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'The guy's brilliant;' Drew Mehringer draws praise from Chris Hampton
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- 'The guy's brilliant;' Drew Mehringer draws praise from Chris Hampton
The next opponent that the Oregon Duck s will take on is the Boise State Broncos in Week 1 of the 2026 season. But, long before that and in the months prior to their matchup with the Broncos, the Ducks will be facing off against each other for countless snaps.
As a result, the players become accustomed to competing against the best of the best, as the Oregon roster is littered with highly-rated recruits. Similarly, the coaching staffs are going at it in their own right, trying to outsmart the other and have the upper hand on their colleagues — especially during spring practices, when the practices lead up to an intra-squad spring game instead of against another program.
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On a large scope, the coordinators of both sides of the ball are essentially pitted against each other every single practice. But at the end of the day, they end up sitting right next to each other in staff meetings, once again right back on the same team with a common goal. It will all give offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer and defensive coordinator Chris Hampton a unique perspective of the other side of the ball once spring practices kick off.
During an exclusive interview on the Bleav in Oregon Podcast , Hampton lauded Mehringer for his early work as the OC, referencing the time that they've spent together in recent years.
"He's doing tremendous, man," he said. "Drew's an extremely smart individual, knows the game inside and out. I've had the opportunity to sit beside him each and every day I've been here in the staff meetings, and hear his thoughts on offensive football and defensive football. The guy's brilliant, and he's working extremely hard. He's got the offense extremely organized right now. He's doing a great job. So I'm fired up to watch him go."
Hampton also touched on the competitive side of the relationship, one that hasn't yet taken place on the field but soon will. He said that he's enjoying going back and forth with Mehringer, comparing the progress of their playbook installs.
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"Drew's extremely organized," Hampton said. "He's on top of it. He plans well in advance, which I like."
The bar is high for both Hampton and Mehringer. Each of head coach Dan Lanning's last three coordinators (Kenny Dillingham, Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi) have gone on to head coaching jobs after working with the Ducks. Despite that, it appears that they're enjoying the process together, sharpening their tools against one another in order to better each other and better the Oregon Ducks program as a whole.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon DC Chris Hampton lauds OC Drew Mehringer, 'fired up' for him
