Dan Lanning shares message behind ‘good to great’ motto

Dan Lanning had a highly successful first season as a head coach at Oregon. However, heading into his second year, he already feels as though it’s time for them to go from good to great.

Lanning spoke about that message to the Ducks while speaking at the program’s media day on Monday. He said they’ve taken a handful of messages to heart in order to best motivate his team for the upcoming year.

“There’s a ton of them but, really, we just start within the book. ’20 Mile March’ is a great example of having a consistent approach,” said Lanning. “Be the hedgehog, know what your strength is. Not everybody is going to have strengths in every field. But what is yours and how are you going to utilize it?”

“I’ve been around a lot of teams. I’ve seen a lot of teams take that same approach and take that same march. We want to use those examples but our focus is us. How can we accomplish that?,” Lanning pondered.

Even so, Lanning knows those words will only take Oregon so far. In order to grow and reach the peak that they want to, he understands that they’ll have to break the mold, including with how they prepare their players for the season.

“Ultimately, words are just that. It’s not really about words. It’s about action. But this isn’t a cookie-cutter deal. It doesn’t work,” said Lanning. “There’s 131 different teams in college football, in FBS football. We’re not looking for the cookie-cutter example. If you’re rolling out the exact same material every single year for your players? It can become mundane and you’re probably not attacking your strengths or your weaknesses.”

Oregon is already off to a very strong start under Lanning by going 10-3 in 2022. They posted a Top-10 offense and were right there in the national conversation after winning eight straight before losing two of their final three to close the regular seasons.

Now, in 2023, Lanning wants to see growth from Oregon. If he does, the Ducks could step into the spotlight as yet another potential contender out of the Pac-12.

“Ultimately, we felt like it’s time for us to take that step,” Lanning stated.

Lanning releases first public comments on contract extension

Dan Lanning is now earning the big bucks as Oregon‘s head football coach after earning a contract extension that was announced on Thursday. The university’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve the extension.

After Oregon paid him $4.6 million during his first season as headman, his new deal will reportedly increase by over 60 percent in 2024. The deal keeps him in Eugene through the 2028-29 season.

Lanning has since made his first comments on Thursday after the signing, which is 100 percent guaranteed.

“In coaching, you dream to be at a place where you can both raise your family and win at a high level,” said Lanning, via Oregon Athletics. “Oregon has more than exceeded those expectations for my wife, Sauphia, and our three boys. This will ensure our boys can all graduate from the same school as we continue to grow roots in the community.

“I am thrilled to be a part of a program that has a shared vision for how to stay on the cutting edge and achieve great success moving forward, and I am grateful to Phil and Penny Knight, Rob Mullens and President Scholz for their faith and unwavering support of our program. Our relentless pursuit of excellence for the Oregon football program will continue to include an innovative and aggressive approach to student-athlete support, world-class facilities, and all program dynamics as we push forward, and I look forward to all of the great days on the horizon for our student-athletes and Duck fans.”