The Oregon Ducks’ second loss in five games has raised a plethora of questions about the program’s preparation and the job security of members of the coaching staff.
Fans continue to ask for changes specifically within Dan Lanning’s offensive staff. The Ducks coach hinted during his Monday press conference that there would be shifting in how the team operates, but that he would not disclose who or how publicly.
That led to another heated exchange between Lanning and reporters during a follow up that asked if fans deserve transparency.
“No, I don't owe it to anybody to reveal to reveal that and what advantage it tells the other team what to prepare for,” Lanning said. “Do you see it differently?”
“Why would I tell you? Why would I tell you that?”
Lanning went on to provide a 600-plus-word answer on why he holds his cards close to his chest.
If He Owes It to Fans to Be Transparent About Staff Changes:
“You're able to look at the history of a coach. You're able to like based on who the coach is. You're able to look at the history of the coach and say, okay, this is what they've done in the past. This is maybe we're seeing this at a higher clip.”
“We're able to see this at a different level. Again, I think it's more about us offensively having a collaborative effort of us all walking out, having a really good, detailed plan. There haven't been enough details. It's not just one person. It's not just Drew (Mehringer), right?”
“It's not just Koa (Ka’ai). It's not just A’lique (Terry), right? You know, I've done my best to make sure I'm not on social media because I'm sure it's not a lot of positive on there. That's the way it goes, right? Either direction, when it's good or when it's bad.”
“But at least the same coach that I know coached a Joe Moore Award finalist group the last three years, right? So, it's not that all of a sudden this guy can't coach, right? It means we got to coach better. We got to put our guys in really good situations to have success. Drew's a guy that's had a lot of success too. Maybe not as a coordinator, right?”
“But he's had a lot of success and been a big, big piece of our game planning operation here, day in and day out. Does it have to look better? Yes. It's also the group that scored touchdowns the week before against USC and created some of that success.”
“So, acknowledging that. Now, here's what I also acknowledge: you say we played well in Boise State at times and played well in the USC game, right? That's not enough. Portland State doesn't count, right? That's not a high enough clip to say that we're successful.”
“But I also know I'm sure people weren't happy with our performance at Oklahoma State, myself included. That same defense went out and performed at a really high clip, right last week against a good UCLA team that's been rushing the ball better than anybody, and it's the same people doing it. What do we get better at? Some of the details.”
“What do we got to attack on defense? Our first play defense of the game has been really bad in multiple games. Oklahoma State, you don't recognize it, maybe, but Portland State, it was really bad. There was an opportunity for a huge play in that game, and then obviously UCLA, that big play led to a field goal, so we had to get better there.”
“We continue to assess every evaluation that or every piece that shows up on the field and how we can improve it. And that doesn't mean you throw out the baby with the bathwater necessarily in every situation. And solving problems is about what do you have as resources to solve those problems and the ability to do that. And that's my job.”
“I'm gonna work extremely hard to do it. Will we do everything exactly the same? Absolutely not. Do I think there's any merit or value for me sharing transparency to fans on what that looks like? No, because they're not part of the winning process.”
“But they are part of that atmosphere that we have, and I love our fans. I hope they respect that. But I don't want to. On the same note, I don't want to create any advantage for any other team that we have operating, and at the end of the day, I have to answer for wins and losses.”
“If I thought telling the fans would help me win, then I'd tell them. But I don't think it helps me win. Right? It's all about how do we win, and that that's what I'm focused on.”
Changes on the Offensive Staff:
“Everything's being evaluated. I wouldn't reveal anything that we would do different. Doesn't give us any advantage from that standpoint. But there's a lot of pieces. It's really easy to point in one spot. I'd say that. I wear it, right.”
“Our whole staff wears it. Our whole team wears it. Every one of us has opportunities to improve. But yeah, there's going to be some changes. There's going to be some differences in in the way that we operate and what we do, and there already is, and the way we've operated this week. But as far as revealing like how we'll do that, what things will look like, I'm not going to share that with you guys.”
Everything Dan Lanning Said
Lanning also broke down the state of the quarterback competition if Dante Moore isn’t available against the Cornhuskers, defensive lineman Bear Alexander’s dangerous play on UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava and getting tight end Jamari Johnson more targets.
This article will be updated will the full transcript from Lanning’s Monday press conference.
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, reflection on our last game wasn't good enough, right? And a lot of facets and some things we did well, but plenty of things we didn't do right. As you evaluate it, you evaluate everything there, and you say, okay, how can we get better? And that's certainly what we're attacking right now for this week.”
“You know, started off decent this morning, and really going into practice today, where our guys really had the right mindset of how we can improve and what we can do to be better, and we need to be better because we're about to play a really good Nebraska team. You know, obviously, gave Indiana everything that they could handle.”
“They're playing really, really great on defense. Very aggressive. They're a good tackling team. They don't give up long runs. You watch the explosive run cut up, and there's like five plays, right? And I think that that tells you a lot about a team when you're able to watch that and see that show up from them on offense. Their quarterback makes it work.”
“I mean, he does an unbelievable job of creating plays with his feet. They have a great run game. You know, they do a really good job of running hard runs, and then they have play-action shots that come off of that. And they complement that all with special teams.”
“Probably one of the best returners we've seen this year, if not the best returner we've seen this year. So, it's a really talented group that we're going to have to play really well for. I know we'll have a great crowd night game, so that'll be a fun environment for us to be a part of.”
Who’s Starting at Quarterback If Dante Moore Is Out:
“We really got competition in a lot of positions, right? Obviously, quarterback position if Dante's not able to go. Offensive line, there's a lot of competition at that position. There's plenty of positions where there's competition.”
“Really, there's competition every single week because I always say it's, you know, football is like renting a house. It's not owning a house. You have to pay rent every week, and we didn't do well enough in some areas that we have to really do hard evaluations and say, okay, how can we make sure that we're much better?”
Bear Alexander’s Hit on UCLA Quarterback Nico Iamaleava:
“I saw it and I feel horrible for a team. You never want to see a player get injured. I think Bear was trying to take a ball shot. We were pretty aggressive about when the quarterback's running. There's opportunities that the ball's loose. Obviously, it's late, right? And it's not. It's not the way it needs to be done. It wasn't executed the right way. You know, Bear knows that, and I think you know he feels bad about that.”
“It's one of the first things he said to me. He goes, ‘I didn't want to. I wasn't trying to hurt the guy.’ And I don't think that's how he got hurt. I think it was actually on a lower extremity, but yeah, you don't want to see it play out like that. But you want your players to be aggressive and trying to punch the ball out.”
What Film Revealed About Execution vs. Scheme:
“Both, yeah, both. Again, we have to be able to do simple jobs, and there's going to be a lot. There's a lot of plays you pull up, and you're one player away, one technique away. And then again, you got to ask yourself: Are you putting our guys in the best situation to be successful at all times?”
“And that's in every phase, right? Special teams, offense, defense, all of it, and you see all those things revealing themselves a little bit in the game, and some things that maybe we even identified earlier that could come up if you're playing the wrong team or in the wrong look, where you might get away with it in one week, but it's not going to work every single week, and so all those things showed up.”
“There's both that we can get better at and improve at, and certainly working to do that.”
If Bear Alexander is Facing Discipline:
“He's not.”
Trying to Silence Outside Noise When Players Are Worried What Other People Think of Them:
“Yeah, it's hard. I mean, I think it's easier for me as a 40-year-old to ignore the noise. I think that's hard as an 18- to 22-year-old to ignore it, especially when your phone pops off, notification, your name gets mentioned again, and it's something I think that'll be more and more important as we continue to coach here.”
“Like, that's only going to get harder in today's age. So, you educate. You do the best you can, but to acknowledge that doesn't always happen, that's a that's a reality.”
“What I think our players, they've probably learned some hard lessons this year because of that. I can't take everybody's phone when they show up in the building, right? And they can't check out with me.”
“There's a lot of voices that they're going to hear. The question is, what do they do ultimately when they hear that, and how does that affect them? And you know that's our job as much as we can attack that, but ultimately, you have to be mature enough to realize that, again, it doesn't impact the reality of what we have to do and how you have to improve.”
Nebraska’s Pass Rush:
“Yeah, I think one again, very sound, like sound, but a lot of different looks, a lot of different pictures. Very disruptive. They have backers that do a good job in pressures. They have ends that rush extremely hard. There's a lot of different looks that you have to be prepared for.”
“So that's the key. One is how long do we need to protect for what we're trying to put in, right? What are the packages that we want to be able to carry and be able to do effectively, and how can you take advantage of that? On the same note, like we said, a lot of weeks, we have to get you know run game going to help protect some of that as well.”
Disconnect With the Run Game Not Taking Off:
“Yeah, and you go back and watch it. It's usually one guy, right, with one block, one miss. You know, somebody falling on the ground, and those things can't happen. But there was similar runs called really in both games, similar pictures.”
“Even the fumble that we're going for it on fourth down, you got an opportunity for a real positive run. It's blocked up well, but obviously it doesn't matter if you don't have the ball in your hand, right? The fumble that Jordon (Davison) had that's a positive play that's going to potentially be really successful as well.”
“The play before that was successful, so you see glimpses of it. We just got to have some more consistency with it. I think that starts with dumbing down. Okay, what are the things that we want to be able to do and doing really well?”
“There's probably been too much volume for what's actually getting called in the game, so something we've evaluated from that standpoint of can we simplify what we're trying to execute and then what do we do really well.”
“I think there's been some plays that we've ran that haven't been like extreme positives for us, but we kind of come back and look at them again and again, and it's that that's not necessary in those moments.”
“And then there's been some plays that have been outstanding for us in the history of our time here that haven't been, because there's just one guy that's not able to sustain the block that we've been able to do in the past. So, finding what our players can do well and maximizing those strengths.”
Getting Jamari Johnson More Involved:
“I think watch this week, and you can see that. But Jamari’s a guy that needs to be touching the ball, right? We've got some explosive players that need to be able to touch the ball. Dakorien Moore's a guy that needs to be touching the ball. Dierre Hill.”
“I got to name a lot of guys that are guys that need to be touching the ball. When you have three-and-outs, obviously that limits your opportunities. The amount of time on the field when you have turnovers that limits your plays, right?”
“We had a lot less plays on offense than we had on defense because we turned the ball over. I think some of it starts there, but we can certainly find better ways to make sure that we get targets to players.”
What He Was Told From Officials During the Two-Point Conversion:
“Yeah, I was told I was moved to the half-yard line. We'd call to play, obviously, for the half-yard line, and then all of a sudden it got moved back to the one-and-a-half. That's when I went and visited with the official to figure out what was going on.”
“They said that was the proper ruling at the time. Obviously, that wasn't the proper ruling, and you know I got a call from Big Ten, and it's after the fact, so there's not a lot you can do about it. But that's no excuse for what the result of the game was.”
“We can score from the three, like we can, or and from the one and a half, like you can score from the half yard line. But it's disappointing it was wrong. I know they're disappointed they got it wrong. You know, apologies don't really matter in that moment. But that's not the reason we lost the game. I'm not going to use that as an excuse for us. But obviously it was wrong, and they addressed it. And I hope that doesn't happen in games in the future.”
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