Dan Lanning Shares Honest Evaluation on What Makes Dante Moore's Approach Special

The Oregon Ducks' fall camp is winding down, with their season kicking off against the Boise State Broncos in Week 1 on Sept. 5.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning spoke on the consistency he’s seen from his team throughout fall camp and the growth that players and members of the coaching staff have displayed. In his recent post-practice media session, Lanning also addressed quarterback Dante Moore’s unique approach to the game.

oregon ducks dan lanning dante moore fall camp jalen lott gaitlin bair quarterback boise state college football coordinators — Oregon football coach Dan Lanning speaks during a press availability on Aug. 26, 2026, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Everything Dan Lanning Said

Dante Moore’s Determination:

“I think he's gone through phases here throughout fall where it's like, okay, I'm completely focused on what my job is. But part of being Dante, what makes him so special is being Dante when he's out there playing with joy, playing with confidence, knowing hey, I've been through this a million times.”

“We've given him a ton of different looks this fall that he hasn't really seen consistently before, and I think that's been really good for him as a player. But when he's out there playing with joy and has a level of focus and is demanding of the guys around him, we really separate as a team, and he's done a good job of that.”

The Importance of His Quarterback Playing With Joy:

“I think it's important for every player to be themselves, right? And everybody's got to figure out where they operate at the best level, right? And there's a level of joy, but there's also a level of focus required, right?”

“That and he's able to really manage that extremely well. But whoever comes here, there's some guys that are going to be a little more stringent. They're a little bit more focused and on the details. They're kind of locked in, and that's how they play best. So, every player is different. You have to meet them where they're at.”

Trends Across Fall Camp:

“Yeah, I mean, I'm seeing we talked about player led as we came in. That's starting to really show itself, you know, throughout fall camp. I think it's shown itself, and then just the continuity you get from going to practice every single day, getting out there.”

“I mean, you become a better team each and every day, and then there's been really good back and forth, right? Whether it's offense, defense, special teams, I think in all those areas we're proven in a lot of situations that we're making sure we expose our players to. But overall, I think we have a group that's hungry and working really hard.”

What Receivers Outside the Top-Four Have Shown:

“Yeah, I mean, several of these guys are stepping up every single day. I mean, I think Messiah’s really come on the last few days. You've seen that from him. You know, Jalen certainly had some flash plays to stick out. Gatlin's had those. I mean, there's several guys that have been able to do that. Iverson.”

“I mean, all we've got a really good group of wideouts. It's going to be okay, how do we figure out how to use these guys to their best ability, and you know where do they fall in? And guys' roles, just like last year, roles can change throughout the season, right?”

“You know, you see Malik Benson playing now on Sundays, right? And his role wasn't big when the season started; it was huge before the season ended. So, I like that we have a lot of guys that are available. I like how they're growing quickly.”

How the Coordinators Have Grown Through Fall Camp:

“I think part of being a great coach is also being like a lifelong learner, and I think we got two coaches in those positions with a great support group. They would tell you that one, they hear the voice of everybody in the room, so they do a great job of taking feedback, accepting that, and saying, okay, how can I make sure I incorporate it?”

“And then they do a great job of learning through practice, right? We've had a ton of situations where they're calling it like it's a game throughout practice, and they're learning from it. They're making notes. They're saying, ‘Hey, I could have done this better,’ or ‘I could have improved here.’ We talk through it as a staff, and we watch film together and evaluate it. And I think they really attack that.”

The Growth of Special Teams With Crowd Control:

“I mean, a lot of our periods are going to end with, hey, offense is down three. So, this is a kick situation at the end. We have you know pressure kicks throughout practice.”

“Again, we try to make it harder in practice than it's going to be in a game. So those guys have seen those situations, been exposed to them. It's not just okay, field goal, let's go do field goal unit. They show up throughout practice. Same thing with punt. So, we try to create those pressure situations throughout. And at times we've handled it really well. Times we could be better, but overall it's been good.”

What He Hopes This Version of Oregon Football is Defined By:

“I think the piece that I've seen with this group throughout fall camp that sticks out to me is we've stacked really good practices back-to-back to back, and I think that's hard to do in fall camp when it becomes monotonous, but to be able to say, okay, we had a great scrimmage.”

“Mondays might be down a little bit. That has been the case with this group. They come out, and they go Monday, right? Okay, we have a really good Monday. What's Tuesday going to look like? They come out, and they have a really good Tuesday.”

“I thought today was one of our better practices of the year, and it was shorter. But these guys really attacked it with an intensity and a focus. So being able to put great days back-to-back-to-back is something that this group's really been able to do a good job of.”

Experience Helping Stack Days of Good Practices:

“I think that there's a benefit when veterans know how to work and what it looks like, and hold people that you know, because everybody that just got here is looking around to see, okay, what's everybody else doing? I'm gonna kind of match that temperament. And when you have guys that have been here, and they are realizing what's in front of them and what they have to attack, they pull everybody along or push everybody in front.”

The Metaphor of the Facility Construction and What They’re Building:

“I think what it maybe ties into more than anything that represents our program is we talk about telescope goals and microscope goals, right? And obviously that building is not going to be done tomorrow, but it lets you know where we're heading and what we're building.”

“There's something really cool happening there, but there's work that's done on that building every single day to make it a leap. All right, that same thing's happening with our program right now. We have goals that we want to be able to accomplish. On the same note, we got to focus on what's in front of us right now to be able to do it.”

If There Are Any Fall Camp Injuries That Will Hold Players Out for A While:

“None that I would speak on.”

How the Growth of the Support Staff Changes His Workflow:

“No, I don't think it really changes my intent there. You know, I think you want as many people that can impact your players as possible, and we're able to lean on a lot of guys with great experience. I think it allows you as a staff to take a deeper dive, but you still want to be a piece of all those parts of the game plan and what that looks like.”

Opening Statement:

“Good day overall. You know, it's a short practice on and off the field. More of a spiders practice. Did a lot of crowd work noise today, and guys handled that really well.”

Conferences Putting Rules Into Place Against NFL Players Playing Back at the College Level:

“Yeah, I think I've kind of already given my position on it. I think it makes sense, you know, for what reality is and what the game is good for the game.”

What the Next Few Days Look Like:

“Yeah, we'll start as a coaching staff, gain a little bit more focus on our first opponent, right? But as players in general, it'll be a little bit more still about us, right? Until we shift into that game week mode, we'll expose them to a little bit of details, stuff that we think are going to show up, maybe not so much curtailed to just Boise or first opponents, but things that we need to make sure that we still clean up this week, and then as we approach the next week, it'll give us a little bit more recovery time towards the end of the week.”

Handling Excitement Heading Into Game Week:

“Yeah, you're always excited. The closer you get, the more excited you get, right? I mean, that's human nature. You know, I always think about: Are we prepared? Are we ready for that excitement that comes along with that? And I think our team's close.”

Specific Examples of Player Leadership:

“Whether it be a toughness standpoint, somebody goes down on a play, and they wave off a substitution and say, ‘No, I'm going to stay in there.’ I saw that today with Dakorien, right?”

“Whether it's Poncho, we're doing crowd noise period. He says, ‘No, I want the turtle box right up on us.’ Right, or there's a period scripted for crowd noise, and the players are calling for it, calling for an extra rep. There's a lot of examples of it. A guy calling somebody else out. Right, and I think you see a lot of that consistently on our team right now.”

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