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Dan Lanning opens up on Oregon’s development ahead of first Big Ten season
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Dan Lanning believes the competitive depth Oregon has cultivated since he took over the program is one of the biggest changes in the Ducks’ football program since his arrival 3 years ago. Particularly on the defensive side of the football, the Ducks have sky-high potential. Potential enough to even challenge for a Big Ten title right away.
“Everybody is trying to win,” said defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, a Michigan State transfer. “Everyone has a winning mindset.”
Oregon was picked to finish second in the conference’s de facto preseason poll last week. The Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes were the only 2 schools to receive first-place votes. They’re also the 2 overwhelming favorites to win the Big Ten at ESPN Bet, with Ohio State priced +150 to win the league, Oregon at +225 and the next closest at +500. That duo has 2 of the 3 shortest odds at ESPN Bet to win the national championship (Oregon is +800) and they’re viewed as virtual locks to make the College Football Playoff (Ohio State -650, Oregon -300; implied probability of 87% and 75%, respectively).
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The collective talent between Oregon and Ohio State compared to the rest of the Big Ten is striking. Lanning is 1 of only 2 coaches in the country who has landed a top-10 high school class and a top-10 transfer class in each of the last 2 cycles. (Mario Cristobal is the other.)
The Ducks’ 2024 class hit heavy on the line of scrimmage. The top 2 high school prospects play along the defensive line. Harmon and Houston transfer Jamaree Caldwell were 2 key transfer additions to fortify the interior of the defensive front.
“Anytime you start looking at snaps, guys on your defensive line, you don’t want them playing 75 snaps a game. You want to be able to spread the wealth, and when you do that, you get guys’ best performance,” Lanning said this week. “So having more guys that can play on the front, I think that’s really important for us. So when they are on the field, they can play at a really high level. That’s one thing that we’ve definitely focused on.”
In so many ways, how the Ducks fare at the point of attack will determine their ceiling in Year 1 in the Big Ten. That group will have an intriguing mix of old and new. Jordan Burch, Caldwell, and Harmon are seasoned vets who can all fill high-level roles. A’Mauri Washington is a redshirt freshman who was expected to challenge for a starting spot before Harmon’s arrival. Matayo Uiagalelei and Blake Purchase, both sophomores, will be leaned on at edge. Teitum Tuioti and Emar’rion Winston are 2 more sophomores who will have roles as outside linebackers. Oregon also has those 2 freshmen — outside ‘backer Elijah Rushing, lineman Aydin Breland — who might factor into the rotation.
“Ultimately, we always say if you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Lanning said. “Defensively especially, you want to have a lot of guys that can play winning football. If it’s above the line or it’s below the line, if you can play winning football, we want you involved.”
Linebacker Jeffrey Bassa said the coaching staff specifically challenged the defensive line this offseason. Brandon Dorlus, Casey Rogers, Popo Aumavae, and Taki Taimani all departed the program. Dorlus and Aumavae combined to appear in 108 games for Oregon during their careers. Rogers and Taimani were older portal adds in 2022 who played in a combined 52 games along the line for the Ducks.
The offseason represented a changing of the guard, so to speak. Dorlus in particular was a stalwart in the Duck defense. Burch has had to step up in his absence.
And this season will show the fruits of Lanning’s labor on the recruiting trail. Through his first 3 classes, Lanning has signed 20 high school prospects to fill play on or around the defensive line. It has been a specific emphasis in the last 2 classes — overhauling the size and shape of the front.
In Lanning’s first game in charge, the Ducks were run off the field by a more polished but far more physical Georgia team. The Oregon team Lanning inherited gave up 4 yards per run in 2021 and it allowed 5.3 to Georgia on Sept. 3, 2022.
The Ducks would give up 4.2 yards a carry over the course of the 2022 season, including 5.2 in a 3-point loss to Washington and 6.2 in a 4-point loss to Oregon State — both in November, eliminating whatever hopes that team had of making the College Football Playoff.
Oregon gave up just 3.6 yards a carry last season, a steep improvement. But Washington ran for 256 yards and 3 scores at 4.3 a carry in its 2 games against the Ducks last year. Both games ended in 3-point Washington wins, with the latter result once again eliminating the Ducks from CFP contention. Oregon produced 34 sacks in 14 games, but it only got to Michael Penix Jr. 3 times in 2 meetings.
Yes, better play in the secondary will serve Oregon well in 2024, but being more unyielding on the line of scrimmage is where Lanning’s focus has clearly been.
“I think just the depth of our team is a lot different now than when we first got here, and that’s always going to happen with transition. I think our player development staff, our recruiting staff, our evaluation, and our coaches have all done a really good job of figuring out ways to create competition,” Lanning said. “We have a lot more competition on this team. We’re bigger on both sides of the ball. I think that matters.
“Our guys have done a great job in the weight room with Coach Love and his staff of getting stronger and putting themselves in position and then, more than any of all, understanding the expectations we have for them in our program. What does the practice look like? What’s the physicality look like?”
Oregon’s third-year coach said “the opportunity” is what excites him about the 2024 team. With an expanded Playoff, a new conference to attack, and a chance to avenge some bitter Washington losses, Oregon has plenty on its plate approaching this upcoming season.
Said Lanning: “These guys have worked really hard this offseason, and we’re all anxious to step on the field for a Saturday, but I know our guys don’t take for granted the work that that requires.”
Bassa credited defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi as a source of confidence within the unit they will be able to match physicality in the Big Ten. A former national champion at Alabama, Lupoi has been around NFL-sized defensive fronts and coaches at the top of the sport. Harmon credited the knowledge of Lanning and Lupoi with bringing him to Eugene.
“I feel like you really don’t have at any university, three coaches that have something to do with the defensive line in their past,” he said. “You don’t get too many of those around too many universities. And if you got three coaches, your head coach, your DC, and your position coach all putting their hands on you, you don’t get that anywhere.”
The big question now is how will everything fit together.
“I don’t know that even with that group we had there Georgia if I knew that that was going to be that group. They had to go out and perform,” he said. “So there’s high expectations of how we want to play defense here. There’s no doubt about that. On the same note, we have to go do it.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.