RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Head coaches of major college football programs are rarely happy. There is always something to improve on, and Oregon's Dan Lanning is also this way. But after the team's first scrimmage of the fall camp preceding the 2026 season, Lanning sounded like a confident coach who knows that while there is still work to be done, he has a special group on his hands capable of doing some pretty special things this year.
Lanning touched on a variety of topics following this latest scrimmage, such as staying healthy, making sure those special teams are indeed special and the progress of some of those young freshmen who could play an important role right away for the Ducks .
The season is just three Saturdays away with Boise State kicking off this year's schedule. But Oregon isn't preparing for the Broncos just yet. Right now, it's just getting themselves ready for the season, locking down some details and getting ready for a grueling season that awaits the Ducks.
Here is everything Lanning had to say to the media after Oregon's scrimmage that was closed off to the press and public alike.
Opening Statement
Dan Lanning: All right. Overall, good scrimmage. The thing you're always hoping for as a coach in this moment is you want to test physicality, the ability to tackle and break tackles, but you also want to walk away healthy. We were able to do that today. Some overall really good reps from both sides of the ball got to do a better job when it comes to ball security at times. Got to clean up some special teams play to make sure we're able to get the kicks that we need to be able to get. But overall, that's a solid performance. Got to go back and evaluate the film. I told our players there are really two things we're looking for when we grade a scrimmage. Are you accountable and are you capable? Right? Do you do your job when you're asked to do your job, and are you capable of doing the job we ask you to do? If you're not, then you're going to get limited reps. If you do, then you'll continue to grow on this team. So those are the things we're going to evaluate as we watch the film.
365 days since
Question: You said on media day that you asked your players to look at 365 days ago and where they were and where they've grown. Curious for this team. 365 days ago, that scrimmage. Where has this team grown since then?
DL: I mean, this morning we're watching clips of Noel Winnington and Bryce Betcher making plays in the scrimmage. Can you see making plays in this exact same scrimmage, and obviously those guys now are making plays right in the NFL. So there's some guys that weren't making plays last year that were making plays in the scrimmage this year. There's some guys that have made some really big strides, but again, we'll evaluate the film and see what it looks like. Overall, was pleased with the energy throughout practice, but the film is going to be something we assess really hard.
Overall feelings
Q: I know you have to watch the film, but as far as your feelings coming out of a first scrimmage, can you compare it like good, bad, and different to other first scrimmages? And then also the ball security. How much of that also was the defense making a good play and forcing turnovers versus guys just being sloppy?
DL: There's always a combination of both. You know, tip balls that we have to be aggressive with. When we had a tip ball interception day, Peyton Woodard had one. We had balls on the ground where it's not. It wasn't necessarily controlled by defense as much as it's controlled by offense and the way they protect the ball. But yeah, there are moments where we're attacking it really well. I think this is the best fall camp we've had as a defense, as far as attacking the ball, which is good. Our offense needs to see that. As far as the feeling from this scrimmage to other comparison scrimmages, I don't have a widely different feeling from others. You know, I'm always a pessimistic guy whenever it comes to how what the performance looked like because I want us to be the best version of us, and we're not we're not the best version of us yet, but we're making strides.
Bleu's progress
Q: We got a chance to talk to Bleu yesterday and learn a little bit about his journey from Morgan State to here. And I'm just curious, you what he's done this fall to carve out a spot in that linebacker run?
DL: Yeah, just work, just work every day. Come in here and take a step forward and get a little bit better and a little bit more. You know, early on we do a lot on that second ball, so you got to learn a lot. He's been a guy that's put in the time to learn a lot, and there's still a lot of room for improvement. But he's proven he can be a guy that can help us.
A player-led group
Q: You've talked a lot about how this is very much a player-led team, one of the most player-led that you've had in your time here. Curious, what characteristics of leadership you've seen from the players, especially in a scrimmage as you have?
DL: We finish off with some conditioning, and normally the conditioning speaks for itself. Like it happens in practice, but a lot of times on Saturdays we'll add some additional conditioning because guys have a recovery day tomorrow. At the end, the guys are asking for more, right? I think that's a great example of guys saying, "Man, we just went through an entire scrimmage. My body's telling me no, right? But my, you know, my mind is telling me yay, right? You know the song, right? That's what these guys are doing. They're pushing for more, right? It's the other way around, obviously in the song, but you get the idea.
Schemes and more schemes
Q: Coach Hampton said that early in spring or in fall practice, you guys throw a ton of scheme at these players to kind of see what sticks, and the...
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