Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Responds to Many Dylan Raiola Questions

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon Ducks are set to have a stacked quarterback room in 2026 with the addition of Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning spoke to the media following a recent spring practice about Raiola’s decision to transfer and what stands out about him as a quarterback.

What Dan Lanning Said

oregon ducks dan lanning dylan raiola transfer portal dante moore recruiting quarterback jamari johnson michael bennett — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning leads a spring practice with the Ducks in Eugene, Ore. Thursday, April, 13, 2023. Sports Oregon Spring Practice | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

How Much Quarterback Dante Moore’s Redshirt Season Factored Into Recruiting Transfer Quarterback Dylan Raiola:

“I think he was really aware of it. I say this a lot in recruiting, but the best indicator of the future is the past, and what we've been able to do with our guys, the process that they've had. I think that was something that was really appealing to Dylan.”

“And obviously, he wanted to be here before he knew if Dante was gonna be back or not, just knowing that if that was an option, that was gonna be an opportunity for him to be able to grow and accelerate. It's more about where he was going. Now, ‘Hey, am I gonna be the guy that's up there first guy going, or am I gonna be a guy that's gonna have an opportunity to develop and learn?’ I think all those things were really appealing to him and his family.”

What He Saw From Transfer Quarterback Dylan Raiola During the Recruitment Process:

“Just starts with completing passes right down the field. He had over 70 percent completion percentage in his time there in Nebraska. And we had recruited him in high school. We knew how intelligent he was and how he could make all the throws.”

“So that intelligence is really important in our system. And our ability to execute there, but the way, again, the way he completed passes, and what we thought fit our system.”

Watching Brothers Dylan Raiola and Dayton Raiola Play Together:

“Still early, but that's just a great example of family on our team. Whether it's coach Tuioti coaching his son Teitum. Whether it's those guys getting to be out here together. Brock (Thomas), and his brother, Brody, are both here on the team as well. So, think that's been fun for us to be able to see family incorporated into it.”

Tight End Jamari Johnson’s Growth:

“The biggest thing that I've seen with Jamari, and I've caught it all the way back into winter workouts, the way this guy is coaching as a player. The way he's influencing and leading others.”

“If he sees a route ran the wrong way, he has no problem challenging somebody's accountability and saying, ‘Hey, man, you're not doing that the way it needs to be done.’ But he has relationships, which allows you to be a leader, what allows you to go coach.”

“But he's obviously a dynamic playmaker for us. He's a really complete player, from a standpoint of he's a matchup issue, if he's split out, if he's matched up on a linebacker, that's something you take advantage of, and you can block in the C-area. All those things are things we're looking at in the intelligence factor. So really proud of his growth, but definitely proud of his growth as a leader.”

Making the Offense a Collaborative Process With Guys Like Dante Moore:

“It's really started from the beginning since we’ve been here. We wanted to install the Oregon offense, even going back to when Kenny (Dillingham) was here, we developed a system. Coach (Drew) Mehringer has been here for the entire thing. And then we wanted to add wrinkles and adjust and adapt and build.”

“The great thing about being in house is it allows us to continue that continuity, like we built the system. Our system has a lot of answers. It has a lot of tools. This offseason, we're going to add new things that we haven't done in the past, and build off of that and build to our player skill set.”

“But this is something that will always be growing, always be changing, but always be consistent in the approach, the terminology and what it looks like, which makes it really adaptable for a guy, even if we go through a coordinator change, he understands okay, this os the same play we ran last year, but maybe we're packaging it with something different.”

Defensive Lineman A’Mauri Washington’s Development:

“It starts with size and explosive power. I think this guy's extremely explosive. I think what he had to work on as he got here was his competitive stamina, the ability to go harder for longer.”

“And those moments, I think he recognized earlier, ‘Okay, it's gonna be a limiting factor. This is one of my strengths. This is a limiting factor.’ And then his ability to learn our system and be extremely disruptive, be where he's supposed to be at.”

“All those things have really paid off for A’Mauri. You see a leader showing up. What I admire about A’Mauri is he's been a guy that's had goals since he got here the very first day, he's done a really good job.”

“We talked about it, Maxx Crosby said microscope, telescope. He's got his telescope goals, but he does a really good job of focusing on the microscope. What do I have to improve the day for me to reach those telescope goals that are down the road?”

How Receiver Evan Stewart Has Attacked His Final Spring:

“Every guy realizes that they get closer to the end, how fragile that time is, and how special it is. And you wish you could explain that to guys that come in as a freshman. But Evan’s playing like a guy that knows, ‘Hey, this is my last hoorah. This is my chance to go take advantage of it.’”

“Again, some of the leadership skills, some of the plays he's making on the field right now this spring have been really impressive, catches he's making, and he's growing, growing as a player. But you can tell when he steps on the field. He recognizes, ‘Okay, I don't get a lot more opportunities at this, let me take advantage of this opportunity.’”

Transfer Offensive Lineman Michael Bennett’s Adjustment:

“He's done a great job. He's been a great teammate. I think he really accepts the challenge. I think Michael's one of those guys that appreciates that rents do every single day in football, and there's not a day off, and he's attacked it. That room is a really welcoming room. They do a great job of creating camaraderie in there. I think Michael's been able to fall into that really quick. And he's obviously intelligent, cerebral. So, it's paid off.”

How Receiver Jeremiah McClellan Stood Out During His Recruitment:

“He's just one of those guys. When you see him, you smile. And the relationship's been real. He's got an unbelievable family with Stacy, Gerald, his brothers played ball as well. I just thought he was our kind of guy. And to see the growth that he's made, the steps he's taken since he's gotten here, and the improvement he's made, it's been really refreshing to have on this team. But those relationships matter, and they pay off down the stretch.”

What He’s Seen From Edge Rusher Nasir Wyatt That Gave Him the Green Light:

“Well, he's always had dynamic pass rush ability. He's really hard to block. His speed and athleticism are unique. So those are things that certainly showed up, but the effort that he plays with those things, that's a separator.”

Edge Rusher Nasir Wyatt’s Development:

“I think the biggest area growth in Nas is learning the system and be able to line up and execute the system. He certainly put on a ton of weight since he's been here, and there's still more to gain there, but knowing what you're doing is a great accelerator on getting you on the field.”

“And Nas has spent a lot of time and taking a lot of effort to learn what he's supposed to do, and execute on the field, and that's gonna allow him to be able to do more for us.”

What He Wants to See From Saturday’s Upcoming Scrimmage:

“Every one of our players got the one thing that they have to improve on. So, what I'm hoping to see is, when we pull up that tape post, Saturday, do we see that one thing improve?”

“If I can put my focus on this one thing, what am I attacking? Where am I improving? So, I want to see that show up. We'll work on some different situations, different than we did the last scrimmage. There'll be some four-minute get-the-ball-back opportunities. There'll be some other competitive moments throughout practice, but mostly, are we making improvements in our positions? And I am proving that just one thing that I have to focus on?”

How He Celebrated His Birthday:

“We were working. We had a coach's clinic. We had some recruits. It didn't feel like a big one until I got home, and it was a little later at night, my wife and kids had a cake, and they put 40 candles on it, and it took about three or four puffs to get it all out. So, I mean, that's when it felt big. But other than that, it really just felt like another day.”

If a Certain Coach Instilled the Mindset of Allowing Coordinators to Move In and Out:

“I think ultimately getting to watch Nick (Saban) and Kirby (Smart) both, even Mike (Norvell), there were things that you walked away with. And as a head coach, you're like, ‘Okay, I want this to be a part of what we do.’ I knew we wanted to be a team that could operate with multiple personnel groups.”

“I knew that we had to start with our ability to run the ball. What runs are the most challenging? We have to make sure that we have those involved in our system. We knew that we wanted to be quarterback center, and I think a lot of that grew when we had Bo (Nix) here, and we had a guy that could operate and handle a lot more, and we were able to build tools to make sure that we were teaching it the right way.”

“So again, it's evolved over time. It started with all of us on offense and Kenny bringing some pieces that we wanted to have, but there were some non-negotiables that we knew we wanted in there.”

“And then always in my mind, when you sit here and have success like we've had, three guys to become head coaches in four years, you want to have a plan for what's that looks like when that continues to change and creating continuity.”

“Because if we continue to win games, guess what, we'll have more guys to become head coaches on our staff. And that's a win for us. But ultimately, we want to be able to keep and maintain the Oregon offense, the Oregon defense. What's that look like as we develop it and adjust it.”

Opening Statement:

“Some good competitive drills today, really attacking some of the things that we wanted to improve on from the scrimmage. Had some good tempo periods, some game on the line periods. Incorporated a long drive period where our guys have to stay out on the field for a long time and execute. All those things showed up, certainly some growth.”

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