Dan Lanning Shares Blunt Assessment on Preseason Ranking

The Oregon Ducks already made program history before the 2026 season even kicked off by earning their highest preseason ranking. The Ducks ranked No. 2 behind the Ohio State Buckeyes in the AP Top 25.

But coach Dan Lanning didn’t seem too impressed when asked about the feat in his post-practice press conference on Tuesday. Lanning broke down how the team blocks out the external noise during fall camp and talked about how the quarterback and defensive line rooms are taking steps forward.

oregon ducks dan lanning dante moore quarterback preseason ranking fall camp defensive line jeremiah mcclellan anthony tank — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning speaks during a press conference on Aug. 15, 2026, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Oregon. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Everything Dan Lanning Said

Keeping the Focus Internal Amid Preseason Talk:

“Yeah, I think it's really easy. I mean, have you ever seen a preseason poll that was right at the end of the year? I mean, it just doesn't happen very often, right? And ultimately, it's never right about all the top 25. The people that make those polls have nothing to do with the results on the field. So let's focus on the things that we control.”

If He Allows Himself to Appreciate the Highest AP Preseason Top 25 Ranking in Program History:

“Hell no.”

Where He Feels Like He’s Improved the Most Since Last Year:

“Yeah, great question. You know, ultimately, I think there's a lot of self-study for me. Of okay, what are the things that I want to attack?”

“I'm not necessarily going to share every single piece of that with you guys. But there's situations we've been in the past where it's like, okay, how can I handle that situation better? I think a lot of coaches might grab a practice script from last season and roll it out and say, hey, that's the same one that we're going to use.”

“I think we've always done a really good job of saying, okay, what's the needs of our team based off this last scrimmage? How do we need to adapt practice? What are we struggling with? We struggled with tempo the other day in some of our scrimmage settings.”

“So, let's recreate that more in practice. But I think our ability to adapt, create drills that fit the skills that we have to work on, has been a strength for us and our program, and then I think again, you know, leaning into our coaches.”

“I've had a lot more of our coaches and our players get up in front of our team this year, beyond just me, and being able to make sure that a lot of times it's a common message, but it's coming from a different voice, which has been really refreshing to see throughout fall camp.”

Quarterback Competition Behind Dante Moore:

“We’ll continue to compete all the way through, right? And there's some places where it's really apparent to say, okay, Dante's played a lot of snaps. It's really clear what he looks like, but I would argue there's very few guys that should be comfortable in their roles on our team because you got to pay rent every single day in football, and everything adds up.”

“Every piece matters, right? It's walkthrough, right? It's in the meeting room. It's out there on the field. You assess it all and evaluate it all, and as staff make the best decision moving forward. But we got great competition in that room. We got great competition in a lot of rooms. To again, for me, the goal in fall camp is to find how many guys are above the line who are playing really winning football?”

If Dante Moore Is Using His Voice More This Fall Camp:

“Yeah, more than anything, just knowledge of the game, and he has the answers so quick. He's able to realize that this is not going to be a good play to this look. Let's change the play. Okay, I'm hot here. Let me get rid of it, and then the ability to coach the other players around him because he knows what every single one of them is doing as well.”

“So his knowledge again, it's like having the coach on the field, which is huge. His leadership is showing up, and there's several guys that are kind of falling in that role.”

What Makes Jeremiah McClellan Unique:

“I mean he has gotten so much stronger and stronger at the point of attack. Each year, I think that his first year that was a huge area for him to grow, and then second year it became a real weapon, and that's become even more of a weapon this year.”

“He's playing with violence, right? Which I think is important. His speed and how it breaks is really a separator. So, he just got done speaking to the team, right? So his leadership skills have stepped up as well.”

If Anthony ‘Tank’ Jones Putting on Weight Was Planned:

“Yeah, I think twofold. Like, he's a guy that we felt like, okay, he can continue to put on weight. When he got here, you want the guys to naturally be at what they can carry and what they, so don't put limitations on somebody for where they'll be.”

“And it was really clear early to us, that this guy's going to be a guy that's going to be bigger, and let's not limit that because we need big guys that have explosive power and quickness like him, and he's a guy that can be outside, inside, and that variety is really good for us.”

“Now he's really embraced the role of being inside, and he's a guy that I think can make an impact and be a guy can play snaps for us this year if he continues to grow the way he's been growing so far.”

The Defensive Line’s Versatility:

“Yeah, I mean, you need to be big, and I think that's probably one of the biggest differences for us over the last few years is what we've been able to do on the defensive line. What it looks like, you can't ever play with just four players. That position has continued to change for us throughout the years.”

“There was a time where we kind of had a jack on a field and a big end, and now you're like, okay, both these guys can play jack, both of them can play big end. Okay, we've had a three that can play five. The more versatility you have, the better, right? And we want to be able to see guys display their talents and utilize their talents. And if we can plug people in, it always ensures that you have your best 11 on the field.”

Defensive Lineman Elijah Rushing’s Development:

“Yeah, I think Elijah's done a great job of focusing on him. He's always been really self-aware of like, okay, this is something I got to get better at. And you're seeing that guy show up this year for us in fall camp. He's going to be able to play snaps force this year, and it's because he's becoming more violent finisher, he's able to separate on blocks.”

“He's creating knockback, the knowledge of the system. He's one of the guys on the team that meets with me individually every week on a recovery day and creates a cut up and asks questions. But he's really challenged himself to improve. He's gotten stronger. He's gotten more flexible, and I think all those things have paid dividends for him, and it’s showing up in fall camp.”

How the GA Role Has Evolved:

“Yeah, there's a lot more people in the organization than whenever I was doing it. At one point there was one GA on offense, one GA on defense, and that was also, I mean, we didn't really have quality control coaches back then. We didn't have analysts.”

“I think at one point in my career we actually had an analyst on defense and analyst on offense, and then your full-time coaches. That's changed a lot. So, there's a lot more people on each side of the ball, which is great. That means more people able to impact our players, more people to make the organization run smoothly.”

“Always the role is how many hats can I wear, right? And you get an opportunity to grow as a coach, and also grow within the system and make our team better. So, we're looking for selfless guys. There aren't really GAs anymore, right? Because before that was you go to school when they pass the rule that anybody is able to coach really on the field. That's a full-time employee.”

“That's kind of changed things to where you let more guys have an impact in the coaching role. So that's a little bit different. But you hope everybody is learning every day to improve and grow. And we do staff meetings all together where those guys get to learn.”

“And then there's moments where somebody's got to be the guy printing the script off. Somebody's going to be typing in the play call, breaking out the film. But coaches have to wear those hats too and be a part of that as well. So, it's certainly changed a lot over the years.”

What He Thought About the Quarterback Decision-Making in Scrimmage:

“Yeah, I thought there was good decisions made. I mean, there was also some decisions that could have been better. Ultimately, we had some takeaways within the game. Some of that was more player error.”

“Wasn't necessarily quarterback error, but was more player error than anything. But I think two things could be true, right. The quarterbacks did make good decisions. We got to speed up the process at times with QB, and the defense has been attacking the ball well.”

If He Played Golf With Dante Moore in the Offseason:

“We were on the course a couple times here. I don't think I ever played directly against Dante, but neither one of us are going to be playing football for a long time. So, I mean, I'm glad he's into it, but maybe we can pick it back up in February.”

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