Dan Lanning's Year Two Will Come Down To Decision-Making In Close Games

EUGENE, OR – APRIL 29: Head Coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks looks on during the Oregon Ducks Spring Football Game at Autzen Stadium on April 29, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

Pac-12 media day is coming this Friday.

We will have all the coverage right here on 750 The Game with John Canzano who will be broadcasting live from Resorts World in Las Vegas talking to all the coaches and the players.

But what should we be listening for when it pertains to the Oregon Ducks head coach, Dan Lanning?

There were a lot of questions if Lanning was going to be an elite head coach after accepting the Oregon job after being defensive coordinator of the national champion Georgia Bulldogs. He led Oregon to 10 wins in his first season, but there were some questions about his in-game coaching ability.

Matt Prehm of 247 Sports joined the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano and talked about what he wants to ask Lanning down in Las Vegas at Pac-12 media day.

“I’m curious as to what the learning curve was like year one for him,” Prehm said. “There was a lot of good that happened in 2022, but it started off with a humbling 49-3 loss to the champs, Georgia.”

A season-opener with Portland State on Sept. 2nd differs greatly from last year’s opener, though the Ducks responded with eight consecutive wins following the Georgia defeat.

Lanning delivers in recruiting. He delivers strong energy. But hiccups to rivals Washington and Oregon State, which included some questionable in-game decisions, lead some to wonder what kind of lessons he learned from those losses.

“What did you learn about managing a game like Washington,” Prehm asked, “when your most important player (Bo Nix) goes down with an injury, how do you better prepare yourself for something like that? Can you be better prepared? And then the Oregon State game, when you literally couldn’t stop the run, and had some questionable play calls in those situations.”

In order for the Ducks to make the four-team College Football Playoff, Lanning is going to have to prove he can coach on the field and not just be a great recruiter. Prehm wants to know how much more comfortable Lanning will be now that he is in his second season with Oregon.

“How do you improve? How do you take a step forward in year one to year two as a head coach? We always hear coaches talk about year two in the system for a player. They make leaps and bounds of a jump. What do we see out of Dan Lanning in his year one to year two jump?”

College football season is upon us and I for one, can not wait.

Oregon opens up their season against the Portland State Vikings at Autzen Stadium on September 2nd, and then they travel on the road in week two to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Listen to the whole interview with Matt Prehm by clicking the podcast below and catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.