What Dan Lanning Said Following Oregon Football's Third Spring Practice
On addition of Noah Whittington via transfer portal:
"Obviously he's a guy that we had a background on with Coach Locklyn coaching him before. A guy we were familiar with, and once he became available, a guy that we thought could help our roster and benefit us."
On addition of Chase Cota via transfer portal:
"I think this place means a little bit to Chase. You can see that. He's intelligent. He has experience, so certainly excited to see what he can do out there."
On expectations of mid-camp additions like Justius Lowe and Jahlil Florence:
"You don't set expectations. You go one day at a time, and today was one day. We still gotta watch the film obviously walking off here. I'm sure it was spinning a little bit for them today as you think it would be first day. I don't want to set it too high or set it too low. They're going to set the level of their expectation by the way they perform and the way they practice day in and day out."
On how team handled first practice in 17 days:
"I thought there was some juice. I thought we could have had another level of juice. I want to see it take it to another level. The intensity is there, the focus is there, but we have to push ourselves in practice to be the best that we want to be, and I think we can take it up a notch. I was hoping for a little bit more."
On JJ Greenfield's return:
"Yeah, he was out there today. He's gone through his own process and been in the area. He's going to school here. He's a guy that wanted an opportunity to come back, and we wanted to give him an opportunity to see what he can do."
Update on condition of Don Johnson Jr.:
"I think right now with Don, it's still very serious. It's still a very serious deal. But things are trending in a way that you're very hopeful. I think thoughts and prayers are continued, and we got to keep hoping for the best."
On replacing A'Lique Terry and Brent Jackson on coaching staff:
A'Lique Terry joined the Minnesota Vikings' staff as an assistant defensive line coach, and Brent Jackson headed to the Indianapolis Colts as a defensive quality control coach.
"We always have a plan for what's next. It's not really a stumble deal. It's next man up. We usually have a good idea where we want to go."
On starting new guys with teaching multiple positions:
"It's a good question. At the end of the day, each guy's a little bit different. How fast do they pick it up? Are they drinking out of the water hose or do they have it figured out? We're gonna give them as much as they can handle. So if he's able to handle multiple positions coming in, then we want to be able to do that."
On where Harrison Taggart and Devon Jackson fit on defense:
"They're working at inside linebacker for us right now. Learning both the Money and the Mack. When we talk about position versatility, it's not going to be stuck on one or the other. It's the ability to kind of do both."
On how perception of Bo Nix has changed from planning against him to coaching him hands-on:
"Bo's really what I thought he was. He's an extreme competitor, super smart, he works really hard at it, and I think he's really intentional. I think he would tell you he has a lot of things he can get better at, and I certainly agree. There's a lot of things that he can improve on, but he's attacking those every day. I'm pleased to see that."
On what he wants to see from quarterbacks this week and going forward:
"Certainly one positive today is the offense had some explosive plays out there, which was exciting. On the same note, we also had some turnovers that I don't want to see. I thought we could have been a little bit better in our two-minute scenario there at the end of practice with our offense and the operation there. Good job on the explosive plays, but we want to take care of the ball going forward."
On steps he's looking to see from the young cornerbacks:
"We want to throw them in there early. Let them get some experience and see how they take. I'm not a big believer in having guys learn and watch from the sideline. You want to be able to get mental reps when you can, but you can do that by getting reps. We're gonna throw those guys out on the field, coach them as we go, and if there's things we can improve on, that's what we want to focus on."
On how bringing Christian Gonzalez into cornerback room helps:
"Having Christian here... obviously, coaches' familiarity with Christian was certainly a benefit as well. I think it shows up on the field, his experience he's used. But there's a lot of things he's still learning. This is a different system for him. Certainly a different process for him and some stuff that he can improve, but having Christian here is certainly good for our program."
On the first thing he'll look for on film:
"I'm always checking for efficiency. I always just want to see how can we be better and more efficient in practice, talking about our players and our coaches. And then effort. You can draw up a lot of things on the board, a lot of X's and O's, and the reality is none of that matters if you're not playing hard. We want to make sure our guys are playing fast and playing hard. "
On if anyone has caught his eye in terms of efficiency and effort:
"I don't think so. Not yet. We've had two practices without pads and one padded practice so far. I think it's really too early to certainly crown anybody, and every one of our guys and coaches still have a lot of improvement."
On if culture needed to be re-established after the break/how he is maximizing his time in terms of install:
"Just as much time as we can be around our players as possible. I think we try to take an invested interest in our guys, and our guys are doing a great job. That's a two-way street. They have to be interested in being in, and we have to be interested in having them involved, and they've done a great job with that."
On how he feels Tosh Lupoi has evolved as a coach after NFL experience:
"Ultimately, you look at the guys that he's coached in the NFL, and the success that those guys individually have had, his defensive lines have been really good wherever he's been. But I love the fact that Tosh has been exposed to a lot of different systems and been able to carry some of those best things to our place here. We're going to integrate... we're going to do a lot of what we do and what I'm familiar with and what Tosh is familiar with, but at the same time, taking what he's learned in those last few stops in the NFL is super beneficial to our players."
On his impact on simulated pressure defense in college football:
"I'm a big believer in it. I think it makes you certainly successful, the simulated pressure piece. But if it's all you do, there's a way to attack it just like anything on defense. So we have to be multiple. That exposure for us is good. It won't be the only thing that we do. He (Tosh) is familiar with it. He did some of that before in the places that he's been, so it's not completely new to him. But it's something we will definitely carry."
On how often two-minute drills will be used in practice:
"We're gonna try to create situations in practice a lot. Today was two-minute. It's something we can coach off of. We had a lot of third-and-long emphasis today in practice, but we're gonna try to create situations because we want to model the game as much as possible within practice and then coach those situations on film."
On emphasis on special teams:
"We're doing special teams every day. It's the first thing we do from flex. The very first thing we do from flex period is going to special teams, and that's part of the emphasis there for us. I think the place that we're different is how we do special teams. We break it down into more of an individual mode in a lot of our drill work. We're still getting several special teams periods within practice as well beyond that period."
On use of stumble bum drill:
"It's a huge piece of the equation for us. We did that day one. We've done that. That's a piece of something we've carried, but that's not the only thing. If we go out there and do stumble bum all practice, we're gonna have a lot of other things we got to work on."
On installing special teams with Joe Lorig:
"Joe has a great understanding of exactly what I want from a special teams standpoint. At the end of the day, we want to own the ball. We want to make sure we have no penalties and put ourselves in the best position to score. We're going to create explosive plays on special teams. We're going to try to be dynamic on special teams. There's a lot of different techniques we'll coach within each phase of that. The key is you put an emphasis on it. You're not gonna be successful on it if you don't spend time on it."
On what he hopes to see from players at Pro Day on Friday:
"I'm just proud that they're coming here to represent Oregon. I'm excited that the teams that are coming here to see players that played at the University of Oregon. Obviously this is a place where you can do it all, and the Pro Day is going to be a great culmination for that opportunity for these guys that came and played here."
On if JJ Greenfield is on scholarship:
"No, he is not."
On if Eugene has felt more like a home and what he likes so far:
"I love being outside right now. I love the environment. The culture that we have and the alignment from top to bottom is obviously really special to me. I think that's something that's unique here. We have a true vision. I enjoy looking over and seeing our athletic director at practice, seeing people that care about the program at practice. That certainly matters to me. And our players, I think we have an opportunity to coach some of the best of the best and attract some of the best of the best here at our program. I think you see that with the way we operate but certainly a lot of room for improvement. First day of school yesterday for my young guys, so that was fun for them. They're loving Eugene. My wife's loving Eugene. So this has been a real blessing for us."
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