Oregon
Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning’s Bonuses Reaching a Million Dollars Before Rose Bowl Game
The 2024 Oregon Ducks season has been one of the most successful in program history. For the first time ever, Oregon finished out the regular season with a 13-0 record and a Big Ten Conference title in their first season with the league. With all this success during Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s third year with the program, it makes sense the young coach gets a big pay day.
In total, by reaching the Rose Bowl quarterfinal for the College Football Playoffs, Lanning is expected to make an extra $850,000 on top of his $7 million base salary for the 2024 season.
Included in the $850,000 bonus is $150,000 for clinching the Big Ten Conference title and $200,000 for reaching the Rose Bowl. Lanning would have earned $150,000 for a first round playoff game slot. The rest of the $850,000 is made up of bonuses like Oregon’s 12-0 regular season (the second time that record has happened in program history since 2014).
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If Lanning and the Ducks are able to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes in the new year at the Rose Bowl, Lanning’s bonus will increase by $250,000. For a National Championship appearance, Lanning gets another $500,000. Finally, if the Ducks win it all, Lanning will get $500,000 more for his contract this year, and every other year of his contract with the Ducks.
Lanning earned a contract extension of one year, extending his tenure at Oregon through January of 2031, after beating the Maryland Terrapins in November 39-18.
With all this success, many Duck fans may wonder if Lanning will continue to stay in his current contract. On The Zach Gelb Show before the Rose Bowl, Lanning emphasized there’s no need to doubt his allegiance to Oregon when compared to a job in the NFL.
“You know it used to be a goal of mine. It certainly did. But I think at this point, everybody can realize I’m not going anywhere,” Lanning said when asked by Zach Gelb about coaching in the NFL. “I love what we have here, I’ve got three young boys that love Eugene, we have a lot of unfinished business that we hope to handle, and I’m enjoying the ride. So this will be the place that I’m coaching for a long, long time, as long as I continue to do my job.”
Lanning’s legacy in Eugene is already a great one for Duck history. He coached the Ducks to a 10-3 record for his first season in 2022 before building a 12-2 record in 2023. Lanning is the third head coach at Oregon to reach at least 22 wins in his first two seasons. His 31 wins are tied with Chip Kelly for the most by an Oregon head coach through his first 36 games.
Lanning is the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big Ten, tied with Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, and is the 18th-highest paid coach on the FBS level. Big Ten coaches rounding out the highest paid list include Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, and USC’s Lincoln Riley.
The Oregon Ducks face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day with a 2 p.m. PT kickoff.
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The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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