David Pollack says Oregon fans should be 'terrified' going into 2026

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Going into the 2026 season, Oregon Duck fans have been as confident in the upcoming year as we've seen in a long time. With Dante Moore back and the bulk of a College Football Playoff semifinal team returning for one last ride, there are legitimate championship aspirations in Eugene.

However, one college football analyst is warning fans not to get too optimistic.

David Pollack, a former Georgia Bulldogs star and now the host of the popular CFB podcast "See Ball, Get Ball," says that Oregon fans "should be terrified" ahead of this season as their team looks to replace a pair of coordinators from last season — Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi.

"I'm replacing elite coordinators," Pollack said on the show. "Will Stein: offensive genius. He's gonna show you at Kentucky that it's gonna be hard, and it's gonna be difficult, but he's gonna be a pain in people's butts, and he's so good at crafting offenses. Tosh Lupoi, that's a motherfreaking dog. Him and Dan (Lanning) together, you cannot not be dialed in. Because here's the thing, man, you adapt the identity of your coach. That dude will chew through your kneecaps if he needs to go somewhere. Two of the top five of what they do in the country that are now gone, and Dan Lanning is experiencing what great coaches are experiencing, having to replace them."

Nobody is going to argue that losing both Stein and Lupoi is not a big deal, but what matters is how confident the Ducks are in the guys who stepped in to replace them. On the offensive side of the ball, Drew Mehringer steps up from his role as the tight ends coach to become the offensive coordinator. Already this offseason, players have called him an offensive scientist and the "Albert Einstein of football."

On the other side of the ball, Chris Hampton steps up from his role as the co-defensive coordinator, where he has been for the last couple of years. As a former defensive coordinator at Tulane, Hampton has turned down multiple defensive coordinator offers, choosing instead to stay as a position coach in Eugene before ultimately moving up to the DC.

While from an outside view, these hires may be risky, there is no reason for the fan base not to trust the staff. Lanning has done a great job of hiring during his time at Oregon, and he feels confident in the guys whom he moved up the ladder.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: David Pollack says Oregon fans should be 'terrified' going into 2026

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