Oregon Football Coach Dan Lanning Reacts To Team ‘DNA’

Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning says, “Just because spring ball ends doesn’t mean we don’t continue to improve.”

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning greets quarterback Dillon Gabriel during practice with the Oregon / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

With the Oregon football spring game in the rear-view mirror, the challenge for Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff is to continue the growth exhibited by players throughout spring ball. 

How can Lanning keep the 2024 team chemistry alive and building?

“I think the DNA traits for us aren’t going to change,” said coach Lanning.  “It still has to be about connection, growth, toughness and sacrifice. Every team is unique, every team is different but it’s about growing up together. I think our team grew up a ton coming into spring. We had a talented team, but we had to become a team. I think I saw a lot of that throughout this spring.”

Duck fans can expect to see some team BBQs this summer and pool parties to continue to build the relationships off the field.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning greets quarterback Dillon Gabriel during practice with the Oregon / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

Further to that point, the process of bringing players together is an ongoing process. Coach Lanning was asked about the focus of team leaders and the areas they should concentrate on prior to fall camp. His response was very succinct, he said “Getting better. I’m just excited to see these guys continue to work. Just because spring ball ends doesn’t mean we don’t continue to improve.”

Certainly, the players are not the only ones who need to continue to build for now and in the future. The end of spring training means the coaches can now get out on the road and resume their recruiting activities.

“We always recruit,” said Lanning.  It doesn’t ever feel like we’re not recruiting. We are going to get some opportunities for our coaches to go on the road and see some people in person, get to be around guys that we want to target, and find some guys that we probably don’t know about. You’re always looking for ways to improve your roster and that’s what we’ll be able to do the next couple of weeks.”

Lastly, coach Lanning emphasized the importance of forgetting what happened last year and focusing on the year ahead. 

“(This) is a new team,” Lanning said. “Really, anything that happened with last year has nothing to do with the next year. Other than the continuity of the coaching staff, what we’re continuing to build, some players getting older. But you want to see growth, you want to see them keep developing, keep getting better, playing with tenacity, raising their own standard of play. You know, what winning football is to them, I think we have a group that’ll embrace that.”

The Ducks are an early favorite to compete for the Big Ten Conference championship game and earn a place in the College Football Playoff. While that road is never easy, the chemistry this team is building can help carry them a long way towards those goals.