Dan Lanning shares how Oregon is combating depth issues in spring

The Oregon Ducks have started their spring practice. And after their second one, head coach Dan Lanning addressed one of the issues impacting the Ducks currently: a lack of depth at practice. The Oregon headman gave some key insight into what he’s doing to combat the depth issue and highlighted some of the key contributing factors.

“Yeah, really, it’s similar to what I said last practice; we’re able to do two spot practices now,” said Lanning. “We’re able to have basically practice on two fields to get a lot of guys reps and ready. And that’s what it takes. To get better at football, you got to play football. So, having guys out there that can rotate where it’s not just about conditioning, but it’s about technique. That’s starting to show up.”

Lanning is heading into his second season as Oregon’s head coach. The former defensive coordinator for the Georgia Bulldogs had a solid first year leading the program as the Ducks finished the season with a 10-3 season. Lanning and Oregon capped off the year with a 28-27 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Holiday Bowl.

Reinforcements on the way for Lanning and Oregon

The issue that is facing Oregon right now is not one that is easily combated. Like many other programs across the country, the Ducks are attempting to refill their roster after multiple players transferred out or opted into the 2023 NFL Draft. But there is some help on the way. According to Lanning, a handful of players should enter the program after spring break, including some of their early enrollees from the 2023 recruiting class.

“We’ll see a few more. I don’t have an exact number, but we’ll see a few more guys come back after spring break when the next term starts. It’s probably a new norm in college football; I think it’s probably the norm in college football. There’s gonna continue to be change. And some guys will come, some guys will go. But we’re always gonna do everything we can to enhance our program. You want guys here as fast as you can. That’s not always gonna happen. There’s some guys we’d love that we could have here early. But the more you get here early, it’s like having an additional redshirt year for guys that are brand new.”

Oregon will look to build off of their impressive first season under Lanning and challenge Utah for the Pac-12 title. The Ducks will start on that quest to become Pac-12 champions and possibly earn a spot in the College Football Playoff on Sept 2. Oregon’s season will officially kickoff with a home matchup against in-state foe Portland State.