Notable quotes from Dan Lanning after Ducks’ sixth spring practice
After a busy weekend that saw numerous recruits and a whole lot of coaches in town to watch the Oregon Ducks practice and take part in the coaches’ clinic, there was a relative return to normalcy on Tuesday morning at the sixth practice of spring for the Ducks.
The Ducks got after it, though there were a few people notably missing from the roster, including a trio of new scholarship players.
After practice, we got a chance to speak with Lanning about how the team is progressing, and how the busy weekend went for him and the staff. Here are some of the most notable quotes from that interview.
Opening Statement
Lanning: “Good practice today, good physicality. I thought there was some good competition. You know, Marcus Harper said it at the very end of practice, like we got to start a little bit faster at practice so we finish with great competition. We got to start that way. It’s a low red day, we’re playing close to the endzone, got even some goal line there at the end. Was good to see some guys compete. Gotta keep building off of it.”
Steven Jones Experience
Question: With so much change on the offensive line, how valuable is it to have a veteran guy like Steven Jones still there?
Lanning: “Really hard to replace experience. And the one thing that Steven has is experience. He’s been a guy who’s played, but obviously didn’t have as much last year. But when you talk about a guy that’s played a lot of snaps and seen it, been around, he’s an old bull. You like having an old bull like Steven on our team.”
Coaches Clinic
Question: How did the coaches clinic go over the weekend?
Lanning: “I think it’s a great success. And so it’s a lot of fun for us. I think everybody thinks that these coaches come in, and they’re learning a ton from us, we learn just as much as these coaches that come in. And we had an elite group. I think it’s always fun to have some of our legends involved. Some guys that we’ve coached here for a really long time, be able to come and be around our team and around our coaches. They understand what it means to be a Duck.”
Player Consistency
Question: Do you feel like you’ve seen the consistency you’ve been looking for over the last few practices?
Lanning: “It’s starting to really show itself, especially when the pads are on. There’s a big difference between two hand touch and thud mode or tackle mode. So I think we’re definitely starting to see who can go out there and play ball and who can compete. Slowing down some of the thinking processes and letting guys play.”
Steve Stephen’s Experience
Question: With so many new guys in the DB room, how have you seen a veteran like Steve Stephens step up?
Lanning: “Probably the biggest piece is just communication and understanding, like what we’re trying to achieve. As a young player, it’s really hard sometimes to come in and understand the rules and the adjustments, so Steve’s able to really be a coach kind of there in the classroom and on the field and walkthroughs and those periods.”
Offensive Creation
Question: What’s it been like to watch Will Stein and some of the other coaches like Junior Adams creating this new offense from different philosophies?
Lanning: “I think there’s a lot of carryover with what we’ve done before. The key for us now is okay, let’s challenge ourselves to be different and use our personnel in the best way. So what we had last year, what’s different? How can we utilize our personnel in the best way for us to be successful? No offense or defense should ever look exactly the same when your personnel changes.”
Bucky Irving
Question: How can Bucky Irving continue to improve?
Lanning: “Don’t get comfortable, right? What made him good is how he fought every single day to get carries, how he fought every single day to make this team better, and he’s got to continue to do that same thing. I see that from him. He ran the ball really hard today and had some really solid runs.”
Troy Franklin improvement
Question: What about for Troy Franklin?
Lanning: “Operate within the framework of the offense. At times, that’s going to lend itself where you get opportunities to make sure you’re able to get on the ball and there’s gonna be times where he’s probably going to be doubled. We’re gonna take the ball somewhere else. But understanding what he does and then we have to do a good job as coaches moving him around and creating advantageous matchups.”
Linebacker Depth
Question: What have you seen from the linebacker group so far this spring?
Lanning: “I think we got a really strong group and it’s really comparable from top all the way to bottom. There isn’t really a bottom group. There’s really level play where I think there’s a lot of guys that can play at that position.”
Backup QBs
Question: How have Ty Thompson and Austin Novosad continued their development this spring?
Lanning: “I think each one of them has gotten better each day. I think we had some drill work it was a little different today that applied a little bit more pressure to them. We tried to script some scrambles where those guys have to operate in scramble mode. We put offense and defensive line in front of them and seven on seven so there was actual pass rush in seven on seven where a lot of people do that in the air. So creating that pressure, having to play quarterback in a drill where most people are able to throw on time and it’s like routes on air. But both those guys come in and attack it every day. You know, another year of experience, I think, is really beneficial to them. And then Austin’s had big strides from day one to where we’re at now.”
Spring Game Opponent
Question: There has been some chatter about SEC teams wanting to play their spring game against FCS or Group of 5 teams. What are your thoughts on that?
Lanning: “I’m not opposed to it. I think why people probably say that is right now in college football more than ever rosters are really depleted in the spring. People don’t have enough bodies to actually get through practice and make themselves better. Obviously, there are injury concerns. Last year, I would have been all for that because we didn’t have as many as many bodies. Now we got a lot of guys that need to work. And personally, I want to get the work of our guys in the spring. But if we had a depleted roster, I’d probably be in favor of doing that. Our numbers are a lot closer this year to where we’re able to go out and play.”
Daymon David
Question: Daymon David has been absent for a few weeks, what is his status?
Lanning: “He got dinged up, and we’re just being conscientious and cautious with him this offseason.”
Traeshon Holden
Question: What does Traeshon Holden bring to the table for you?
Lanning: “Obviously has some experience. He’s a big body that gives a bigger catch radius. We want to see him as he continues to learn and process what we’re trying to do on offense. I think that that’ll accelerate and we’ll see his play go up another level. But he’s had some big body catches inside where he’s able to get a little bit bigger in the paint than some other guys.”
