Dan Lanning Talks Growth of Dante Moore, Coaching Approach in Spring

Oregon held their sixth spring football practice in Eugene on Saturday as the Ducks work toward their annual spring game on April 25. This is another exciting roster for the coaching staff to with and features a combination of elite returners and new additions. Dan Lanning met with reporters on Tuesday to give the latest updates on how the Ducks look in the spring.

Here are some of his most notable quotes.

On WR Evan Stewart

Lanning: “Spring has been really good. And I think even more than his play making abilities, his leadership is starting to show up. I want to see even more of that. We talk about him as a pass catcher, continue to challenge him to let that focus show up is how he blocks, for love of his teammates. But Evan’s had a really good spring so far, and he’s looking really good.”

On new quarterbacks coach Koa Ka’ai

Lanning: “Koa’s grown a ton in my time here. He’s always been an extremely intelligent player, and then obviously a coach as well. And he’s worked with every position really for us on offense. He’s been an integral part of what we’ve done, and really coached our quarterbacks last year. And allowed Will to be in somewhat of that OC role. So he’s worn that hat every single day. This really isn’t new territory for him. Maybe new territory by title, but this is something he’s done at a really high level already and excited about his growth.”

On Jeremiah McClellan making a jump, expecting more of him

Lanning: “I always expect more from from JMac. I mean, he had an unbelievable jump last year, and I think he’s a guy that’s become really self aware. You watch him out there on the field today, and compare it to when he first got here, it’s not the same guy. He has some of the same traits, but he’s been so much stronger with the ball, his intellect and where to run routes, how to run them, what to do. It’s really leveled up, and he’s physical at the point of attack. He catches the ball strong. The quarterbacks trust him. I think that’s a big piece, but I expect JMac to take a huge jump again this year.”

On seeing some of Tez Johnson in Iverson Hooks, how he’s looked in spring

Lanning: “Yeah I think we saw some of the traits that we love to see in the slot. And obviously Tez is a slot that did really well for us here. Immediately I think it’s easy to say, okay there’s some similarities there, and there certainly is. But what the similarities are is the speed, the twitch, the in and out of breaks, the ability to win on option routes. The more that Strap gets comfortable going out there to win routes, the more that we’re going to have an opportunity for him to have success. (He) Has to continue to get physical at the point of attack. That’s somewhere that he can improve for us, but overall, he’s a playmaker, he has a dynamic ability, similar to Tez.”

On his coaching approach in spring when there isn’t a game to prepare for

Lanning: “We want to identify who can play football. So if we’re spending all of our time trying to figure out how to line up in a play or execute a play, that means we’re not figuring out who can play ball. So it’s that that give and take a little bit, making sure we work a lot of situations. But ultimately I want to figure out who can run, who can tackle, who can block, who can get off blocks. Those are the traits that we want to ID the quickest.”

On growth of Akili Smith Jr. and where he’s seen the most from last year to now

Lanning: “I think just the mental game, and there’s still big strides to take there. He’s a big, strong player. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in the pocket, but there’s a lot that we ask our quarterbacks to do. A lot more than what he was asked to do at times in his offense. So it’s a lot to absorb, and it’s not easy just to pick up, but he’s definitely grown mentally probably the most.”

On how close Dante Moore is to mental mastery of Dillon Gabriel, Bo Nix

Lanning: “He’s there. He’s there. I’m very confident. He checked to a play today in practice that we didn’t even have tagged with a potential check because of the look that he saw. So it’s great to see from him that he’s really out there operating as a coach on the field. We just gotta get everybody else operating at that same level.”