Oregon coach shrugs off highest-ever preseason poll ranking

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning has often expressed his disinterest in polls, preseason or otherwise. When asked in 2024 about his team’s No. 1 ranking midseason, its first atop the polls in over a decade, the coach said, “Who cares?”

In 2026, with the Ducks carrying their highest preseason ranking ever heading into the year in the AP Poll and holding the same preseason rank in the USA Today coaches poll at No. 2, Lanning offered a similar two word answer when asked Aug. 18 if ever takes the time to appreciate what the ranking says about the program.

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Lanning was asked later about blocking out outside expectations, with many outlets giving Oregon preseason All-America honors, national title favorite odds and so on, and how easy that task is in today’s day and age.

The fifth-year coach wasn’t quite as brief, but was just as frank about what preseason accolades mean to him and his program.

“It’s really easy,” Lanning said. “Have you ever seen a preseason poll that was right at the end of the year? It just doesn’t happen very often. Ultimately, it’s never right about the top-25. The people that make those polls have nothing to do with the results on the field. So, let’s focus on the things that we can control.”
mastery, backup quarterback battle

With less than three weeks to go until Oregon’s season opener against Boise State, Lanning also talked about Dante Moore’s performance in the Ducks‘ first scrimmage of the fall, as well as the ongoing back-up quarterback battle between Brock Thomas, Akili Smith Jr. and Dylan Raiola.

On Moore, Lanning said Moore’s mastery of the offense has been evident throughout fall camp.

“He has the answers so quick,” Lanning said. “The ability to coach the other players around him because he knows what every single one of them is doing as well. His knowledge is like having another coach on the field, which is huge. His leadership is showing up.”

Lanning mentioned Moore often makes checks at the line of scrimmage and though certainly wasn’t perfect in Saturday’s scrimmage, his ability to process has leveled up.

On the backups, which is a pecking order yet to be determined, Lanning said each of the rostered quarterbacks has had his moments throughout camp.

“There’s very few guys that should be comfortable in their roles on our team,” Lanning said. “You’ve got to pay rent every single day in football and everything adds up. Every piece matters. It’s walkthrough, its in the meeting room, its out there on the field. You assess it all and evaluate it all and as a staff make the best decision moving forward.”

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Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon coach shrugs off highest-ever preseason poll ranking