Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Football Practice Report: March 12
03/12/26 | Football
Spring practice began Thursday for the 2026 Oregon football team.
Spring practice began for the 2026 Oregon football team Thursday, when the Ducks held a morning workout inside Autzen Stadium.
With quarterback Dante Moore, the starting defensive line and several other key veterans back, the Ducks will look to challenge for a third straight College Football Playoff berth come fall. And with a bunch of talented newcomers either already on hand or set to arrive in the coming weeks, Oregon should have the depth and talent to challenge for a second Big Ten title in three years, as well.
The team will practice once more this week, on Saturday, before breaking for finals week and then spring break. Following that pause, spring practice will resume and the Ducks will continue building toward their Spring Game, April 25 in Autzen Stadium.
Following Thursday's practice, head coach Dan Lanning met with local media. Video of that interview — for which Lanning wore sunglasses following a medical procedure on one eye — is embedded below.
Some highlights from coach Lanning …
On his impressions of Thursday's practice: "It's always hard to grade a day one. What you're really looking for is effort and execution, because we're not in full pads yet; we're in spiders. But I saw guys running to the ball, moving with a purpose, doing a really good job today out there on the field. Some good communication. And then a lot of stuff that we can improve."
On the keys to improvement this spring: "The best thing we can do to continue to improve and get better in our program is to be the best we can today. And we get to tomorrow, we'll worry about tomorrow. But there's steps, there's operations that you want to improve. How quickly we can become a team — that's really important. There's some new faces; there's some some old faces returning. It's guys getting uncomfortable really quick and attacking that they have to every day."
On the competition at QB with Dante Moore and newcomer Dylan Raiola: "It's like the same as it is in every room, right? Guys going out there, competing, making each other better. And every one of these guys cheers for each other's success. When you step on the field and practice, it's offense versus defense; offense wants to win, defense wants to win, right? So these guys compete at the highest level when they're out there on the field. They're hoping for each other's success, because the stronger we are as a team, the better we're going to be as a team. So they work really, really well together, just like every position we have out there."
On transfer Koi Perich's potential to replace Dillon Thieneman at DB: "The guy's infatuated with ball. That's what stuck out, even when he came on his visit here. He wasn't really interested in seeing where he's gonna live or what that looks like; he's ready to watch some film. So I think that carries over and is very, very similar to the standpoint of how Dillon operated and what he wanted to create while he was here."
With quarterback Dante Moore, the starting defensive line and several other key veterans back, the Ducks will look to challenge for a third straight College Football Playoff berth come fall. And with a bunch of talented newcomers either already on hand or set to arrive in the coming weeks, Oregon should have the depth and talent to challenge for a second Big Ten title in three years, as well.
The team will practice once more this week, on Saturday, before breaking for finals week and then spring break. Following that pause, spring practice will resume and the Ducks will continue building toward their Spring Game, April 25 in Autzen Stadium.
Following Thursday's practice, head coach Dan Lanning met with local media. Video of that interview — for which Lanning wore sunglasses following a medical procedure on one eye — is embedded below.
Some highlights from coach Lanning …
On his impressions of Thursday's practice: "It's always hard to grade a day one. What you're really looking for is effort and execution, because we're not in full pads yet; we're in spiders. But I saw guys running to the ball, moving with a purpose, doing a really good job today out there on the field. Some good communication. And then a lot of stuff that we can improve."
On the keys to improvement this spring: "The best thing we can do to continue to improve and get better in our program is to be the best we can today. And we get to tomorrow, we'll worry about tomorrow. But there's steps, there's operations that you want to improve. How quickly we can become a team — that's really important. There's some new faces; there's some some old faces returning. It's guys getting uncomfortable really quick and attacking that they have to every day."
On the competition at QB with Dante Moore and newcomer Dylan Raiola: "It's like the same as it is in every room, right? Guys going out there, competing, making each other better. And every one of these guys cheers for each other's success. When you step on the field and practice, it's offense versus defense; offense wants to win, defense wants to win, right? So these guys compete at the highest level when they're out there on the field. They're hoping for each other's success, because the stronger we are as a team, the better we're going to be as a team. So they work really, really well together, just like every position we have out there."
On transfer Koi Perich's potential to replace Dillon Thieneman at DB: "The guy's infatuated with ball. That's what stuck out, even when he came on his visit here. He wasn't really interested in seeing where he's gonna live or what that looks like; he's ready to watch some film. So I think that carries over and is very, very similar to the standpoint of how Dillon operated and what he wanted to create while he was here."
Players Mentioned
QB
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DB
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QB
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DB
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