Tag: 2022 Oregon spring football

Kenny Dillingham sees Oregon as an SEC school on the West Coast

The best college football atmosphere on the west coast. That’s what drew OC Kenny Dillingham to the Oregon Ducks.

In the world of college football, there are two types of atmospheres. Some are in small college towns like Pullman or Corvallis where it’s intimate and the football team is a big part of the community.

Then there are schools like those in the SEC that are in small towns, but have a big city feel to them because an actual big city is very close by. These are the teams that have an NFL feel to them and win championships most of the time.

Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham says the Ducks have the best of both worlds. Eugene has a small-town feel to it, but Oregon has the big-time atmosphere to win championships.

“This place cares about football. I say this is the only place west of Texas that has a mindset of the South when it comes to football,” Dillingham said. “This is a southern school. When it comes to football and when it comes to sports, it’s a true college town that can win championships. And if you’re out west, this is the only real college town that can win championships. It’s pretty cool.”

Dan Lanning and his staff have definitely been a part of small-town schools, but they also know what it takes to win championships in major SEC institutions. Lanning has had stints at Sam Houston State, but has also been at Alabama and Georgia.

Dillingham started out on the high school level before going coaching on the college level such as Arizona State and Memphis. Dillingham then went on to schools that have championship banners hanging in the stadium such as Auburn and Florida State.

The Ducks have proven they can make it to the championship game and play on the biggest stage. Now Lanning, Dillingham and the rest of the staff are out to prove Oregon can win on the biggest stage.

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Dan Lanning lauds explosive plays, harps on turnovers after Oregon practice

Lanning says the offense showed the ability to make explosion plays happen on Tuesday, but there were too many turnovers for his liking.

It’s not going to be a finished product overnight.

New Oregon head coach Dan Lanning will spend a lot of his time this spring trying to figure out what’s the best direction for the Duck offense and more specifically, which quarterback to go with.

The final answer may not be known for quite some time, however. Lanning could go with senior transfer Bo Nix or either of the two redshirt freshmen in Ty Thompson or Jay Butterfield.

As the team returned to practice after the spring break, Lanning says the quarterbacks had their ups and downs.

“Well, certainly one positive today is the offense had some explosive plays out there, which was exciting. On the same note, we also had some turnovers that I don’t want to see,” Lanning said. “I thought we could have been a little bit better in our two minutes scenario there at the end of practice, with our offense and the operation there. So good job on the explosive plays. We want to take care of the ball going forward.”

Nix has the in-game experience and probably knows the playbook a little better since Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham was Nix’s OC at Auburn his freshman year. But Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield has talent that just can’t be ignored.

Most likely, the quarterback that shows consistency in moving the ball down the field and has the ability to avoid mistakes will eventually win the job. Explosion plays are like home runs. They’re nice when they show themselves, but can’t be relied upon.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

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Four Oregon legends of the gridiron will return for the Spring Game

The Ducks are pulling out all of the stops for the spring game, announcing that 4 Oregon legends will be honorary coaches.

De’Anthony Thomas, LaMichael James, Arik Armstead, and Haloti Ngata have several things in common. They’re all Oregon Duck football legends that helped propel the program to achieve unprecedented success.

Now they all have one more thing in common …  being coordinators for the annual Spring Game on April 23.

The game will be split between the Green Team and the Yellow Team. Thomas will serve as the offensive coordinator and Ngata will be the defensive coordinator for the Yellow team. On the other sideline, James (OC) and Armstead (DC) will be honorary coaches for the Green Team.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these four legends and so many other incredible alumni back to Autzen Stadium,” Oregon head cooach Dan Lanning said. “This program is built upon the foundation that all of our former Ducks have established, and we’re honored that they are returning to Eugene for this event. We need our fans to pack Autzen Stadium to welcome these guys back and create an awesome atmosphere for the Spring Game.”

The football game will begin at 1 p.m. with the Autzen Stadium parking lots set to open at 10:30 a.m. and gates opening at noon. As for the game itself, the first three quarters will simulate a real game between the Yellow and Green teams, with rosters set to be released at a later date. The honorary coaches will call plays for the teams during the fourth quarter, with other on-field activities planned to get fans involved in the action.

The football Spring Game will be one of many athletic events on campus throughout what is being called “Duck Day.” Track and field is scheduled to host the Oregon Relays throughout the day at Hayward Field with the first event set for 10 a.m., and fans can watch the soccer team’s 11 a.m. spring exhibition vs. Seattle U at Papé Field before walking over to Autzen.

But wait! There’s more.

Fans can go to PK Park following the football game for the Duck baseball team’s game against Washington State at 3 p.m., and then if one should find the fancy, go over to Jane Sanders Stadium to watch Oregon softball take on Washington at 5 p.m.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. 

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