Coach Dan Lanning ready to kick off his third season with Oregon Ducks football
Oregon made a splash at Big Ten media days last week when it brought a giant, inflatable Duck to plop in the White River in downtown Indianapolis.
The stunt got so much attention, Ducks coach Dan Lanning suggested last Thursday the prop might travel with the team for road trips this fall.
“Probably wishful thinking,” Lanning recanted with a smile on Monday during the team's media day inside Autzen Stadium. “It’s not going to fit on the plane. I don’t know how you’d blow that thing up.”
Lanning and the Ducks have more immediate issues, anyway.
The first practice of fall camp is Wednesday afternoon for Oregon, which will begin the 2024 season on Aug. 31 with a nonconference game against Idaho at Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks, who went 12-2 last fall with a win in the Fiesta Bowl, will go into their first season in the Big Ten predicted to finish second to Ohio State in the 18-team conference.
“These guys have worked really hard this offseason and we’re all anxious to step on the field for a Saturday,” Lanning said. “But I know our guys don’t take for granted the work that that requires. The most valuable thing we have is time. So how efficient we are with our time as we approach game one, with the growth that we can make from where we were last season … I think is really exciting to see how that comes together.”
Lanning enters his third season at Oregon with a roster that includes just 10 players who were on the team during his first season.
That turnover, and the subsequent rebuild, is just one part of Lanning’s plan to make the Ducks a team that is deep and physical — two necessary components of surviving the rigors of the Big Ten.
“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,” Lanning said. “We have a lot more competition on this team, and we’re bigger on both sides of the ball.”
Lanning said Daylen Austin ‘deserves’ chance to play
Redshirt freshman cornerback Daylen Austin remains on the team and will get a chance to play this fall as he awaits trial for his alleged role in a fatal hit-and-run in April.
Austin, 19, is charged with Failure to Perform Duties of Driver — a Class B felony — and has a jury trial scheduled for February.
Until the conclusion of that trial, Austin remains an active member of the football program.
“I think you learn from every situation,” Lanning said. “I’m excited to see what he’s able to do this season. But certainly, he deserves that opportunity, instead of having that yanked away until we all know how that’ll play out.”
Oregon healthy heading into camp
Several players that were limited or out during spring practices in April are cleared for full participation as fall camp begins, Lanning said.
Among them are running back Noah Whittington and offensive lineman Dave Iuli.
Whittington tore his ACL against Colorado in the fourth game of 2023 and had reconstructive knee surgery. Iuli, who at the very least is expected to be a top reserve on the offensive line, had foot surgery in the spring.
One player still not cleared is cornerback Jahlil Florence, a nine-game starter in 2023 who hasn’t played since injuring his right knee against Arizona State in November.
Ducks will honor former teammate this season
Khyree Jackson will not be forgotten by his former teammates.
Jackson, who was an NFL rookie with the Minnesota Vikings, was one of three people killed in a three-car accident on July 6 in Maryland.
Lanning said Monday that players will wear a sticker on their helmet this season to memorialize Jackson.
“I think our players are resilient and they know if Khyree were here right now what he would want from them is their best —their best effort, their best work and to not slow down and be distracted,” Lanning said. “We’ll always have a way that we can remember him but on the same note, he would expect their best performance and he would expect them to come to work every single day so that’s what we’ll try to do for him.”
Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning talks depth, Khyree and Daylen Austin
