Dan Lanning reveals where where Oregon has improved the most since he arrived last year

Oregon football is entering the second season of the Dan Lanning era after a fairly successful first year. However, there’s always areas where head coaches wish to improve. At a recent press conference following one of their spring practices, Coach Lanning was asked where specifically he thought the program has improved the most since he took over a year ago.

He didn’t point to a particular position, but rather, a few athletic traits where he believes the whole team has improved.

“Yeah, I think we’re faster. I think we’re bigger. I think we’re stronger,” said Lanning. “And I think that’s, you know, really a credit to our weight room staff, you know, really that whole group in there. I mean, we just got a bunch of guys that have done a great job with the offseason training. And then we do a good job of monitoring it too and making sure we continue to hit high speeds.”

That’s a pretty impressive transformation. It’s often you see team improve at specific skillsets but it’s rare to see a program become so much more athletic in just one season, as Coach Lanning believes they have.

Next, the Ducks head coach was asked how he’d like to see these improvements on display in the upcoming spring scrimmage at the end of the month. He just wants to see guys play with good body language and make smart decisions in live action.

“We’ll just incorporate a couple more situations,” Lanning said. “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.”

“You got to figure out, OK, who are the guys that we make sure we get on the field and get involved? Who are the guys that are close that we can get in there if we coach the technique properly?

“Then, where’s the want to? What’s that look like? Where are the team players, what kind of body language do the guys play with when things go well, when things don’t go well? A lot of opportunities, a lot of things to coach. And then schematically, what do we need to change to make sure that we’re prepared for certain situations?”

There you have it. Dan Lanning wants athletic guys playing engaged football out there in the spring game.