WATCH: Dan Lanning Following Oregon's Third Spring Football Practice
The Oregon Ducks resumed spring football practice in Eugene on Tuesday and welcomed six new players to the team.
Not only has Dan Lanning added a ton of new pieces to his roster, but he also hired a number of new assistants and analysts during the offseason.
Oregon's head coach met with reporters after Tuesday's practice and provided a number of updates. We've transcribed a few of the questions and answers from that press conference and attached video below.
Opening statement: "Back from spring break, first practice out there guys get to wear pads today. It's fun to see guys suit up and go and fly to the ball. I thought there was really good energy at times today but also felt like we were a team that came back from two weeks where we weren't really doing as much active work. Shows up. Lot of mistakes to correct. Right now spring ball is not about scheme it's about playing ball. Playing fast, figuring out who can play. I think we still gotta figure out who our players are. Little thinner on offense than we are on defense just from a numbers standpoint, so gotta be conscientious of that as we rep guys. Want to continue to maximize as many reps as we can get."
Question: Now that you can talk about Tysheem Johnson, what did you see from him at Ole Miss that made him appealing for you at that Nickel spot?
Lanning: "A guy that's around the ball. Makes a lot of plays. I don't think that we have to look at him exclusively as a nickel. Think he's a guy that has position flexibility that we can use at multiple positions. He's a playmaker. Plays with great effort. Physical tackler. Has blitz ability."
Question: Your thoughts on the depth situation at wide receiver?
Lanning: "I don't think that's as big of a piece. There were times when we were operating with less last year. It's more bout quality than it is necessarily quantity. We have good ones there and we have more coming in as well this summer. It'll be different once we get to season."
Question: Where is the depth and talent most different on defense this spring?
Lanning: "I think we probably have a lot more quality defensive line and quality DBs that can play. I'll be honest from top to bottom I think there's more that can play. The more players you can play the better you're gonna be on defense."
Question: Through several practices what's Will's (Stein) interactions been like with the players, with the other coaches, stepping into the OC role?
Lanning: "He's coaching them hard. Setting his expectation. I think he coaches with energy and juice, which is great to see cause when you coach like that your players generally play like that."
The Ducks will hold their fourth spring practice on Thursday morning in Eugene.
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Oregon welcomes new faces as spring football practice resumes
