Oregon Ducks Defensive Coordinator Chris Hampton Doubted By ESPN

The Oregon Ducks made a run to the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs during the 2025 season. Oregon coach Dan Lanning looks to advance further in the postseason in 2026, but he’d be doing it with two first-year coordinators.

Bill Connelly of ESPN recently broke down how his SP+ rating system ranked the top teams in college football using statistics from the 2025 season. Connelly revealed what the projections said about teams with new defensive coordinators in 2026 – and it predicted the Ducks to regress.

Oregon Ducks Projected to Regress Under First-Year Defensive Coordinator

oregon ducks chris hampton evan stewart Drew Mehringer dakorien moore dan lanning college football playoff injury dante moore | oregon ducks on si jake bunn

The Ducks were listed fourth among the teams expected to regress between 2025 and 2026, according to the SP+. Chris Hampton took over as the program’s defensive coordinator in the offseason following the exit of Tosh Lupoi. Hampton’s been at Oregon since 2023 and previously served as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Oregon’s defense experienced improvement last season under Lupoi’s leadership. While Hampton still had a prominent role within the staff in 2025, the defensive production would arguably still be hard to top in 2026 even if Lupoi was still the defensive coordinator.

Why the Ducks’ Defense Can Improve

oregon ducks chris hampton dan lanning tosh lupoi defensive coordinator drew mehringer recruiting transfer portal nfl draft — New co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chris Hampton, right, joins the first practice of spring for Oregon football as they prepare for the 2023 season. Eug 031623 Uo Spring Fb 06 | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

But despite what the projections say, Hampton has the opportunity to help the Oregon defense reach new heights in 2026.

Lanning spoke about why he felt Hampton was ready for a larger role on his staff during his spring press conference

“Our secondary has gotten better every single year that he's been here,” Lanning said. “Guys are playing at a high level. You talk about guys performing beyond their ability, having some of those guys having their best season, being a part of our program, and I think that's a great evaluation for me, getting to see it every single day in this building, what's it going to look like moving in, into the future.”

It helps that many of the team’s defensive starters, including the entirety of the defensive line as well as star cornerback Brandon Finney Jr., are set to return in the fall. For the most part, Hampton won’t have to figure out an entirely different starting unit. He’s just taking what the program already had and trying to get more out of it.

Hampton’s been vocal this spring about how he believes there is still plenty of room for improvement. Players like Finney are still young even though they starred last season. Last year’s starters can still improve individually, as well as get more comfortable as a unit.

Oregon Coaching Staff Undergoing Several Changes

Hampton isn’t the only member of the staff who went from being a position coach to a coordinator. Drew Mehringer, who was the tight ends coach, was elevated to the offensive coordinator role.

“I think that's the way you can evaluate a healthy organization, is when you have the opportunity for guys to move up within the organization,” Lanning said.

Both Mehringer and Hampton have a difficult challenge ahead of them. Not only do they want to prevent the team from regressing, but they’re expected to improve the Ducks’ 2025 production in their first seasons as coordinators.

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