30 in 30: With a New Staff, Will the Joy Return for Oregon?

The 30 in 30 series continues with #29, where the least quantifiable football measurement is up for debate: Can Lanning and his staff, younger than 99% of the people who will read this article, bring the fun back to Autzen and the HDC?

I leaned back on my couch on the afternoon of September 11, 2021. I filed my postgame article, took a few phone calls from punch-drunk friends, and cracked open a cold beer. The work was done, and it was time to soak in the moment and fully digest what we witnessed.

The Oregon Ducks had just completed one of the more improbable wins in program history by beating the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road in Columbus. It felt like a dream, listening in as Gus Johnson’s spirit left his body while the final seconds ticked away. It was the most unfathomable win when factoring in the odds against the Ducks, which included losing two of their best players, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Justin Flowe, the week prior.

Fans treasured every second of the rest of the night, the rest of the weekend, and the rest of the following week. I have to imagine the feeling was akin to winning a national championship; quite honestly, at the time, that felt like the next step.

Because looking ahead, no opponent carried even a whisper of the talent of Ohio State. If Oregon stayed out of its way, the path was laid out to win it all.

Instead, what followed was a weekly toe-stubbing contest. By its merciful end, the 2021 season morphed into a drudge, culminating in another head coach tuck-tailing to the state of Florida.

It was painful to watch. And inside the HDC, it was even uglier to live through.

***

When word began to trickle out on Saturday, December 11, that Dan Lanning was the target as Oregon’s next head coach, we saw the vision of Athletic Director Rob Mullens. He wanted someone to recruit, sure, and he wanted the defensive mind of one of the game’s up-and-coming stars, no doubt. But if he were honest, what Mullens needed—along with all of the on-field enticements—was the youthful exuberance of Lanning.

That’s what he hopes resonates with the players, but with the fans and future recruits, too.

Because what Oregon lacked most of all in the odd 2021 season—more than inconsistent quarterback play, offensive philosophies, or a leaky defense—was joy. The season that began with so much promise morphed into a slugfest. But the blows came internally, aimed at the heart of the game.

Football should be fun. Watching games, playing in games, analyzing games—those should all be done because it’s what the participants want to do. But to those who followed along, that was not the case. By the time the second loss came in November and the glimmer of playoff hopes ended, so did the pretenses. Players stopped forcing the smiles; they stopped the canned speeches meant to keep fans hooked for one more week.

Actions spoke louder than words, and their bodies bore the scars of a season derailed long before we knew it was coming.

So, I have an ask of coach Lanning now. And for this moment, I ask as a fan only:

Keep having fun.

***

The videos, the pictures, the vibes — everything around the program since December feels different. The results on the field will come, one way or another; we won’t know for 18-to-24 months if the staff has what it takes to raise the program’s stature even more. In the meantime, for the fans—but most importantly, for the young men who signed on—if the joy returns, that is what we can look to and say, “This feels different.”

We’ll know it’s different because you can fake happiness, but you cannot feign genuine disdain, nor can you fake actual joy.

We’ll know it’s different because when they exit the tunnel for the first time on September 3, the players won’t be able to mask their true feelings.

We’ll know that the staff reached inward and connected genuinely, and the buy-in and trust exist.

And we’ll feel it, because it will be all over their faces.