When Dan Lanning talks, the room leans in. And this time, he’s going after the calendar of college football. And after Oregon’s gut-punch of a playoff loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, he’s got every reason to fire off his frustrations. The Ducks, undefeated through the regular season and Big Ten champs in 2024, sat on ice for 25 days before running into a heartbreak 41-21 loss from the Buckeyes. “The long break is something I’m not crazy about,” he told ESPN. “I wish we played every single Saturday in college football. I wish college football ended Jan. 1.” So why does he want a full schedule overhaul?

Dan Lanning dropped the bomb on the Cover 3 Podcast on July 24, laying out a vision for a playoff system that mimics every other major sport. Fast, consistent, and free of drawn-out breaks that kill momentum. “We say we want the playoffs and then one we say we want bowl games, right?” he said. “So why don’t we just play every single Saturday? Reserve that for college football.” Turns out, it’s not just about competitive edge. It’s also about recruiting and that’s where the Ducks HC’s pain really hits home. So how does a slow calendar mess with recruiting?

January is a golden month for recruiting. “I think most people’s semesters ends around Christmas break and the New Year’s,” Dan Lanning said. “The one month that you get to go out as a coach and recruit is the month of January.” But if you’re still deep in the playoff grind come mid-January, forget about the recruiting trips. “You’re not going to be able to go out if you’re still competing and playing for your team. So, in my mind, college football makes sense to end earlier. And maybe it’s not January 1st, but it certainly isn’t January 25th or January 20th,” he said. Dan Lanning even has a fix on his mind.

Start Week 0 for everyone. Not just a few outliers like Iowa State vs Kansas State in Dublin. Ditch one of the two bye-weeks and keep the other for later in the season. Push playoff games up to early December and let the semifinals own New Year’s Day and wrap the National Championship game by early January. It sounds simple right? But now comes the part where the NFL enters the chat. 

How the NFL complicates Dan Lanning’s vision

The NFL’s been encroaching on college turf like a DE hunting a QB. First Thursdays. Then Black Friday. Now, full-blown Saturday takeovers in December. Two of last year’s CFP first-round games competed with NFL broadcasts, and both semifinals got bumped to weekdays to avoid the NFL weekend steamroller. Tony Petitti, Big Ten’s commissioner, gets the vision but throws up a caution flag.

“It requires a lot of combining and compressing the regular season. It’s tricky to try and get everything done as early as you want,” he said  at the conference media days on Tuesday. “Is it physically possible? Yes, but it requires real compression in how you play.” So that’s the kicker. Vision is easy. But execution is a whole different game.

Dan Lanning’s proposal is bold, maybe even overdue. But between scheduling chaos, recruiting windows, transfer portal timelines, and the NFL hovering like a hawk, pulling it off will take more than one coach’s frustration. It’ll take a united front, and right now, that feels like a Hail Mary in triple coverage.

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