Oregon's Dan Lanning Calls for Changes to CFB Schedule, Outlines Suggestions

Concerns about the college football calendar has generated plenty of discussion this season, and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning believes he has a fix.

"Every playoff game should be played every single weekend until you finish the season," Lanning told reporters Wednesday. "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."

Such a shift would help address a number of issues, especially since the transfer portal opens Jan. 2.

Coaches and teams that are still alive in the College Football Playoff have to juggle preparing for their postseason contests, making transfer-portal decisions and building their rosters for next season.

Given that reality, many coaches accept new opportunities before the ongoing season ends so they can start building their own respective rosters.

Oregon is not immune to that, as offensive coordinator Will Stein was hired to be the next head coach of Kentucky. What's more, California hired defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi as its next head coach.

"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."

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Lanning also previously said quarterfinal games should be on campus and not neutral-site bowl games.

While that would have helped the top-ranked Ducks last season when they lost to eighth-seeded Ohio State in the quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl, it would mean Thursday's game against Texas Tech would be on the road.

That Lanning also wants to continue playing every Saturday without the long break in between the regular season and CFP was notable given what happened to his team last season.

The Ducks went 12-0 during the regular season, defeated Penn State in the Big Ten championship game and was the surefire No. 1 team heading into the postseason. However, they were overwhelmed by Ohio State in a 41-21 loss after a long layoff and didn't look like the same team as they did during the regular season.

The Red Raiders will be the team with the longer layoff Thursday when Oregon takes the field, so perhaps it can flip the script and take advantage this time around.