Football Practice Report: Aug. 19

Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Spider pads

On the Oregon football staff, offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham shares his job title with receivers coach and co-coordinator Junior Adams. But Dillingham's embrace of collaboration goes way beyond that.

Throughout this preseason camp, Dillingham's players and fellow coaches have remarked upon the coordinator's open-minded approach to designing Oregon's offense. Dillingham brings not only an open mind to the process, he said, but open ears.

"I learned from a young age," he said, "that the smartest people listen the most."

Oregon receiver Isaah Crocker, who refers to Dillingham as "KD," commented earlier this month on the way Dillingham solicits opinions from wideouts on what routes they like to run against certain coverages. Dillingham extends that to his quarterbacks, and what plays they're most comfortable running, and about the mechanics of the signals Oregon uses in the playcalling process.

"Kenny's really open to everything," offensive line coach Adrian Klemm said. "He has his ideas on things, and he has some principles that are kind of concrete. But he's allowed us to have some say in that, and also allowed us to bring in some of our own ideas."

Nix Practice

Dillingham said he has no interest in being "a dictator" when it comes to Oregon's offense.

"The more you listen, you reap the benefits of using a lot of people's intelligence," he said. "And people think it's you, when in reality you're just not being stubborn."

That collaborative approach is trickling down to players, as well.

"The guys are hungry, and they're connected," Dillingham said. "The guys are helping each other. I think that's the biggest growth right now – if they're not on the field and there's a young buck in, you see Dont'e Thornton and Troy Franklin and Seven McGee jogging behind, trying to get a guy lined up, trying to help him."

You can see that on Oregon's practice fields, and in meeting rooms, too, where Dillingham fosters an atmosphere of openness among the staff when it comes to sharing their ideas.

"He maybe doesn't use everything," Klemm said. "But he's open to anything."

Sir Mells Practice

Notable: Dan Lanning's commitment to drilling the Ducks in every possible situation that could arise continued Friday as the team did extensive work on all sorts of final-play, end-of-game situations. There was also a competition period between the offense and defense as they drilled two-point conversion reps. … Following Saturday's scrimmage, the Ducks will be off from practice Sunday and then will resume workouts Monday, when the practice schedule reverts to morning workouts as has been more the norm in recent seasons.

Quotable:

Sophomore tight end Moliki Matavao
On the intensity the Ducks will look to bring to Saturday's scrimmage
"Even our practices, Coach Lanning always tells us, how many times can we play a game? You want to simulate: practices as game, scrimmages as games. A scrimmage is just another chance to play a game before the game."

Justin Flowe Practice

Junior offensive lineman Dawson Jaramillo
On staying prepared for anything on the offensive line
"We do a lot of cross-training in the offseason – right, left, guard, tackle. Just so everyone is a little bit comfortable when that situation does arise. So if someone does go down, I can go in and do whatever. And that goes for everyone on the O line."

Post-practice interviews:

Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham