As soon as Oregon hired Dan Lanning as its head coach, the focus of the Oregon football program shifted.
You might even say a seismic shift.
The Ducks have always been an offense-first operation with a defense that could at least hold its own.
More bend, and not break.
Now it appears those roles are about to change.
Lanning, one of the top defensive minds in the country, had to hire a top-notch defensive coordinator to uphold his standards. It didn’t take long for Lanning to find his guy.
Enter Tosh Lupoi.
After spending a few seasons at California and Washington, Lupoi became one of the top recruiters in the country. That was when Nick Saban came calling where Lupoi spent five seasons at Alabama.
He helped the Crimson Tide reach the College Football Playoff every year and the CFP National Championship Game four times. The Tide won two national titles as Lupoi ascended to defensive coordinator. He coached outside linebackers throughout his time as an on-field coach.
Three seasons and three NFL teams later, Lupoi comes back to the world of college football where he expects to turn the Oregon defense into a dominant one.
“We want to play championship-level defense on a consistent basis, and Coach Lupoi is one of the very best defensive minds in the country,” Lanning said at the time of the hiring.
“I am looking forward to seeing him work with student-athletes again after spending the last few seasons in the NFL. His familiarity with the West Coast and the Pac-12 also makes him a great fit here in Eugene. This is a very exciting hire for the Ducks.”
In his first meeting with the Oregon media, Lupoi expressed his desire to turn the Ducks into a defensive force that will keep opposing offensive coordinators up at night.
“At the end of the day … we got to have a relentless culture here on defense, and that’s something we got to take great pride in,” Lupoi said on Thursday.
“So when you turn on the film, we want to be known as relentless. Aside from anything else, I’m representing them, they’re representing myself, and we’ll represent an unbelievable university. We want to make everybody proud and the way we’re gonna do that is attack and be rigorous.”
SPRING FOOTBALL; TOSH LUPOI MEETS THE MEDIA