Dan Lanning shares emotional eulogy about late Khyree Jackson during Oregon vigil

Dan Lanning opened up on what Khyree Jackson meant to him and the Oregon Ducks following the player’s passing.

The Minnesota Vikings rookie was killed in a car crash earlier this month but the outpouring of love from former teammates and coaches came in bunches. Oregon held a public vigil to honor his memory Wednesday night.

You can see Lanning’s remarks about Jackson below.

Dan Lanning’s remarks at vigil for Khyree Jackson pic.twitter.com/8avOB7bzgY

— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) July 11, 2024

The people that make your job so special are people you get to work with and Khyree was one of those people that I enjoyed every single day getting to go to work and seeing that big smile,” Lanning said in part. “You’d have a hard time finding a picture floating around that has Khyree in it and it doesn’t have a big smile on it and that’s something I’ve always remembered for Khyree.”

Khyree Jackson honored by Dan Lanning at vigil

Lanning also mentioned Jackson in the context of being grateful for God aligning him and the program with Jackson.

“I’m also grateful for God aligning people that are on two different sides in the United States,” Lanning said. “You talk about connection and our program, you know, tonight is generally a night we do a program in our with our players called ‘Get Real,’ and we spend all of our time talking about things outside of football.

“Things that means so much to each and every one of us: family, faith, struggles. But I keep coming back to the fact that how did we get aligned with a young man like Khyree and I’m really grateful for God letting those stars align and me having the opportunity to coach a guy like Khyree. And spend time with a guy like Khyree. Same for our players and know how grateful they are that they got to share a locker room with him.”

Jackson was recently drafted by the Vikings with the No. 108 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft after spending one season with the Ducks. He previously played two seasons under Nick Saban at Alabama.

He suited up in 12 games this past season for Dan Lanning and the Ducks before opting out of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Tallying 34 tackles (25 solo), he also compiled 5.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, seven passes defended and 2.0 sacks.

His interception total not only led the Ducks’ defense but ranked fourth in the Pac-12. For his efforts, Jackson earned First-Team All-Pac-12 honors in his lone season in Eugene before heading to the NFL Draft.