Skip to main content
Oregon

Is Oregon a Blue Blood Program? Legendary Coach Urban Meyer Thinks So

Max Torres Author Profileby: Max Torres07/16/25mtorressports
UrbanMeyer-DanLanning
Urban Meyer (Adam Cairns-Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) | Dan Lanning (Ben Lonergan-The Register-Guard/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Oregon has become one of the most successful college football programs of the 21st century. The Ducks have won a combined nine Pac-10/Pac-12 conference championships since the turn of the century and four Rose Bowls. They also won the Big Ten last year in their first season as conference members.

The sheer number of wins, along with producing a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Marcus Mariota (2014-2015) and a growing number of NFL Draft picks have most viewing the Ducks as one of the top teams in the sport ahead of the 2025 season.

But whether or not the program has earned the status of a blue-blood program, remains a hot topic of debate among fans heading into Dan Lanning‘s fourth season as head coach and the program’s second season in the Big Ten.

One of college football’s most successful head coaches, Urban Meyer, does believe Oregon is a blue-blood program. Just maybe not in the traditional sense.

“They’re a relative blue-blood, but they’re not a historical blue blood,” Meyer said on the Triple Option Podcast. “As of right now anybody in their common sense says, ‘okay give me the blue bloods of college football,’ you say absolutely Oregon.”

Fellow Co-Host and Former New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram, who won the Heisman Trophy at Alabama in 2009, also believes Oregon is a blue blood. However there’s still a gap between the Ducks and other programs at the top.

“Right now, when you talk about the brands, can they be compared to Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, the teams who have won national championships? No,” Ingram said. “To me, they’re no better than Penn State, who has an influx of talent, who has great coaching, and has won a lot of games, but have not won the games that mattered. And that’s what you have to have when you want to be compared to the top-tier programs in college football—is national championships.”

The Ducks have gone 35-6 in three seasons under Lanning, which included a long run ranked No. 1 in the AP poll last season. They’ve also produced two Heisman finalists in each of the last two season.

People love talking about Oregon Football. They love watching Oregon Football, and the Ducks are typically competitive with any opponent they face.

While that’s all well and good, the supreme goal is still out there for the Ducks.

Oregon’s quest for its first national championship in program history will begin anew on Saturday August 30 when the Ducks host the Montana State Bobcats in their 2025 season-opener.

You may also like