Oregon made itself hard to miss during its Big Ten Media Days debut. Coach Dan Lanning’s arrival was heralded by a giant, apparently inflatable, Oregon Duck floating in Indianapolis’ White River within walking distance of Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Duck loomed over the horizon, out of sight but well in mind, as various coaches shuffled to and from the podium. Ask Lanning, and that may not be the last we see of Oregon’s own personal nylon Kaiju.
“I’m hoping we get to travel that Duck to all of our away games this year.” Lanning said.
For Lanning, the Duck was the introductory paragraph in a thesis that he hammered home when his turn at Big Ten Media Days finally came Thursday morning. In his own words:
“We’re mighty different in a lot of ways.”
So maybe, in Lanning’s eyes, the question isn’t how Oregon will adjust to its new conference digs; it’s more about how the Big Ten will adjust to Oregon. Lanning spent some time touching on the team’s flashy uniforms, which is one of the many benefits it enjoys from its close ties to alum and co-founder of Nike Phil Knight.
He outlined how the Ducks marched through the normal slate of conditioning and weight training through the quiet offseason months. But Lanning also assigned a bit of summer homework in the form of various book studies, including Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” — a favorite among college football coaches, former national title winner in Steve Spurrier among them — to give his squad a mental edge over its opponents.
“We’re mighty different when it comes to the jerseys you might see us wear, or the facilities that we get to be in,” Lanning said. “And we’re innovative, and we’ve always been on the cutting edge of everything we do. We’ve certainly positioned ourselves to be on the cutting edge and we’re grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Big Ten.”
Whether Oregon’s multi-faceted preparation pays off remains to be seen, but the Ducks embark on their inaugural Big Ten campaign with sky-high expectations. They were picked to finish second in the preseason media poll, with six individual votes for first place.
Ohio State, crowned the preseason champion, was the only other school that received first-place votes. Third-place occupant and incumbent Big Ten power Penn State finished 30 total points behind Oregon.
That confidence is born from Lanning’s absurd performance in his young career thus far. He has 22 wins and two top-15 finishes through two seasons with the Ducks. He’s recruited as well as any coach in the country and has stocked the Ducks’ war chest with an enviable amount of talent.
The path certainly won’t be easy. Ohio State is expected to go well past the Big Ten and compete for the national championship. Michigan is looking for an encore to 2023’s 15-0, national title-winning effort. Both of those teams are on Oregon’s 2024 schedule, with a trip to Ann Arbor on the docket for the first week in November.
“Entering this conference, there’s some new challenges that are presented,” Lanning said. “Going through the summer scouting reports, you realize some of these teams that we’re going to get to play, and it’s really exciting. But I’ll tell you: here at Oregon, we chase and attack those challenges.”
