Dan Lanning wants to win football games. He's not a coach that courts the media.
In fact, he barely tolerates the daily press briefings, shutting down questions he doesn't like, baiting them with asides, and stopping just short of being openly contemptuous of reporters trying to do the difficult job of trying to extract information from a coach who doesn't want to give them anymore than necessary.
Lanning was in midseason form Tuesday after practice.
He and Oregonian beat writer James Crepea have a combative relationship. Crepea has an over-fondness for detailed and sometimes long-winded questions; the coach wants to get back to the film room. Crepea asks a five-parter or ventures into territory like injuries or internal discipline; Lanning responds with a terse five-word answer.
While both are just trying to do their work, the one-on-one battles between them have the move-and-countermove intensity of a chippy scrimmage battle between a quick-twitch edge rusher and 6-8, 318 defensive tackle. Every press conference is a study in tactics.
On Tuesday Crepea opened by asking the fourth-year Oregon head coach about an ongoing legal case involving Oregon defensive back Daylen Austin. No coach in the world is going to comment on an ongoing court case. Yesterday the judge denied a motion to dismiss.
Crepea asked. Lanning answered, "We have a plan in place. We'll adjust." Strike one.
When Crepea's turn came again, he asked, "It's certainly rare, but not unheard of for safeties to go in the first or second round, Dan, as you know, and as
somebody who's coached or recruited several of the guys you have over the last 10 years. If Dylan's going to put
himself in that position in December or January to be in that position to where it's not even a conversation, what does
he have to do in your mind to be the next one of those guys?"
Condensed down, the question would be, What does Dillon Thieneman need to work on? or What are Dillon Thieneman's prospects in the NFL draft?
Lanning said, "December, January, and the NFL draft are so far from my mind. You know, so far from my mind. Today, we got to get better, right."
"And Dylan's got to continue to get better. Is Dylan a special athlete, special talent? Absolutely. But none of us are thinking about the NFL draft right now, himself included."
With the count oh and two, Crepea stepped out of the box to ask about weight changes for Blake Purchase and Ashton Porter. Lanning noted how each of those players had improved, but first he threw a high, hard fastball under the chin, a waste pitch to back him off the plate.
"First thing I'd say is like don't put too much stock in what we print is for your weights, right? Because that's for you guys, not
necessarily for us. But both those guys, right? Remember we used to say Tez Johnson we waited a lot more than
he did. I think you guys at some point figured that out, right? So like we print what we want we want, right? It's not necessarily the truth. So surprise."
Oof. The Oregon video team continues their superb annual documentary series from fall camp with an installment on Thursday. That's the message from the football program to fans and prospective recruits, the attempt to tell the story, beautifully executed.
What's exchanged in the pressroom is limited and colored by the fact that the coach doesn't need the media to run his team or generate interest. At 13-1, the ink-stained wretches are disposable and irrelevant, bloggers from fan sites most of all.