5 things Oregon fans should know about WR coach Ross Douglas
5 things Oregon fans should know about WR coach Ross Douglas
According to a report from CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, the Oregon Ducks have hired a new wide receivers coach after Junior Adams departed to take over the same position with the Dallas Cowboys.
Per Zentiz, the Ducks will hire former Syracuse Orange WR coach and pass game coordinator Ross Douglas, who is considered by many in the college football world as a rising star in the coaching ranks. Douglas is a former player at the college level and has been coaching at both the college and NFL ranks since 2018.
While the University of Oregon is yet to officially announce the hire, it would be smart for Duck fans to get to know the new coach who will come in and work with a talented group of receivers in Eugene. Here's what Oregon fans should know about Douglas:
Ross Douglas has NFL Experience
After starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 2018-2020, and then coaching cornerbacks for a year at Richmond, Douglas quickly made the jump to the NFL level where he served as a defensive quality control coach for the New England Patriots in 2021. In 2022, he moved to the offensive side of the ball as an assistant wide receivers coach and then was named the WR coach in 2023. A year after that, he came back down to the college level and was named the WR coach and pass game coordinator for Syracuse under new head coach Fran Brown.
Ross Douglas Helped Produce the No. 1 Passing offense in 2024
Douglas' one year at Syracuse was certainly successful, as the Orange were able to produce the No. 1 passing offense in the nation in 2024. Led by QB Kyle McCord, WR Jackson Meeks, and WR Trebor Pena, Syracuse averaged 370.0 passing yards per game, with 34 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions on the year. The second-place team, Ole Miss, averaged 350.8 yards per game, as a reference.
Ross Douglas is a Former College Player
Douglas played four years of college football, the first two of which were with the Michigan Wolverines before transferring to Rutgers for his final two seasons. Douglas was a bit of an athlete, moving around from offense to defense throughout his career. He spent most of his time at defensive back and linebacker, racking up 42 tackles and 4 PBU's on the defensive side of the ball. He also had 10 catches for 18 yards in his one season playing offense at Rutgers.
Douglas went undrafted in 2018, but worked out at the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp before starting his coaching career.
Ross Douglas Has Everything He Needs in Eugene
If you're a talented coach who can develop players, then there simply is no reason that you shouldn't be able to succeed in Oregon with the Ducks' current WR talent. The deck is stacked nicely for Douglas, who sees players like Evan Stewart, Kyler Kasper, Justius Lowe, and Jeremiah McClellan return, while Malik Benson joins via the transfer portal, and incoming freshman 5-star WR Dakorien Moore acts as the crown jewel, rated the No. 1 WR in the 2025 class.
This isn't as if Douglas is coming in and needs to overhaul the process in Eugene, getting the recruiting going and turning up the production. Junior Adams left Oregon far better than he found it, and now it will be on Douglas to carry it forward into the next evolution.
What it Says About Oregon's Philosophy
Oregon had a choice here with the WR position hire. Due to the flexibility of RB coach Ra'Shaad Samples, who also coached receivers at Arizona State, the Ducks could have promoted him to WR coach and looked to hire a new RB coach in his place. Instead, they went with an outside hire at the WR spot, and someone that Lanning trusts.
While Lanning and Syracuse coach Fran Brown did not overlap during their time with the Georgia Bulldogs, they both come from the Kirby Smart coaching tree, so it would come as no surprise to hear that Lanning got the information that he needed from Brown before making this hire.
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