Dan Lanning kicks off Oregon Ducks 2025 season at Big Ten Media Day

USA Today

4 days ago

After a long offseason, Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning has finally stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye once again. Big Ten Media Days kicked off earlier this week in Las Vegas, and the DUcks took the stage on Wednesday, led by Lanning and flanked by Bryce Boettcher, Matayo Uiagalelei, and Kenyon Sadiq.
After a successful 2024 campaign where Oregon won the Big Ten Championship in their first season as league members, the Ducks have high expectations to uphold the standard in 2025. However, they've got a lot to prove with an almost entirely new starting lineup, and only a select few starters returning from last year.
There will be a lot of questions about how his team can step up this season, and which guys will prove to be the biggest difference-makers that Lanning has to answer over the coming weeks and months. On Wednesday, though, Lanning took some preliminary questions and talked about the current state of the program.
Here are some of the top quotes from that press conference on Wednesday:
Opening Statement
Lanning: "Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be here with you guys today. We certainly wanted to let you know that we appreciate the job you do here. I know sitting around in this room all day can be a challenge, especially in Vegas. You guys seem to be handling it well, though I don't see too many closed eyes. Really thrilled to be representing the University of Oregon. It's a dream come true for me. You know, going into my fourth season, to get that opportunity and wake up forever grateful for that chance. Want to continue to thank the leadership that we have at the University of Oregon, and President Schultz, Rob Mullins, they do an unbelievable job in our program. Also thrilled with the leadership we have here in the Big 10. Tony Petitti and his staff do an unbelievable job representing us, getting to do this and the conference that we get to do it in against the caliber of teams that we get to play against, is a real thrill for our team, something that we really pride ourselves in, and are thrilled that we get that. That opportunity coming in a year ago, it was uncharted waters for us. It was, 'Okay, what's the Big Ten going to be like?' And it's been super fulfilling. You know, getting the opportunity to win the Big 10 in our first year, play some unbelievable teams has created a really special experience."
Kenyon Sadiq
Lanning: Along with me today, I have some unbelievable players. We could have brought several guys from our team, really proud of where our team's at right now, but want to take some time to acknowledge those guys that came along with me. Kenyon Sadiq, our tight end, has had an unbelievable offseason. He's been an integral part to our team. He's done a lot of special things. And I think many of you realize that he's a really special talent, you know, but beyond that, he got the opportunity this offseason to travel to Africa and help build courts for kids. He's taken a real interest in real estate, which I'm excited about for him. And on top of that, he runs 23 miles per hour, and can vertical jump 41 inches. So that's pretty good too, especially when it comes to football. Unbelievable player. Excited to see him jump into a leadership role on our team. I think several of you got to see what he can do in the Big 10 Championship this past year. Will be an integral part of our team.
Matayo Uiagalelei
Lanning: This year, we also got to bring Matayo Uiagalelei. One thing I'm really excited about for Matayo is that he's been a guy who's been himself since the day he stepped on campus. He's unique. You know, our guys were joking with him about how he dressed on the airplane yesterday. He looks super comfortable. Had his hair in this cool thing and a neat backpack. I think he's wearing a coat that he got at a thrift store today, and he looks fantastic. But he's been uniquely him, and beyond being uniquely him, he's been a terror for quarterbacks this past season as a sack leader in our conference; he's done an unbelievable job. He's worked really hard this offseason, gained 10 pounds of muscle, and his voice has grown this offseason as well. All the guys that you see that came with us today are not guys of many words; they like to show with action. And Matayo certainly is a guy who does that.
Bryce Boettcher
Lanning: "Also had the opportunity to bring Bryce Boettcher here, you know, returning after an all-conference year as a linebacker for us. You know, Bryce is one of those unique guys who also had the opportunity to win a Golden Glove in baseball at the University of Oregon. Was two sport athlete, has been a lifeblood of this program. He's a heartbeat in a lot of ways. He's the guy that's excited for practice. When he steps on the field, it means something to him. He's prideful to wear the Oregon O, it means a lot. He grew up wanting to be a part of this program, and we were thrilled to get him back. You know, this season, obviously, had the opportunity, after being drafted by the Astros, to go play baseball, but wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to play for us a little bit more. He's put on some great weight this offseason. He's done an unbelievable job.
Double Down
Lanning: "Since we're in Vegas, you know, it seems like the right time to say our theme for this team is 'double down.' We have done an unbelievable job of building this team over time. You look at our success season to season, and as this team has grown, the process works. You know, we're close, and we've been able to accomplish a lot, so that's really what's going to feed our program this off-season, and will feed us into fall camp is believing in the process that we have. We got great buy-in from our players. It is a cast of new characters. You're going to see new people on the field, which is exciting. I'm very excited about this team."
Leadership
Lanning: "You know, going to the off-season, we felt like we had to take an opportunity to really develop leadership. We did that through a leadership retreat. We've done that through focusing on our DNA traits that have always been a big piece of our program, and continue to see our team grow in that area. You know, whether it's connection, whether it's growth, when you see our team play, you're going to see a team that plays with toughness. You know, I know a year ago, we got asked the question, 'Are we tough enough to be in the Big 10?' I think that we were able to answer those questions on the field last year."
Off-Season Gains
Lanning: "I do want to take the time to recognize the efforts of some of our support staff. You know, back in Oregon, you know, our strength staff, Coach Love and his crew, our nutrition staff with Brenna, sports performance with Ben McKay, these guys have done an unbelievable job this summer of putting our team in position to be better. Our players have worked really hard. They put on over 1300 pounds this offseason. Our overall peak power numbers have gone up over 21%, our freshmen, you know, the average gain from our freshmen is over 17 pounds. So there are some exciting things that you can look for wins in the off-season. Those are some great wins for our team. Just as proud as I am of what we've done, you know, training in the off-season, I'm really proud of what we've been able to do off the field. You know, over 600 hours of community service in the last six months. Again, we partnered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace and built over 150 beds for kids in the community who don't have beds. We're able to support 300 Foster and at-risk youth this off season, as well as many other contributions to our community and outside, and for our player,s you know, to develop that education off the field, our player personnel staff has done an unbelievable job."
Staff Retention
Lanning: "Heading into year four, I feel like we've got a really strong foundation. Kind of said that about our team. Our guys have embraced the work, the experience on our staff, you know, I continue to be impressed with the staff that we have going into year three. Now with the same offensive and defensive coordinator, we've got several of our staff members back, even though they've been given opportunities to be in other places, they've chosen to be here. And that's a credit to the success of our team, but that's also a piece of the success of our team, which is the continuity that we've been able to have, and we're grateful to Rob and our support here to be able to make that happen. Also really excited about some of the future stars we have on our team. There's guys that are unbelievable players, but they're also going to be, you know, unbelievable humans, and that's something that we're excited about. You know, several of our coaches are going to make outstanding head coaches in the future. You know, I want to make sure that I always get the opportunity to say that, because these guys do a great job. They make it work. They make my job easier and certainly makes a lot of fun for us."
New Challenges
Lanning: "We do have a brand new team and brand new challenges, and what happened last year has nothing to do with the future. So building that, starting from scratch, getting the opportunity to head back to the kitchen, figure out what we're going to be able to throw in from a recipe and create a great meal, is something we're super excited about. I have confidence in this group more than anything, because I've seen the work, right? Not everybody always gets to see the work. We've been a little bit under the radar this offseason, but these guys have worked extremely hard. They put their best foot forward, and that's part of what makes this so much fun for me."
Player Retention
Lanning: I'm really excited about the retention that we've had with our team. Look at Oregon, the players that we've been able to recruit have done well. Have been able to use the portal to be a real success for us, but we've done an unbelievable job of keeping our players, and not losing them to somewhere else."
Family Fun
Lanning: "I really enjoyed the last couple of weeks getting to spend time with my family. As I said before, there is no balance in this profession. You are all in, and we've been all in, but these last couple of weeks, I've been all in on being a dad. It's been unbelievable. Caton's 15 now, Miles is 14. Titan is 12. We've had flag football this summer, a couple summer camps, a couple trips on the lake. They're getting harder to throw off the tube, but we've had an unbelievable experience. It's been fun hanging out with my wife and the boys this summer, but we were excited to get to run."
Tampering
Question: There have been more instances of schools getting sued for tampering in the transfer portal, do you think there needs to be more of a crackdown on this?
Lanning: "Yeah."
Question: Can you expand on that?
Lanning: "I just like, play the game the way it's supposed to be played, right? But there have to be consequences for actions, and if there aren't consequences, then there's going to continue to be issues like that."
Rose Bowl Motivation
Question: You said last year has no weight on the future, but how much motivation do you find in the way the season ended in the Rose Bowl?
Lanning: "Yeah, for me as a coach, I've always, I think every coach probably feels this way, but we always remember the losses over the wins. I think there's a lot you can learn from that, which doesn't take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost to a great team. You know, Coach Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in a position to have success there. And there's some things that I feel like I could have done better there. At the end, I don't think we played our best football. That being said, we, you know, we did go undefeated in conference. We won the Big 10 Championship in our first year. So like I said, double down, learn. You know, focus on our process. What do we have to continue to improve? There's always learning lessons, but it doesn't necessarily impact the future."
Quarterbacks Learning
Question: How have your QBs been able to learn from the likes of Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix?
Lanning: "Yeah. I mean, all of our quarterbacks have. Austin, Dante, Luke, we've been really fortunate the last few years. And I've said this to a few that we've had a great mentor in that room. We've had guys who have had unbelievable experiences, right? That were these guys were able to watch and see. And I think probably what impresses me most with Dante is not wanting to be in a microwave society, not wanting to just get it fast because there's an opportunity in front, but to have the slow-cooked meal, right? To have the opportunity to sit back and mature and learn, learn from experiences that you don't necessarily have to be on the field to feel and that's that same goes for Austin, that same as goes for Luke and the other guys in our program, like those guys have learned from great quarterbacks that have done it at a really, really high level. For him to have that opportunity, show maturity, and develop in his leadership, I think it's going to create great opportunities for our team."
Kenyon Sadiq Shouldering Load
Question: How have you seen Kenyon Sadiq step up and shoulder a bigger load this offseason?
Lanning: "I actually told Kenyon on the way down that, you know, yesterday was the first time I played it. But I played with my youngest son, Titan. We played the NCAA College Football, and Sadiq went off, right? He balled out. So I need to make sure I bring that up to our quarterbacks. Throw it to Kenyon, you know, because he's been unbelievable this offseason. Like I said, if you just see him work, it's not a secret. I feel like he would tell you that those are some of the traits that he learned from the guy—learned from the guys that were ahead of him, whether that's Terrance Ferguson or Pat Herbert. But yeah, there is a chemistry being developed, and that's part of what fall camps about, right? Our quarterbacks getting on the same page is our tight ends, is our wideouts, as our backs, and just, you know, creating that rhythm. Our guys have worked really hard this summer, but Kenyon is going to be, it's going to be hard for people to deal with. You know, he's a special player. I think he can be the best tight end in the nation. And you know, when you have a great rhythm with your quarterbacks, being able to get the ball to him, that's going to be a special weapon for us.
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