The trolls were in charge at Big Ten Media Day Wednesday. After Dan Lanning gave his remarks there was time for two questions.
One reporter asked Dan Lanning if he felt tampering should be cracked down on more and the second asked him how it felt to lose to Ohio State.
Jared Mack of 247Sports compiled a synopsis of Lanning's remarks and the mini-ambush that followed.
Do you think tampering needs to be a harsher penalty across college football?
Lanning: "Yeah."
Care to elaborate at all?
Lanning: "I mean, just like, play the game the way it's supposed to be played, right? But there has to be consequences to actions, and if there aren't consequences, then there's going to continue to be issues like that."
How did the end of last season motivate your team for the upcoming season?
Lanning: "I think every coach probably feels this way, but we always remember the losses over the wins. I think there's a lot you can learn from that doesn't take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost to a great team. Coach Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in position to have success there."
The ostensible purpose of Media Day is for the 18 head coaches to introduce their team and highlight the upcoming season, but there's always a couple of would-be scribes that come to the room with an agenda.
Lanning's growth as a head coach showed in his answers. He stayed on message. He didn't take the bait. Throughout the day he emphasized his goals for 2025 and restated his focus for his team.
Lanning freely expressed his respect for Ryan Day and what the Buckeyes accomplished while maintaining his forward focus. "That being said, we did go undefeated in the conference," he said.
" We won the Big Ten Championship in our first year. So like I said, double down. Learn. Focus on our process. What do we have to continue to improve? There's always learning lessons, but it doesn't necessarily impact the future."
He admitted the losses always stay with you more than the wins, although he only has six in his entire head coaching career; 35-6, the second-best winning percentage in Oregon football history.
He and the Ducks are focused forward. He told the Big Ten Media, "We have a brand new team and brand new challenges. What happened last year has nothing to do with the future."
When Montana State takes the field at Autzen Stadium in 37 days, the scoreboard will read 0-0, and so will the Big Ten standings. The time for airing grievances or rubbing noses in last year's defeats will be over.