Photo by: GoDucks.com
Football Media Day: 5 Takeaways
07/31/23 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon football team met with local media Monday, two days before the start of preseason camp for the 2023 season.
Preseason camp begins Wednesday for the Oregon football team, which is entering its second season under head coach Dan Lanning and the last in the current configuration of the Pac-12 Conference.
At the program's preseason media day for local reporters Monday, Lanning largely avoided big-picture topics such as conference realignment. But he and several dozen players addressed the state of the Ducks' program entering practice Wednesday afternoon, a little more than four weeks out from the regular-season opener against Portland State in Autzen Stadium on Sept. 2.
Some takeaways from Monday's media day session in The Club at Autzen Stadium:
1. The Ducks are coming off a 10-3 season in 2022, one that saw them win eight straight games and enter the College Football Playoff discussion before capping the year with a Holiday Bowl win, but which also included an opening loss at Georgia and defeats at the hands of two rivals.
Overall, a good, solid season. But "good" isn't the goal in the present era of Oregon football. Throughout this offseason, the Ducks have preached the mantra of going from "good to great" in 2023, and that continued Monday.
Preseason all-conference defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus said he's urging teammates to get "one percent better" in everything they do.
"I challenge the D line every day, what's your one percent," Dorlus said. "What are you doing every day to get better? We look at the film from last year; we don't want to be like last year, we want to be better than last year. So the biggest thing is outworking how we did last year. And finishing everything, every play."
Quarterback Bo Nix talked about how last season, his first with the Ducks, was about proving himself to his new teammates, through his commitment and work ethic. This year, he and the veterans are ready to take things to another level.
"I truly believe our second year in, a lot of guys understand more what the expectation is, what the standard is," Nix said.
2. One of the program's pillars under Lanning is "connection," and that's been a particular focus this offseason.
The Ducks have welcomed several new faces over the spring and summer, both through the transfer portal and from the 2023 recruiting class. A goal of the offseason is to put in enough team-building time that some cohesion will be in place come Wednesday — though as Nix made clear, preseason camp is still a time for making and strengthening connections throughout the team.
One of the newest additions, tight end Casey Kelly, is a transfer from Ole Miss. He raved about the connections he built with his new teammates at Oregon since arriving, and the benefit of the emphasis Lanning places on that process.
"I've truly have seen that; like, I'm not just saying that, either," Kelly said. "… You would think, you know, some teams would have cliques here and there. (But) everybody is getting along with each other, everybody's helping each other — you know, we all just want to win. So once you just all want to win, I mean, it's kind of easy to get along with everybody."
Lanning and his assistant coaches have hosted team-building activities at their houses, and the Ducks have also gotten out into the community as a group. They capped summer workouts with the now-annual tradition of hiking Spencer Butte — in tribute to former teammate Spencer Webb — and on Sunday the team played paint ball together.
Lanning himself participated — "I was a popular target; I took some good hits" — showing his commitment to the process of building connection.
"That helps a lot of young players, to see coach involved in activities like that, rather than just sitting on the side," senior offensive lineman Steven Jones said. "Because it shows that, if you really want to connect and grow with each other, then you've got to be in it together. And he's showing that."
3. Lanning will coach the 2023 season under the terms of a new contract he recently agreed to with the university. The deal runs through the 2028 season, and reportedly includes a $20 million buyout Lanning would owe if he left earlier.
Those terms reflect a commitment from both sides to the long-term future of the program, and Lanning on Monday made clear his end of that commitment.
"As a coach, all you ever really want to focus on is being in a place where you can win and you can raise your family," Lanning said. "Since the day I got here, it's been no secret that I want to be here. I'm thrilled about the opportunity that was given to me to become the head coach at Oregon. That means a lot to me. I never take it for granted. I wake up every morning and I pinch myself."
Lanning and his wife are the parents of three sons. They moved several times in recent years as Lanning's career progressed, but now there's the opportunity for stability in Eugene.
"There's no secret that this is what I want," Lanning said. "I've said before, the grass isn't always greener; I have everything I want here. And there's a vision for this to continue to grow."
4. The Ducks seemingly will enter the 2023 season without a huge target on their backs, after being picked to finish fourth in a preseason poll of Pac-12 media.
A wealth of returning talent at quarterback should make the conference among the nation's most competitive this fall; two-time champ Utah was third in the preseason poll, behind USC and Washington. So while Oregon won two straight Pac-12 titles in 2019 and 2020, and won 10 games in each of the past two years, the Ducks didn't garner much attention as a preseason favorite.
Which is fine with Lanning.
"There's certainly a belief in our program about Oregon football," he said. "We're really excited about it."
In what seems like a constantly evolving landscape of college football, Lanning for the most part avoided big-picture questions Monday.
"We're not really worried about any opponents; we're worried about ourselves," he said.
5. To that end, the Ducks will kick off a month of focus on self-improvement Wednesday, as preseason camp begins.
The focus of the season is "good to great," but Lanning knows that isn't an overnight process. It will take consistent, methodical improvement, beginning Wednesday and continuing through August.
"Everybody's excited about the first day of school; everybody gets excited about the first practice," Lanning said. "But the reality is it's about consistency — consistency in your approach, consistency about the way you attack things.
"And the reality is, we also know it won't always be pretty. So when it's not pretty, how are we going to win in those scenarios? We're ready for it. And we're excited to attack the season."
At the program's preseason media day for local reporters Monday, Lanning largely avoided big-picture topics such as conference realignment. But he and several dozen players addressed the state of the Ducks' program entering practice Wednesday afternoon, a little more than four weeks out from the regular-season opener against Portland State in Autzen Stadium on Sept. 2.
Some takeaways from Monday's media day session in The Club at Autzen Stadium:
1. The Ducks are coming off a 10-3 season in 2022, one that saw them win eight straight games and enter the College Football Playoff discussion before capping the year with a Holiday Bowl win, but which also included an opening loss at Georgia and defeats at the hands of two rivals.
Overall, a good, solid season. But "good" isn't the goal in the present era of Oregon football. Throughout this offseason, the Ducks have preached the mantra of going from "good to great" in 2023, and that continued Monday.
Preseason all-conference defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus said he's urging teammates to get "one percent better" in everything they do.
"I challenge the D line every day, what's your one percent," Dorlus said. "What are you doing every day to get better? We look at the film from last year; we don't want to be like last year, we want to be better than last year. So the biggest thing is outworking how we did last year. And finishing everything, every play."
Quarterback Bo Nix talked about how last season, his first with the Ducks, was about proving himself to his new teammates, through his commitment and work ethic. This year, he and the veterans are ready to take things to another level.
"I truly believe our second year in, a lot of guys understand more what the expectation is, what the standard is," Nix said.
2. One of the program's pillars under Lanning is "connection," and that's been a particular focus this offseason.
The Ducks have welcomed several new faces over the spring and summer, both through the transfer portal and from the 2023 recruiting class. A goal of the offseason is to put in enough team-building time that some cohesion will be in place come Wednesday — though as Nix made clear, preseason camp is still a time for making and strengthening connections throughout the team.
One of the newest additions, tight end Casey Kelly, is a transfer from Ole Miss. He raved about the connections he built with his new teammates at Oregon since arriving, and the benefit of the emphasis Lanning places on that process.
"I've truly have seen that; like, I'm not just saying that, either," Kelly said. "… You would think, you know, some teams would have cliques here and there. (But) everybody is getting along with each other, everybody's helping each other — you know, we all just want to win. So once you just all want to win, I mean, it's kind of easy to get along with everybody."
Lanning and his assistant coaches have hosted team-building activities at their houses, and the Ducks have also gotten out into the community as a group. They capped summer workouts with the now-annual tradition of hiking Spencer Butte — in tribute to former teammate Spencer Webb — and on Sunday the team played paint ball together.
Lanning himself participated — "I was a popular target; I took some good hits" — showing his commitment to the process of building connection.
"That helps a lot of young players, to see coach involved in activities like that, rather than just sitting on the side," senior offensive lineman Steven Jones said. "Because it shows that, if you really want to connect and grow with each other, then you've got to be in it together. And he's showing that."
3. Lanning will coach the 2023 season under the terms of a new contract he recently agreed to with the university. The deal runs through the 2028 season, and reportedly includes a $20 million buyout Lanning would owe if he left earlier.
Those terms reflect a commitment from both sides to the long-term future of the program, and Lanning on Monday made clear his end of that commitment.
"As a coach, all you ever really want to focus on is being in a place where you can win and you can raise your family," Lanning said. "Since the day I got here, it's been no secret that I want to be here. I'm thrilled about the opportunity that was given to me to become the head coach at Oregon. That means a lot to me. I never take it for granted. I wake up every morning and I pinch myself."
Lanning and his wife are the parents of three sons. They moved several times in recent years as Lanning's career progressed, but now there's the opportunity for stability in Eugene.
"There's no secret that this is what I want," Lanning said. "I've said before, the grass isn't always greener; I have everything I want here. And there's a vision for this to continue to grow."
4. The Ducks seemingly will enter the 2023 season without a huge target on their backs, after being picked to finish fourth in a preseason poll of Pac-12 media.
A wealth of returning talent at quarterback should make the conference among the nation's most competitive this fall; two-time champ Utah was third in the preseason poll, behind USC and Washington. So while Oregon won two straight Pac-12 titles in 2019 and 2020, and won 10 games in each of the past two years, the Ducks didn't garner much attention as a preseason favorite.
Which is fine with Lanning.
"There's certainly a belief in our program about Oregon football," he said. "We're really excited about it."
In what seems like a constantly evolving landscape of college football, Lanning for the most part avoided big-picture questions Monday.
"We're not really worried about any opponents; we're worried about ourselves," he said.
5. To that end, the Ducks will kick off a month of focus on self-improvement Wednesday, as preseason camp begins.
The focus of the season is "good to great," but Lanning knows that isn't an overnight process. It will take consistent, methodical improvement, beginning Wednesday and continuing through August.
"Everybody's excited about the first day of school; everybody gets excited about the first practice," Lanning said. "But the reality is it's about consistency — consistency in your approach, consistency about the way you attack things.
"And the reality is, we also know it won't always be pretty. So when it's not pretty, how are we going to win in those scenarios? We're ready for it. And we're excited to attack the season."
Players Mentioned
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/ Football2025 Oregon Football Uniform Reveal | Indiana
Wednesday, October 08
Bryce Boettcher: "Exciting for the fanbase and the city."
Wednesday, October 08
Dakorien Moore: "Do everything I need to."
Wednesday, October 08
Dan Lanning: "Good week of practice."
Wednesday, October 08
