At Big Ten Media Days Bryce Boettcher and Kenyon Sadiq feel good about how the program develops leaders.
Asked about head coach Dan Lanning, Sadiq told the Big Ten broadcast team, "He's installed a great culture. Especially in the modern NIL/Transfer Portal era, he's done a great job of being able to connect his players, even if they're only there for one year."
Boettcher said, "We had a leadership retreat earlier this year-- we went paintballing, sat down, talked about what it means to be a leader, skills that you need to have, reflecting on who you are as a person and what you need to improve as a leader."
"We would do charity events. We built bed for homeless and kids. Doing leadership activities and team-bonding activities."
"I don't know if other schools do them. I have no idea but it's pretty cool. That's what we do."
Such a stud!!! https://t.co/OpAB4brgmS
— RC (@ryancconnell) July 24, 2025
In his remarks, Dan Lanning called Boettcher, "The heartbeat of the program in a lot of ways".
The fourth-year head coach has said often that "The best-led teams are player-led teams." It's particularly important for Oregon this year because it's a young team, a team with a lot of talent but many first- and second-year players assuming larger roles. The Ducks sent 22 players to the NFL this season, 10 as draft picks, the remainder as undrafted free agents or mini-camp invites.
Filling that leadership vacuum is crucial if the Ducks are to contend again in the conference.