04-22-24 Dan Lanning with Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Again ahead of football coach Dan Lanning, coach, how you doing see me?
I'm doing great. How are youguys doing? Doing pretty well and
enjoying, uh, enjoying some sunshinehere some uh, some Colorado teams in
the in the playoffs, so it'suh, it's fun. But we got
another Colorado team it's looking to getback to the playoffs. That's the Denver
Bronco has been struggling lately and wantedto talk to you about some of your
players and the potential of the becomingNFL Draft, about the Broncos maybe maybe

(00:23):
selecting some of them. I knowa lot of the conversation is dominated by
by boat Nick stuff, and I'massuming we'll get to that, but uh,
I've kind of had my eye onthe center position there and the guy
you've got in Jackson Power Johnson,what can you tell us about about your
center there? Well, he's he'sa special player, and uh, just
as much as a special player asa special person. He's the kind of

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guy, uh that operates exactly likeyou want off the field, complete gentleman,
does everything he needs to do,and then when he steps on the
field, he slips the switch andbecomes h becomes nasty, and I think
you like that on the old lineposition, he's like when you first got
here. He's got a lot ofposition versatility as well, Like he actually
and D line when I first arrived. He's played guard, he's played center,

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So he's an intelligent guy that's reallywilling to do whatever it takes for
the team. Coach, how doyou think that versatility of a guy being
able to play both offense and defensehelps him translate to the NFL game?
Well, I just think more thananything, Like you look at an NFL
roster and how many guys actually travelto games. Having that position versatility is
really appealing, you know for anoffensive line because you're not going to drop

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travel a second group, and Jacksonis going to be a guy that can
go compete the day he gets therefor a starting spot. But being the
guy that can move to guard ifsomebody goes down, or the guy that
can move to another position, Ithink that's really enticing for an NFL team.
When you're talking about an intelligent playerthat's able to do multiple things,
would you say he's better suited forpower gap or zone or that he's versatile

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for either. Yeah, I thinkhe's pretty versatile for either you know,
whatever scheme you know fits. He'sgoing to be a guy that moves bodies
up front. He's really powerful andstrong, one of the strongest guys we
have the weight room, and again, you know, has a level of
in eligence. He's the kind ofguy that wants to finish blocks too,
So you're going to see him onthe second level. You're gonna see him
in space. Certainly, a playerthat can do a lot of good things.

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So another player that you guys haveTroy Franklin. I mean, what
can you tell us about him aswe start to move into this whole drive
process. Yeah, Troy's was adominant white out for us here at Oregon.
And it wasn't just the times hecaught the balls. You know what
he did when he didn't have theball. These guys can go block down
the field. You know, veryintelligent guy, you know, similar to

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Jackson's the guy you can move todifferent spots because he understands the game really
well, has a passion on thefield. I mean, when this guy
practices, he practices hard, andpractices he does in games. So I
think all that stuff carries over tosuccess for Troy at the next level.
Well, that was that was oneof the guys I was going to definitely
ask you about next to Troy,you know, looking at him create with
the ball in his hands on thefield, get a chance to watch him,
I thought he was special. Ilook at, you know, some

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of these guys that they've got inthese mock drafts going a little bit higher,
and I felt just like looking athim, it felt to me like
it's the guy that belonged in thatconversation with some of those same guys.
My one question you sort of answeredit there was, you know, at
his height and weight, is hehe's willing to get out there and go
dig out a safety or go youknow, block down the field. But
you said he's a he's a verywilling blocker. Yeah. I think that's
something that's always stuck out to meabout Troy. You know, I've been

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around some some great whiteouts in mycareer, and never once ever hear Troy
talk about not getting the ball orthrow it. To me, He's not
that player at all. He's veryunselfish and he's certainly willing, you know,
and I think he would tell youI can get stronger and continue to
get bigger as the game continues.But I would never describe, you know,
his size as a hindrance. Sothis is a guy that changed games

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for us. You know, hisstop goes really impressive as catcher radius is
impressive and had the level of confidenceand intelligence that carries over on the football
field. Well, he was obviously, you know, a great weapon for
bone Nicks and somebody that I'm sureBroncos Country really wants to talk about bo.
You know, I'm a little morefamiliar with back from his time down
there in Auburn, and you know, he's sort of my neck of the

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woods and he's playing for Gusts andeverything. But he wasn't the player that
he became under you, And Iguess I have questions about that. What
did you guys see in bone Knickswhen he transferred there to Oregon? What
did you see that that allowed youto to help mold him into the player
that he became, because he wasnot quite that same player back down there
at Auburn, you know, AndI can't really speak to anything there,
you know, I can speak Ican speak to me going against him as

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a as a coordinator and saying thisis a guy that's really paying the butt
to prepare for because of his athleticismas intelligence, you know, Bo also
has this level of confidence where hecan go make plays. And I was
on the other end of those attimes when I was when I was coaching
there at Georgia. But when hegot here, he just flourished, you
know, and I think in allthe greatest tributes that he have, you
know, showed up for us atOregon, you know, being the son
of a coach that was able toyou know, really learn the game at

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a young age. You know,he's been exposed to a lot of different
offenses in his time. He's hadfederal offensive coordinators, and I think that
speaks to his intelligence and his abilityto adapt. And then for us here
at Orgon, he was a greatdecision maker. He took care of the
ball, was able to extend theball downfield. You know, understood matchups
really well. You know, whenhe could find one of his guys that
had a great matchup, he wasgoing to take advantage of it. And

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you know, just the ultimate coachon the field too, was able to
get us in and out of plays, you know, become a great decision
maker. And operated well under pressure. So I can't say enough great things
about bo Nicks, you know,and then him as a person off the
field is just a home run forany team to get them. Yeah,
coach, that's really interesting because youknow, there are a lot of quarterbacks
who've been spoken about in this draftprocess and Bowe hasn't been in that the

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echelon of those top three quarterbacks.But I see something about his game that's
a little different. Like if theBroncos were to take him, what would
that as far as his projection movingforward being with a guy like Sean Payton
and the way that he runs hisoffice, how much can we expect if
the Broncos were to take him thegrowth and bo Nicks, what's the end

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of the last question? Then,I'm sorry, Well, as far should
I expect, but yeah, expectfor his level of growth if he were
to be drafted by the Broncos andhe's able to learn under a guy like
Sean Payton. Yeah, I mean, I both can handle as much as
you can throw at him, right, So you throw both the kitchen sink,
He's gonna be able to take itand you know, be able to
let it carry over in the field. And I think that's when we got

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to see the best version about Nixis when you gave him options to make
decisions at the line. You know, he always got you in the right
play. And I know, youknow that's very common in the NFL.
I think that's very common in youknow, Sean's system is like having a
quarterback that can go up there,make great decisions and gets you into the
right play. That's something that's goingto be a real strength for Bo because
he sees the picture like, youknow, the game like a coach,

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and I know that's a system thatwould really fit him well from that standpoint
of being able to take, youknow, the things that Sean wants to
get done on the field. Youknow, Bo is the kind of guy
that could actually see it from thatsame lens and may make sure that he's
able to get you into the playsthat you think are going to be productive
and have success. And yeah,that's a highly valuable trade of quarterback.
You mentioned obviously the coach's son,and I'm familiar with Patrick Nick's back when

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he was quarterbacking at Auburn. Andof course let Let's need was was a
GA on that staff at Auburn aswell. Shows you how old I am
I guess at this point, butyou know, one of the things that
I noticed him watching Bo play washis his ellocivity. He's not you know,
Lamar Jackson, but he's a goodathlete and he can use his feet
to buy his way out of youknow, buy his way out of trouble
and looks to make the place,keeps the eyes up and downfield, and

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that was something I certainly enjoyed thereon tape. When you look at Sean
Payton's offense, one of the hiddencomponents I think is that those quarterbacks usually
have quick feet. Drew Brees wasan underrated athlete. You know, you've
seen guys like Teddy Bridgewater and ofcourse Russell Wilson last year playing in this
offense. You think that serves himwell for for Denver should they make that
selection. Absolutely, you know,I think one of the things that gets
underrated about you know, Bo andwhat he's done. We had a great

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align here, but in the lasttwo years in college football, you know,
no team protected the quarterback better thanOregon, and that really speaks to
Bow's elusiveness ability to obay the pocket. You're talking about real rushers at that
next level. But he definitely hasa level of athleticism that's underappreciated. I've
seen, you know, this guytake off for seventy five yard runs before
for touchdowns. He's very athletic,and I think that'll definitely be a benefit

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for him at the next level.Coach, is there any part of Bo's
games right now that you think thathe needs to build on to become one
of those next level young quarterbacks inthe league. Well, I just know
that the speed of the game isgoing to continue to increase. But I
think if you look at both careers, you see a guy that's gotten better
and better every single year, certainlyin his time in the Oregon So I

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think, you know, he's aguy that has a growth mindset. He's
going to go out there and he'sgoing to attack the things he's going to
improve. And I'm sure whichever teamdrafts him, you know, they'll have
some pieces that they're like, Okay, this is this is something we want
to want to be able to improveon, and Bo is the kind of
guy that will go attack that.My last question about Bow before I get
to some of these other players,you know, he didn't play a lot
under center, would have to dothat under Shawn. You think he has

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the ability to make that transition seamlessly. Yeah, absolutely, And it's something
just what you do the most ofwhat you're going to be most comfortable doing.
But we did that at times herewith bow We did it probably more
last year than we did this pastyear. And it's definitely something that he'll
be able to do at a highlevel. Now. Coach, I know
you coached at Georgia. I wentto Georgia Tech, But I have to

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ask this college question. With thelandscape of college football changing the way that
it is, with n iOS andGUIDs in a portal, how is it
that you have been able to retainyour GUIDs and remain as competitive as you
have. Well, I think youknow one of the big pieces you get
right now. College footballs are revealing, you know, some of the traits
of programs right and I think oneof the things that reveals here is that

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our guys enjoyed being here and toit if you perform at a high level,
that you're able to get taken careof and you know your values recognized.
So I think those things are happeninghere in Oregon. You know,
guys are realizing that here and you'rethey're able to have success. They see
the big picture of what exists andwhat they want to create for themselves in
their career. I think, youknow, one of the things that was

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interesting the pregame speech you gave talkingabout the Cinderella is over and CEU fans
may not have liked that, butman, I'll tell you I was watching
that. Man, man, man, this guy's hitting all the right notes
in how to mind. Like Iwould to put the pads on right then
and they get out there and playfor you, coach, And you don't
want that because I'm an absolute liabilityand coverage, but I think that you
know, it was it was fascinatingto get that looking and and and and

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see how a coach prepares for somethingand even if you know see you get
you know, we got boat racetday. But I think it's for me
watching some of these other coaches andthe way that you guys do things up
there. I was like, this, this guy's just hitting the right notes.
And who do you credit for beingthe biggest mentor in bringing you up
as a coach. I've had alot of great coaches that I've worked for,

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and that's probably what you know,Honestly, I credit more than anything
is that I've had. You know, I've had a bunch of guys that
have really been a part of mygrowth. And whether that's Nick sab and
Gerby Smart, Mike Morvel, CaseyKeeler, Todd Graham, like, I've
worked some really good ones and they'reall different, you know, and I
think you just got to try tobe the best version of yourself and learn
a little bit from each of thoseguys, and then, like I said,
you can't, you can't try tobe then you gotta be you.

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What's the next growth for you andyour coaches staff as you move forward?
Because last season was a spectacular season. You guys played, you know,
Michael Pennocks twice and you guys playedexceptionally well. So where do you see
your program going in twenty twenty four? Yeah, just keep growing. And
you know the reality is that twentytwenty three has nothing to do with twenty

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twenty four. It's a brand newteam. You know, our culture certainly
set in here after being here forsome time and now going into year three,
I think, you know, we'vegot a team full of our guys
that I have a lot of beliefin. But there's gonna be some new
challenges, you know, new challengesof us moving to Big Ten, some
different teams that we have to play, and it's gonna be about, you
know, how quickly we can becomea team with some new faces in the

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program and start operating at a reallyhigh level. And we're certainly excited about
that challenge. Coach. Last onefrom me, I want to ask about
one other player, and that's KyrieJackson. The corner you got, there's
got a little bit length to him. You know, the Broncos could probably
still use another body at corner eventhough he signedly by Wallace today. What
can you tell us about Kyrie andhis ability to play? Yeah, I
think you know, if you're designinga player in Maddon, a corner like

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Kyrie is the body type that youwould pick. I mean, he's got
link, he's got speed. Youknow, he's able to you know,
break in and out of breaks.Probably one of his best traits is how
quickly he can get in and outof breaks of his size. Now,
a lot of guys that size canget in out of breaks as well,
but you know, Kyrie had agreat season for us. He also is
a willing tackler, and sometimes thatthat doesn't happen at the corner position,

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but that's something he was definitely willingto do for us and did a good
job of sou which every team getsthem. They're getting a player that can
help you on special teams, canhelp you, you know, in the
secondary, and you know, beable to go out there and kind of
close a guy out. He didthat for us a couple of times this
season. Well, coach, wewe appreciate your time here, and we
here in Broncos Country is certainly hopingto see some of those those Ducks names
gets called in the NFL Draft,hopefully here in Denver on Thursday night.

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Absolutely hope to see a couple ofour guys laying there and thank you guys
for your time, all right,take care, coach coach Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks