Dan Lanning explains Terrell Tilmon changing positions to tight end

Dan Lanning believes Oregon has an ace in the hole on offense in newly-minted tight end Terrell Tilmon.

The Ducks decided to move Tilmon from their linebacker corps to their tight end room, a move Lanning explained while speaking with the media earlier this week.

“Ultimately, we want to win football games, and we felt like he would give us his best chance of helping our football team and being able to impact us there on the offensive side of the ball. I also think he can have a big role on special teams, as well,” stated Lanning. “We were in the offensive meeting yesterday and Coach [Kenny] Dillingham asked him the question, ‘Who’s our fastest tight end?” All our tight ends point to Tilman. So he can run a little bit.

“Excited. Still a new position for him. Still developing there. So we’ll see what it looks like in fall camp.”

Originally, Tilmon was a three-star recruit out of Arlington, Texas in the Class of 2021, according to the On3 Consensus. Additionally, the former linebacker was the No. 76 overall recruit from his home state, No. 53 among his position group and No. 491 in the entire nation.

Last season, Terrell Tilmon accumulated five total tackles on the year. Evidently, Dan Lanning and company will be hoping for a bigger impact from the athletically gifted Tilmon as he joins the offensive side of the football.

Dan Lanning explains how Oregon approached the transfer portal this offseason

Dan Lanning made waves in the transfer portal throughout his first offseason with the Oregon Ducks.

To illustrate, the former Georgia defensive coordinator accumulated a wealth of talent after being named the next leader of the Ducks. Recently, Oregon added a couple of offensive talents from the portal — former Texas A&M wide receiver Caleb Chapman and former Minnesota running back Mar’keise Irving.

At Pac-12 Media Days, Lanning explained what the duo can provide the Ducks, as well as how they fit their transfer portal approach.

“Our focus in the portal was to find guys that can make our program better, enhance our program, but marry that with the culture we’re instilling right now in our program, the investment in our culture,” stated Lanning. “Those guys have been phenomenal additions. They have great experience in college football games. It’s good to be able to lean on guys that have firsthand experience in games. They’re working really hard this summer. I think we have 54 newcomers to our program this year.

“Obviously there’s a returning roster of some great talent, but we also have some great additions like those guys.”

As you can see, Dan Lanning and company went into the transfer portal with a plan. Time will tell if it pays off for the head coach during his first season on the job.