Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is calling for significant changes to the College Football Playoff.
Dan Lanning’s Suggestions for CFP
Dan Lanning continues on his crusade this week against the current CFP schedule.
"There's clearly a better way… Every playoff game should be played every single weekend until you finish the season… The season ends January 1st… We've given up some of our days to the NFL…… pic.twitter.com/UcBdCNmQVh
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) December 31, 2025
Lanning, whose Oregon Ducks will play Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, believes there is a better version of the College Football Playoff.
Lanning’s biggest gripe involves the scheduling. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be played on Jan. 19, 2026. Lanning wants to move that date up to Jan. 1.
By ending the season on New Year’s Day, coaches can then focus entirely on the transfer portal, which opens on Jan. 2. Plus, coaches taking jobs elsewhere do not have to balance their old gig with their new opportunity for as long.
“Every playoff game should be played every single weekend until you finish the season,” Lanning told reporters on Wednesday via Brenna Grace. “Even if it means we start Week 0 or you eliminate a bye, the season ends Jan. 1, and then the portal opens, then coaches that have to move on to their next opportunities get to move to their next opportunities.”
Both of Lanning’s coordinators have taken head coaching jobs. Following the season, offensive coordinator Will Stein heads to Kentucky, and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi heads to California, Berkeley.
“Our national championship game this year is Jan. 19, and that’s really hard to envision as a coach that’s going out and trying to join a new program and start a staff,” Lanning said. “It’s hard for players to understand what continuity looks like and where they’re going to be at, and to manage that with visits, the portal, everything else that exists. The clear way to do that is to bump the season up and make sure these playoff games happen a lot faster.”
Dan Lanning Talks Long Layoff
The matchup is set.@oregonfootball vs. @TexasTechFB #CapitalOneOrangeBowl pic.twitter.com/V8wBnDM0P8
— Capital One Orange Bowl (@OrangeBowl) December 21, 2025
The four teams that earned byes, including Texas Tech, last played on Dec. 5. That is a long layoff between games. Last year, Oregon went undefeated in the regular season, earned a bye, and lost to Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
This season, Oregon competed in an opening round game on campus, defeating James Madison 51-34. Lanning believes that the game against JMU helped his team stay fresh.
In Lanning’s vision of the CFP, Saturdays in December should belong to college football, not the NFL.
“I’ve got a ton of respect for the NFL, but we’re a prep league for the NFL. We do a lot of favors for the NFL. We’re the minor league in a lot of ways, but there’s no money paid from the NFL to take care of college football,” Lanning explained. “We’ve given up some of our days to the NFL. We said, ‘Oh, you guys get to have this day, you get to have this day, you get to have this day.’ Saturday should be sacred for college football, and every Saturday through the month of December should belong to college football.”
Many coaches, including Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire, agree with Lanning’s CFP ideas. They make a ton of sense. Knowing how the NCAA works, Lanning’s ideas will likely never be implemented.
No. 5 Oregon faces No. 4 Texas Tech on Jan. 1 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
