Everything Dan Lanning Said After Oregon's Spring Scrimmage

The Oregon Ducks are inching closer to their 2026 Spring Game at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks held another spring scrimmage on Saturday, with just a week before holding a game with fans in attendance.

Coach Dan Lanning addressed the media after the scrimmage and broke down what he saw from the team and what they need to work on leading up to Apr. 25.

Everything Dan Lanning Said After Spring Scrimmage

oregon ducks dan lanning spring game scrimmage jamari johnson football dana altman xavier lherisse melyssa lombardi dakorien — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning runs during practice with the Ducks Thursday, April 11, 2024, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Opening Statement:

“It was a good scrimmage today. Certainly some stuff that we want to be able to clean up. But first want to recognize the next weekend, on the 25th, is the Spring Game, and great opportunity to celebrate our military as well as some of our other sports, with baseball and softball playing that afternoon. So, expect to see a great turnout. Spring Game is at one o'clock. We’ll hope for beautiful weather, like we did today.”

“It was unbelievable today out there. Great day for us to get a lot of work in, and excited and anxious to check the film out. It's just some things that stuck out early: we got to do a better job protecting the ball offensively, some runs that we got to do a better job stopping defensively, but overall, some good execution on both sides, and some things that we can clean up.”

Message to the Team Before the Scrimmage and Their Response:

“Just limited opportunities. We got to recognize that every day is an opportunity for us to grow and get better. And those are going away. Spring, I love practice. I wish we could do it all summer. And we don't get that opportunity.”

“And our players need that opportunity to recover as well, but these reps are hard for us to simulate. It's one thing that makes the spring game so great, and why we always say we always have one here is you create a game-like environment at our place. That's where our fans show up and make that really special. So, taking advantage of days like today is somewhat of a dress rehearsal for games in the fall and this spring game coming up.”

The Progress From the Young Players This Spring:

“Saw some guys on both sides of the ball. I know Xavier (Lherisse) had an interception today. And I wouldn't be able to recognize everybody that made a play today, but there's a big run by Brandon Smith. There were several guys that made some big plays today, and moments for those guys to continue to improve and step up.”

The Synergy Between Coaches Within Oregon Athletics and the Importance of Football Being Good to Help Other Sports:

“As far as my opportunity here, I'll tell you this, I've never been a part of a collegiate or a university, a college or a university that has relationships that we do beyond sports. You just mentioned that Dana Altman is a Hall of Fame coach, and to know that I get to have a relationship with him.”

“I was on the phone with Derek Radley yesterday, and you look at the job that he's done and how those guys are competing, and (Mark Wasikowski) and (Melyssa) Lombardi. I mean, we've got an unbelievable group of coaches here, and we're all in it for Oregon, and we all realize that we feed off of each other, and when we're all playing well, it's really a benefit to us.”

"And certainly, football is a revenue-generating sport. I think we all recognize that in the college landscape. But for us to have as many sports as we do, perform at the level they do, and then the relationships to extend beyond that. We had Dakorien (Moore) yesterday, competing in track and field. And then he's out there competing in the scrimmage today.”

“So I think all those things we’re really tying work really well together. You got some outstanding coaches, and all the sports here at the university, that make this thing really tick and people really pulling for each other.”

Receiver Dakorien Moore Competing at Hayward:

“Showed it in our team meeting today. Just the connection is something we talk about, and we've modified a little bit of his load. Work really close with the track staff on what do we want this to look like for him to be able to compete at a high level and still get the work that he has to get in from a football standpoint for us?”

“So, this last practice on Thursday was a little bit modified for him, a little less player load. But full go today to be able to take advantage of everything he has, and obviously has a pretty special skill set, to be able to go out there and compete. And I think he placed sixth in the meet, and the first his first time doing it. And I think that's only going to get better for him as he takes advantage of those opportunities.”

Tight End Jamari Johnson’s Understanding of the Offense:

“Night and day to when he got here, and that speaks to his dedication and the work that coach Smith, coach Mehringer and those guys have done as far as getting him up to speed. I think that's a room that's always had a level of accountability.”

“We always felt like we could count on our tight ends to do the job that they needed to do at a high level. But Jamari has put in a ton of work, and he's really developed as a leader this offseason. He's a guy that he can coach the other guys on the field, make sure we're running the right routes or blocking the right guy. And that's credit to him and the work that he's put in.”

What He Wants to See in the Week Leading Up to the Spring Game:

“More growth. We got opportunities that we want to be able to take advantage of, and it's not just football. It's continuing to become connected. It's continuing to make some sacrifices that puts us in a position to have the success we want to next season, but it's about focusing on day by day. Today, we'll be evaluating the spring. Monday, we'll have another practice and get an opportunity to go improve on those things that we want to go execute.”

What He’s Seen From the Young Linebackers:

“Certainly, big growth for guys, especially going into the second year of the program. Gavin (Nix), year two is a lot different than Gavin year one, but there's a there's a group of linebackers that they realize they're the quarterback of the defense. They got to get everybody lined up. They have to process a lot more information than a lot of their people.”

“And the more guys that we can have playing at that winning level of football, the better opportunities we get. And that's a selfless position. They do a lot of different things for our team, whether it's special teams, whether it's defense, there's a lot of hats that they wear. We ask those guys to communicate a lot, and they're really growing up there.”

His Development as a Coach Since His First Spring Game:

“It's certainly different. I think it starts with player standards. You come in as a coach, and you say, ‘Here's the things that I want us to be about.’ And now you see the players saying, ‘Hey, here's things what we want to be about.’ I think that resonates.”

“We have a group that it's not just coaches on the field, it's players that are coaches on the field and operating at a really, really high level. But every year is different. I'm looking at the spring, and you try to compare it to previous years and different seasons, and it's a new group. It's a new team.”

“I had our guys lift up their hands if they went through spring ball last year, and it's about 60 percent of the team that experienced it, and another 40 percent of the team that had never been through spring practices the year before. So that's a big difference. That’s a lot of guys we got to get caught up to speed.”

Spring Game Format:

“Similar to what we've done in the past. There'll be some guys that we probably shut down or limit at times throughout that, but we got a lot of guys on this team that need the opportunity to go play football in that game day environment. So, it'll be very similar to what it's been, running quarters like we've done, playing two-minute situations out, trying to create some of that on both sides of the ball, separate the teams in the two different groups.”

“And there might be a point in the scrimmage we're going to pull a guy from one team to another team to be able to accomplish everything that we want to accomplish. But special teams, the whole nine yards, offense, defense. We’ll go out there and play football.”

Who’s Wearing the Green Dot:

“The expectation of that position is we grow every single person into a position where they can. Not everybody's ready to do that yet. You don't get ready unless you get put in that situation.”

“So, communication’s got to continue to elevate. There's no science that says you have to have a linebacker wearing the green dot, either. There's several guys capable on our defense that can wear that and communicate that. So, we'll even test out some of those opportunities as well.”

How Tight End Markus Dixon Compliments Jamari Johnson:

“Probably starts with Marcus as a person. He's a guy that everyone on our team really enjoys being around. He's very inquisitive. I saw Kenyon (Sadiq) here the other day working out, and he's asking Kenyan questions about things in the run game, what he can improve.”

“He's a guy that attacks every day, brings a level of maturity coming from somewhere else, and knowing how he has to improve and get better. But he's working really hard, and he's been a great teammate, that's one thing that really resonates.”

How the Team Responded to Ball Security Issues Offensively:

“The thing you got to remember is, if the ball was turned over, that means one side was celebrating. And today we were split up into teams, so we had the Fighting Ducks team and the Combat Ducks team.”

“So, there was really guys on both sides of the ball celebrate when things went right and vice versa when things went wrong. So, it's more about just making sure we're not creating ball in jeopardy place, and we're taking care of the ball.”

“But on the same note, you want to see that defensively. You want to see guys attacking the ball. So, everything sitting in my seat to win on one side, and it's a loss on the other. But that's what you want. Some good back and forth.”

His Involvement in the NFL Draft:

“Try to be a part of as much of that as possible. We're sitting in a unique situation where we have a lot of guys that are going to probably hear their name called that first day, which is exciting for this program, and it's credit to them and the work that they put in.”

“It's a weekend to celebrate. Guys chasing their dreams and reaching those opportunities, and we're grateful. They're reaching those opportunities because the work that they put in, and they'll forever be Ducks. So, really excited to see where guys go.”

“And I know there'll be a couple guys that their name gets called later than they anticipated, or maybe it doesn't get called at all, and I'm excited to see what those guys do with that opportunity as well, but I know this our phone's been ringing a lot lately and there's going to be some Ducks that create big opportunities for themselves over this weekend, and are going to be guys that everybody recognizes going in next fall.”

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