Oregon appears to be zeroing in on a hire to fill the vacant spot on its defensive coaching staff.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Tulane defensive coordinator Chris Hampton is leaving his position to join Dan Lanning’s staff at Oregon. It’s unclear what exactly Hampton’s role will be, but the Ducks have an opening at safety coach with Matt Powledge accepting a job at Baylor this offseason. Powledge also held the co-defensive coordinator with the Ducks, alongside Tosh Lupoi.

Hampton has served as the Green Wave’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons — his second stint with the program. In 2022, he helped turn around a program that had gone 2-10 the year prior to win an AAC championship and a Cotton Bowl. Tulane ranked top-25 nationally in yards per play allowed this past season.

That defense featured three all-conference first-team selections on defense: linebacker Dorian Williams, cornerback Jarious Monroe, and safety Macon Clark. Three other Tulane defenders earned second-team all-conference honors.

Before taking the DC job at Tulane, Hampton spent one season at Duke as the team’s defensive backs coach. Before that, he spent four seasons working as Tulane’s defensive back coach (2016-2019). He also had previous stops at Arkansas State and Georgia Tech as a grad assistant and then Central Arkansas and McNeese State as a defensive back coach.