Dan Lanning discusses what makes Jamal Hill such a great player

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning praised Jamal Hill, explaining what has made him such a great player for the team.

Hill is a redshirt senior defensive back for the Ducks. He’s contributed to the defense in his previous four seasons, including the pandemic shortened year. It was actually in 2020 that he earned an All-PAC-12 honorable mention from the coaches.

“Yeah, smart player,” Dan Lanning explained. “Tries really hard and plays really hard. I think that shows up consistently, the effort that he plays with, can take information, can use it to figure out what he needs to do better the next time, and then just plays with a level of intensity.”

When Dan Lanning came to Oregon, he asked Jamal Hill to move to the nickel spot, a position he excelled in for the Ducks. Now, the Ducks have him working at several positions.

Coming out of high school, Hill was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2019, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He was the 562nd ranked player in the class overall. He has 116 total tackles and two interceptions for his career. Hill also has 11 passes defended and two forced fumbles.

“I think he plays with a lot of respect from his peers,” Dan Lanning concluded.

Dan Lanning on what he wants to see in Oregon’s next scrimmage

Ahead of Oregon’s next scrimmage, Dan Lanning explained what he wants to see from his team.

“We’ll just incorporate a couple more situations. Try to create the game before the game, talking about scenarios about when it’s right to go down as a runner in bounds as opposed to out of bounds, situational football like that,” Lanning explained.

“Scrimmage one, it was good to get get the guys out there see them compete. It was the first time that we’ve been live this spring, tackle to the ground. Guys did a great job handling that and did also good job protecting their teammates. Thought we ran the ball with some physicality. But all together, good day, good competitive day. Won’t be able to answer a ton of questions on performances until I go back and watch the film but just good to see our guys get out there compete and play physical.”