Latest news with #Lanning
USA Today
8 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning breaks down reason for offseason meeting with Dabo Swinney
During Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas last week, Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning revealed that he spoke with Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney this offseason, citing discussions over the process of running a program — including how he developed his "Double Down" mantra heading into the 2025 season. On Monday, during Oregon's 2025 media day in Eugene, Lanning was asked to elaborate on the meeting and why it occurred. In essence, it was to pick the brain of a coach who has succeeded on the biggest stage. "Every year, I kind of challenge myself to find some people to touch base with, and he was kind enough to touch base back, you know," Lanning said. "So there's a lot of people who've done the game at a really high level that I want to go pick their brain." Lanning continued, breaking down the topics the two coaches discussed. "We really talked about all things. All things program, right?" Lanning said. "Not necessarily messaging, but all things organizationally, why he thought he was able to have some of the success that he's had over the years, and what separates some of his team. So I really appreciate his insight." Entering his fourth season at the helm for the Ducks, Lanning has quickly established himself as one of the top coaches in the country with three straight double-digit season win totals. Last season was his best work, as Oregon was ranked No. 1 in the country for the back half of the season, won a Big Ten title, and earned the top seed in the College Football Playoff. However, the season-ending Rose Bowl loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes stung for a team with national championship hopes. It doesn't get much better than asking Swinney for advice, who's 35th in all-time wins as a college football head coach, including two national titles in 2016 and 2018. With a new perspective and the ensuing inspiration for a new season motto, Lanning's meeting with Swinney should prove to be another building block towards the continued success of the Oregon program. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Rival Big Ten coach shares first thoughts on Iowa football road trip
Kinnick Stadium is known as one of the toughest road environments in the entire Big Ten, with many top teams seeing postseason dreams die within the confines of almost 70,000 avid Hawkeye fans. From the distance between the fans and the visiting team's bench to the pink locker room to the new north end zone section, Kinnick has turned into a house of horrors for certain Big Ten teams. And one of the newer coaches in the conference acknowledged the difficulties that come with playing Iowa on the road. Dan Lanning has been the coach of the Oregon Ducks since 2022, going 35-6 over those three seasons. Last year, in Oregon's first season as a Big Ten team, he led the Ducks to a 13-0 regular season record and a Big Ten Championship game victory. While the season ended on a sour note with a loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff, Lanning has established the Ducks as a premier program. And in 2025, for the first time as a Big Ten school, they'll travel to Iowa City to play the Hawkeyes. Lanning spoke to the media on Thursday at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas and was asked a question about his team's road trip to Iowa in November and how he's preparing his team for that game. What did Dan Lanning say about playing Iowa on the road? When asked about going on the road to play Iowa in November, Lanning had this to say. "It was something I got to experience as a GA when I was at Pitt, we played at Iowa. It was an unbelievable atmosphere, that's the NFL team of the state. Coach (Kirk) Ferentz has done an unbelievable job... the home crowd is right on top of the visiting stands. It's a special place and a fun venue, so we're excited to see them," Lanning said. Lanning has a lot of respect and admiration for Kinnick Stadium and the program that Ferentz has built at Iowa. With prior experience coaching at Kinnick, albeit as a graduate assistant, Lanning has an idea of what to expect when a visiting team walks into Kinnick. But, he should expect Hawkeye fans to show up and be loud when one of the best teams on Iowa's schedule comes into town. Iowa and Oregon will clash at Kinnick on Nov. 8. It'll be the third College Football Playoff team from last season that the Hawkeyes will have played in a five-game stretch, joining Indiana on Sept. 27 and Penn State on Oct. 18. All three of those games are in Iowa City. Hawk fans have a great home schedule of games to go to in 2025. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Oregon motivated by College Football Playoff loss to Ohio State
And lost by 46. That was Lanning's first game at Oregon in 2022, a brutal loss at the hands of Georgia that can only be eclipsed by the brutal loss at the hands of eventual national champion Ohio State in last year's Rose Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal -- as the nation's No.1 team and national title favorite. But ignore those bookend beatdowns, there's a bigger picture here. "The process works," Lanning said on the dais at Big Ten Media Days, throwing talking points chum to the masses. "We're close." This, of course, means next to nothing in the coaching world of "you're the last thing you put on tape." So I got Lanning away from the stage Wednesday, and asked what exactly does doubling down mean? Oregon has won 35 games in his three seasons, and last year won the conference championship in its first season in the Big Ten. The Ducks have hit nearly every significant metric of growth under Lanning, from elite recruiting, to a winning record vs. ranked teams, to sitting on top of the college football world for nearly two months. MAN WITH PLAN: Oregon's Lanning pitches playoff that ends Jan. 1 ABSOLUTE POWER: Big Ten, SEC fight to shape College Football Playoff So what in the name of Dan Fouts does doubling down mean? "We've had a lot of success, and I really attribute that to our growth mindset," Lanning said. "Our DNA mindset of who we are." Wait, what? So I got annoyed with the nothing answer, and Lanning got annoyed at me -- and the next thing you know, Kirby Smart arrived. And by Kirby Smart, I mean the aura of the best coach in college football and Lanning's mentor. And it went about like what you'd think. "Doubling down is continuing to work your ass off at practice," Lanning said. "Doubling down is continuing to run when your body tells you 'no.' Doubling down is getting necessary sleep. It's focusing intently on all those pieces and more. All the time." Hallelujah, now we're getting somewhere. There's a reason Lanning and three Oregon players who attended Big Ten media days were peppered with questions about the loss to Ohio State, and the impact moving forward. And it's not because of the hoard of swooning Ohio State media endlessly reliving Scarlet and Gray glory. When you fail so spectacularly on the biggest stage of all, there must be a complete deconstruction of the disaster. It's not simply losing to a better team, which Ohio State was on that day. It's how did it fall apart so quickly, and how was the preparation so ineffective? How was an Oregon team built for this moment so out of its element? POWER RANKINGS: Big Ten starts with Penn State, Ohio State on top Ohio State scored on the third play of the game. Ohio State's first two scoring drives took all of six plays. Ohio State led by 31 midway through the second quarter, and Oregon looked a whole lot like the Ducks team that was dismantled in Lanning's first game against Georgia. Outcoached, outplayed, outclassed. So yeah, it's a fair question to ask how that Rose Bowl loss translates to 2025, especially considering this talented Oregon team has gone from a record-setting quarterback (Dillon Gabriel) with 63 career starts, to one (Dante Moore) with five. You don't grind for three years on a buildout, painstakingly changing everything about a program and molding it into what Nick taught Kirby and Kirby taught you, and ignore the elephant in the room. "A lot of work, man, a lot of it," said Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher, a two-sport athlete who returned for his senior season instead of playing professional baseball. He hasn't forgotten the suddenness of what happened in Pasadena on New Year's Day. Why in the world would he? "It drives you," Boettcher continued. "It's hard to explain, the way it ended. That's a problem. That's not something you ever forget." And that's where Lanning tangibly doubled down on what he knows works. He protected his roster from key transfer portal defections, and added a handful of critical pieces (starting OTs Isaiah World and Alex Harkey, RB Makhi Hughes) to solidify the team around Moore. He went from taking a small group of players on a leadership retreat, to taking 35. Because more is better when adversity hits, and because good teams are led by coaches. Great teams are led by players. Great teams that can withstand giving up a touchdown on the third play of the Rose Bowl, and not crawl into a fetal position at the thought of it all. A great, player-led team goes on the road this year in the Big Ten, and isn't impacted by a whiteout at Penn State, or a 3,000-mile trip to Piscataway, New Jersey. Because who among us wouldn't travel three time zones to reach lovely Piscataway? A great, player-led team isn't concerned with anything but doubling down and completing the buildout. "What happened last year has nothing to do with the future," Lanning said. Neither do the bookend beatdowns. But they're all part of the bigger picture. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Dan Lanning looking ahead as Oregon Ducks turn the page to 2025
The first year of Oregon Ducks football in the Big Ten was a fun one to say the least. They went undefeated, including a thrilling 32-31 win over Ohio State in one of the greatest games inside Autzen Stadium. It probably went better than expected. But as the Ducks enter Year 2 of their Big Ten membership, what happened last season means nothing, according to Oregon head coach Dan Lanning. "We have a brand new team and brand new challenges," he said at the Big Ten Day Media Day in Las Vegas on Wednesday. "What happened last year has nothing to do with the future." Oregon lost a lot of players off that 12-1 squad from a year ago, but like many good programs, the Ducks are not rebuilding. They are reloading. It will be an adjustment, however, particularly at the quarterback position, where for the first time since Lanning got here, the Ducks won't be going with an experienced transfer. Rather, it will be Dante Moore, who was a highly-touted recruit, but in his true freshman season at UCLA, was thrown to the wolves before he was ready. The talent was always there, and Oregon hopes that talent shines through after sitting a year on the sidelines and watching Dillon Gabriel do his thing for an entire season. Unfortunately, Moore will be throwing to a young receiver group that doesn't have many catches among them, but the pure talent is off the charts. They'll have to grow up a little quicker now with Evan Stewart down with a knee injury that could keep him out the entire season. The Ducks were successful in signing some sought-after players in the transfer portal, such as offensive lineman Isaiah World and safety Dillon Thieneman. Those additions and an easier schedule that doesn't include Ohio State or Michigan, Oregon is hopeful it will retain its conference championship. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Undefeated in Big Ten, Oregon somehow chasing redemption after playoff loss
Oregon was perfect all the way through its first season in the Big Ten, mowing through the regular season at 12-0 and handling Penn State in the conference championship game. Then the Ducks were dropped by eventual national champion Ohio State, 41-21, in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl to end the season as a national afterthought to the likes of Notre Dame, Texas and the Buckeyes, a team Oregon beat in the regular season. With a pair of trophies on display on either side of his dais at Mandalay Bay for Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, Oregon's coach shared his uncomfortable truth. 'I think every coach probably feels this way, but we always remember the losses over the wins,' Oregon coach Dan Lanning said at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Wednesday during Big Ten Media Days. 'I think there's a lot you can learn from that. It doesn't take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost to a great team. Coach (Ryan) Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in position to have success there. There's some things I think I could have done better at the end. I don't think we played our best football. That being said, we did go undefeated in the conference and won the Big Ten Championship in our first year. That said, double down. 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.' The future in Eugene is bright. But success is going to be relative at Oregon, a reality Lanning has embraced and knew well from his background at Georgia, where he knows the one trophy every team wants -- the national title -- is the goal on constant repeat. Marinating, and believing there is victory in the process, and avoiding the 'microwave' are themes in his locker room in 2025. Dante Moore is competing at quarterback to replace Browns third-round pick Dillon Gabriel as the maestro of a system full of skill-position weaponry. Moore said Lanning consistently reminds him and other team leaders 'pressure is a privilege.' He's locked in a duel with fellow sophomore Austin Novosad to start for the Ducks. 'I think probably what impressed 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 of him,' Lanning said, 'but to have the slow-cooked meal, 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. The same goes for Austin. The same goes for Luke (Moga) and the other guys in our program.' Either quarterback would be thrilled to have the security of a sure-handed and big-play tight end the likes of Kenyon Sadiq. The junior might not be a household name nationally, but no matter which iteration of Oregon uniform he's wearing on game day, opponents are fully aware of his whereabouts. Lanning said he played some video-game football with his son before Wednesday's session, and Sadiq was a stud in the virtual world, too. 'I need to make sure I bring that up to our quarterbacks, throw it to Kenyon because he's been unbelievable this offseason,' Lanning said. 'Like I said, if you just see him work, it's not a secret.' Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
