A year removed from winning the Big Ten and going to the College Football Playoff, there are expectations that the Oregon Ducks will build on that success. To do that, head coach Dan Lanning knows he needs to lean on new players to the Oregon program. Over the years, Lanning has proven that he’s confident […]
A year removed from winning the Big Ten and going to the College Football Playoff, there are expectations that the Oregon Ducks will build on that success. To do that, head coach Dan Lanning knows he needs to lean on new players to the Oregon program.
Over the years, Lanning has proven that he’s confident bringing in new players to the program. To do that, though, you need to quickly figure out how to build confidence in those players.
“That’s what we have to figure out,” Dan Lanning said. “But you look at competitive sports, you look at guys that have a lot of success, and a lot of it comes on with competition anxiety, right? And then lack of confidence, that’s where people fail. So, our goal within fall camp is, how can we create the same anxiety you have on game day? How can we make practice look as much as possible like a game, and how can we build confidence in what guys do well?”
Oregon put together an impressive transfer class. The Ducks had the fourth-ranked transfer class in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. That includes 11 incoming players, including seven from Power Four schools. Transfer running back Makhi Hughes from Tulane looks to be key to the offense, in particular.
In the 2025 high school recruiting cycle, Oregon had the fourth-ranked class overall. That includes 18 commitments to the school. Different expectations are going to be set for the incoming freshmen than for transfers, but it makes for 29 new Ducks that Lanning and the staff need to get ready in Fall Camp.
“That’s part of our job as coaches. It’s about having belief in players that the next play is the most important play. And our guys when they get their fuel from internally, intrinsically, rather than externally,” Lanning said. “I think that’s when they perform their best. So that’s really the goal this fall.”
Dan Lanning reveals how Oregon can top a Big Ten Championship in first year
Going unbeaten in the regular season last year and winning the Big Ten was great. It’s not Oregon’s ultimate goal, though, and now Dan Lanning is looking at how they can top it.
“I get asked that question every year and for me it’s always the same. What’s the best version of us? If we’re playing our best version of football… if we’re being the best we can possibly be then that’s something I’m excited about. The results kind of take care of themselves. What’s our goal? I mean we have high standards. We came [to the Big Ten] to win championships,” Lanning said.
“Obviously we got an opportunity to taste that last year with the Big Ten Championship, but we want to win them all. Not just some of them. But, that’s also not football. That’s not very common because it’s hard to do. So, biggest goal is to be uncommon. That’s doing things other people can’t do and figuring out what we need to do to get there.”
Oregon still has a couple of weeks to get ready for the season. The Ducks open at home with a tough Montana State team out of the FCS on August 30th.
Category: General Sports
