Oregon hires "rising star" Syracuse's Ross Douglas as its new wide receivers coach

Former Syracuse Orange wide receivers coach Ross Douglas has been hired by the Oregon Ducks in the same position. Douglas served in the same capacity for the New England Patriots between 2022 and 2023 before taking the Syracuse job in 2024.

On Sunday, CBS Sports analyst Matt Zenitz announced on X that Oregon coach Dan Lanning had poached the rising star in coaching circles to elevate the Ducks next season. Douglas will replace Junior Adams, who took the Dallas Cowboys wide receivers job a few weeks ago.

"Oregon is expected to hire Syracuse’s Ross Douglas as its new wide receivers coach," Zenitz tweeted. "Rising star coach who helped Syracuse rank No. 1 nationally in passing offense in 2024. Previously was a wide receivers coach with the New England Patriots."

Ross Douglas coaching career

After an extensive college football career with the Michigan Wolverines (2013-2015) and Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2016-2017), Ross Douglas went undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft before immediately starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Rutgers.

Douglas then joined the New England Patriots as a defensive quality control analyst in 2021 before being promoted to assistant wide receivers coach and finally receivers coach in 2022. He was the youngest position coach in the NFL at the time when he was 27 years old.

Douglas then left for the wide receivers coaching job for the Syracuse Orange in 2023. When he arrived at Syracuse, he revealed during his unveiling news conference that he got his coaching mentorship from the legendary Bill Belichick in New England.

“I did everything with Bill Belichick and he taught me a lot of football. The lessons I learned from him are endless. I’m trying to apply them here every day,” Douglas said.

Under the stewardship of Ross Douglas, the Orange led the nation in passing yards, were No. 6 in passing touchdowns and were No. 25 in passing efficiency last season.

Despite losing its best receivers from the 2023 season, the Orange still produced two players with 900+ receiving yards, including Jackson Meeks (1,021 yards resulting in seven touchdowns) and Trebor Pena (941 yards on 84 receptions resulting in nine touchdowns).

Quarterback Kyle McCord also elevated the Orange's passing game after joining from the Ohio State Buckeyes via the transfer portal. He finished the season with 4,779 passing yards, which broke the ACC single-season record, resulting in 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.