“This summer hurt”: Oregon HC Dan Lanning mourns death of former player Khyree Jackson who died in a tragic car accident

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning paid a special tribute to the late Khyree Jackson at the Big Ten media day on Thursday. The coach expressed his feelings for the former Ducks cornerback, who died in a car accident earlier this month.

When Lanning got on the podium at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, he said:

“This summer we experienced great sorrow. Losing a player that meant so much to us, finished his career here at Oregon. Losing Khyree in a car accident this summer hurt. That was one of those things you wake up as a coach and you hope to never see, and I’m feeling for him and his family.”

Lanning also thanked the Minnesota Vikings for supporting Khyree and his family.

“I want to give a special thank you to the Minnesota Vikings and the way that they’ve taken care of Khyree and his family,” Lanning said.

“Somebody that we certainly want to support. He was a guy that I always tell myself we have to be grateful for the time that we got to spend with Khyree because that’s something that was really tough on our team and tough to see a guy that had such a bright future have his life cut short.”

The Vikings selected Jackson in the fourth round of this year's NFL draft. The cornerback played one season under coach Lanning at Oregon in 2023, earning a First Team All-Pac-12 selection.

Jackson began his career at Fort Scott in 2019, playing for one season with the Greyhounds. He transferred to Alabama in 2021 and developed his game under coach Nick Saban for two years.

As a senior in 2023, Jackson recorded three interceptions while recording 34 total tackles (25 solo), 5.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.

Khyree Jackson death: What happened to the former Oregon CB?

Former Oregon CB Khyree Jackson (Source: Imagn)

Khyree Jackson died on July 6 in a horrific vehicle accident in his native state of Maryland. Jackson was in the passenger seat with two close friends, Isaiah Hazel and Anthony Lytton Jr., who died as well when an Infiniti Q50 collided with their Dodge Charger early that morning.

According to FOX9, the driver of the Infiniti was attempting to change lanes when the car crashed into the Dodge, which went off the road and hit the tree. Reports suggest that drunk driving could have been the reason behind the crash.

Jackson was 24 at the time of his death.