College Football

Joel Klatt: 'Everything' Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Criticized About CFP 'Is Right'

Published Jan. 2, 2026 2:52 p.m. ET

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has not been shy about his criticisms of the College Football Playoff, and has recently used his time in front of a microphone at press conferences to express those critiques.

On Wednesday, Lanning spoke to assembled media before the quarterfinal playoff game against Texas Tech, saying that, "Ideally, the season, even if it means we start in Week Zero or you eliminate a bye, the season ends [on] Jan. 1. This should be the last game. This should be the championship game. Then the portal opens and then coaches that have to move on to their next opportunities get the opportunity to move to their next opportunities."

Lanning then reiterated that "games should be happening much quicker" in the postgame press conference following Oregon's victory and advancement to the semifinals of the CFP.

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt, speaking in reaction to the quarterfinals games on the latest episode of "The Joel Klatt Show," wholly agreed with Lanning.

"The top four seeds in last year's playoff and this year's playoff are a combined 1-7 so far in this playoff. One and seven. Now there are a lot of reasons for that, but I think the main reason is that we continue to play the quarterfinals on neutral sites," Klatt said.

[The Big Picture: Is a CFP First-Round Bye Actually a Disadvantage?]

"Everything [Lanning] said is right. Everything that he said is dead on. We are trying to serve two purposes here. We can't serve the purpose of bowl season and do a playoff at the same time. We should play the playoff through December, and we should be ending by Jan. 1. We should be ending with the Rose Bowl. That should be the tent pole event for college football. I've said it for a long time."

Lanning has not just had criticism of the CFP format, but of the surrounding events such as the coaching movement and transfer portal, as well. Criticism that Klatt shares in, as the confluence of events creates chaos for players and coaches alike.

"This version of the college football playoff, and everybody that has made the decisions necessary to create what we have right now, they have made the wrong decision almost every single turn," Klatt said. "You can look at the way it's constructed, the schedule, the location, the presentation. This extends beyond the playoff. Just in college football, the transfer portal, the timing of the transfer portal. They always make the wrong decision."

More coaches than just Lanning have spoken on these issues of late, and the major conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten have been attempting to negotiate the shape of the College Football Playoff with little in the way of agreement to this point, with the deadline for implementing changes for next season from Dec. 1 to Jan. 23. Something has to change, though, per the words of both Lanning and Klatt, to make it all make sense going forward.

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