Dan Lanning to former Oregon players: "I am a servant to you."

Dan Lanning didn’t wait long during his introductory press conference Monday to address the elephant in the room.

On Sunday, Oregon’s fan base and former players found themselves in a turf war of sorts after it was revealed that 14 notable former Ducks penned a letter to athletic director Rob Mullens early last week expressing concern that the university was “losing (its) identity.”

Joey Harrington, Justin Herbert, Marcus Mariota, and 11 other former Duck greats sent the letter to Mullens. What ensued Sunday evening after the letter become public can only be described as a chaotic, unprecedented situation.

Harrington, George Wrighster, and Akili Smith — all of whom signed the letter — took part in a Twitter Spaces conversation Sunday evening in order to explain the purpose of the letter and why exactly it was sent to Mullens in the first place. The attempt to explain the situation in a public, interactive forum with more than 2,000 Twitter users listening and occasionally commenting did not exactly defuse the situation.

But Lanning did defuse it Monday. Less than a minute into his press conference, only after he had thanked Mullens, UO president Michael Schill, the university Board of Trustees, Phil and Penny Knight, and the town of Eugene, Lanning made an effort to bridge the gap between Oregon’s past and present.

“To our former players: I am a servant to you,” Lanning said. “Whether I have coached you or not, we want you to know this is a program you can be proud of, and part of. This is a place that your involvement is very important to us.

“We want you back. One thing: even when you leave home, this place should always feel like home to you.”

Fixing a mess he had no part in creating wasn’t necessarily something Lanning needed to do. Cohesion between the university and its former players is, theoretically, pretty far down the to-do list as he settles into the job.

But with one brief statement, Lanning snuffed out a situation that could have been a long-term issue if it wasn’t properly dealt with.

Mullens met with reporters after Lanning’s press conference and said that Harrington did indeed send the letter to him early last week, long before Oregon had zeroed in on Lanning or any other potential candidates.

“I did talk to (Harrington) last week,” Mullens said. “He sent me that letter and shared his passion with me. I talked with some others as well. I think everybody wants the same thing, right? They want Oregon football to be successful.

“They’re very proud of what they’ve committed to this program, the success that we’ve had. We all share that same goal.”

Mullens said he has had conversations with a handful of those 14 players since the hiring of Lanning was announced.

“Everyone seemed really pleased,” Mullens said. “I’ve talked to current players, players’ parents, former players in different capacities. Everyone is thrilled about what Dan brings to the leadership of Oregon football.”