Already in the full swing of spring football, the Oregon Ducks are less than four months away from kicking off the 2025 season, and although the Ducks are working under lighter expectations than this time a year ago, they still have the potential to be great.
On offense, Oregon has experienced a heavy dose of roster turnover, and while they aren’t lacking in talent, the Ducks’ offense is less experienced than most of college football’s upper echelon. What should give fans confidence in the Ducks’ offensive potential — besides raw talent — is their leadership. Will Stein, Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, is one of the best offensive minds in college football, and on Friday, he was named to ESPN’s list of college football’s top assistants.
Stein made his move to Oregon by way of UTSA two seasons ago after Ducks offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left for Arizona State‘s head coaching job. In that first year, the Ducks finished with the best passing offense in the country (346.9 yards per game), and in 2024, they were 10th in passing among Power 5 teams (279.5 yards per game).
“If he can produce similar results this fall with Dante Moore, he should be on the radar for solid head coaching gigs,” writes Adam Writtenberg, the author of ESPN’s list of top assistants.
Set to coach his third starting QB in three seasons, and with a green supporting cast, Stein has no easy task ahead of him, but he has had success with inexperienced groups before. Ahead of the 2023 season, when the Ducks finished with the second-best overall offense (531.4 yards per game. LSU averaged 543.5), there was little expected of Oregon due to heavy turnover on the offensive line. Stein had a similar situation in 2024, after the Ducks lost their top QB, RB, WR, and O-lineman.
One of the unfortunate consequences of success in college football is losing high-level assistant coaches to struggling programs searching for their next leader. Dillingham left Oregon after just one season, and he’s had immense success in two years at Arizona State. And since Stein’s first dashes of success with the Ducks, he’s been floated as a head coaching candidate. If Stein produces a third straight season of success, with three QBs who differ greatly in style, those head coaching opportunities will quickly gain more real traction. Who knows if 2025 will be Stein’s last season as Oregon’s OC, but as one of the brightest young minds in college football, it’s unlikely Oregon will be Stein’s final stop.
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