 2010 and 2014, that was the closest they went to chasing the national title. Even though Lanning failed to make it to the finale, a system known as the “Wolfe Ratings” crowned Oregon as the national champion. How so? Based on some mathematical calculations, Oregon won the 2024-25 season with a 9.598 rating after postseason play, placing it slightly above No. 2 Ohio State’s 9.330. Plus, the Ducks had only one loss against Ryan Day’s program. But at the same time, they own a 32-31 victory at home over Ohio State on October 12. So, this has come up with some hope for Lanning’s program. Pollack’s stance adds some more juice to the hopes. 

On his David Pollack College Football podcast, the analyst dropped the bold claim, “Oregon’s going to win a National Championship in the very near future… Oregon was the best team all year until Ohio State got hot.” The former Georgia player is already sold to Lanning’s program, as he confirmed, “If they’re they are apple, man I’m buying all the stock I can.” Well, he has his reasons to pin all his stakes on Lanning’s army. First things first, NIL. The Ducks did some good work when it came to making the most use of the NIL. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Oregon boasts the No. 5 recruiting class from the 2025 cycle and No. 1 in the 2026 cycle. 

Second, we have now seen how business tycoons are letting out their helping hand. In the Michigan Wolverines’ case, it was billionaire Larry Ellison. Lanning also got lucky to get support from Nike billionaire Phil Knight. The business tycoon came up with Division Street, the NIL collective with GOAT and Flight Club. They have come up with three new Air Max 95/97 designs with proceeds going directly to student-athletes and the Oregon athletic program. Now Pollack is not the only one to count high on Lanning’s ride to the championship race.

Dan Lanning’s future looks all bright

On3 analyst J.D. PicKell on The Hard Count podcast stated that Lanning “will win a national title before it’s all said and done.” The analyst seemed to look very impressed with the HC’s effort to improve themselves every year. With every season, Lanning has added more victory feathers to his hat. Here comes the comparison part for better understanding. “It took Ryan Day six years to win a national title. It took Kirby Smart six years to win a national title.”

Yes, so it’s obvious that it’s not at all an easy path. However, Lanning has convinced PicKell, as he stated, “He just does all the things that are required to win at the highest level.” They have already won the Big Ten championship in 2024. So, they have put the gears on to take the next step on its upward trajectory in 2025. Not just the analysts, but even players think that Lanning is the deciding factor. Oregon defensive back Brandon Johnson is a man with zero distractions. He manages his business too well. “Yeah, just to talk about Coach Lanning a little bit from day one. I could appreciate his authenticity, just who he was. He’s himself in every room that he steps in.”

And guess what? Oregon is looking for a long-term relationship with Lanning. The University of Oregon has reportedly agreed to a new six-year deal that pays him $11 million annually—a $2 million a year raise. Will the stars finally align for Dan Lanning to bring Oregon their long-awaited national championship fairytale?