"I felt like we had another coach": Dan Lanning gets candid about missing Broncos' Bo Nix at Oregon

Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning had an impressive 12-2 record in 2023 and will be expected to take the team's momentum further in the upcoming season.

A major factor in their success was the transfer of Bo Nix from Auburn in 2022, where he led them to a 10-3 record. The following year, Nix scored a total of 40 touchdowns—while averaging 9.5 yards per throw—en route to the Pac-12 championship game against the Washington Huskies. Ducks lost 34-31.

On June 12, Lanning shared in an interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd his fondness for Nix and the signal caller's importance to the team:

"He's a special individual, he's as good of a person as I've ever met and you know, his wife is unbelievable. I mean, he came here with a different level of maturity, already married. Yeah, I felt like we had another coach in the building and what separates Bo is how much time he puts in to work," Lanning said.

"He watches more film than coaches he, you know, there's no one that's gonna step on the field more prepared than Bo and then the way he practices every day, the level of intensity. You know, his commitment to being great. It really, you know, kind of spread throughout our program."

Dan Lanning on expectations ahead of their first year in the Big Ten

One of the most talked about stories ahead of the 2024 college football season is Oregon's move to the Big Ten Conference.

Lanning has done an impressive job in building a talented roster at Oregon, replacing Nix with a powerhouse like Dillon Gabriel along with former 5-star QB Dante Moore as his backup.

Talking about how he's going to tackle the change heading into the season, Lanning said:

“You have to be big up front, you have to be able to win on the line of scrimmage,” Lanning said. “I don’t think that formula changes, but what we’re doing right now in the office is truly studying some of those opponents that we’re going to be seeing next year.”