Oregon Football Sparks Excitement at Big-10 Media Days

By Knight Jarecki

Big-10 Media Days continued Wednesday in Las Vegas with day two of the three-day event featuring Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and student athletes Bryce Boetcher, Matayo Uiagalelei and Kenyon Sadiq. During his opening statement, Lanning shared the overall message for the program as it heads into the 2025-26 season.

“Since we’re in Vegas, you know, it seems like the right time to say it. Our theme for this team is Double Down,” Lanning said. “We have done an unbelievable job of building this team over time. You look at the success season to season, and as this team has grown, the process works. You know, we’re close, and we’ve been able to accomplish a lot, so that’s really what’s going to feed our program this offseason.”

Lanning later added that his inspiration for the theme came from a former rival coach.

“So I actually called Dabo (Swinney) this offseason,” Lanning said. “When I was at Georgia, Dabbo was somebody I never really got to visit with. You know, they’re kind of arch-nemesis, right? So, I never got the chance to really talk to him. But I always had a lot of respect for what he did from across the way, so I thought I’d reach out and just pick his brain. And one of the things he said was, ‘Do you like your process?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I love it.’ And, he said, ‘Well, just double down.’ I said, ‘All right, that’s it. That’s what we’ll do.'”

While Lanning was certainly the headliner, junior tight end Kenyon Sadiq generated a ton of buzz this week with his teammates Bryce Boettcher and Matayo Uiagalelei raving about his performance.

“Yeah. I mean, we call him Sadiq the Freak for a reason,” Boettcher said. “He’s the fastest guy on our team. One of the strongest. And when you can match up against that guy every day. You know, it makes me a better player, that’s for sure.” Uiagalelei added, saying, “Even in the run game, like blocking, this guy’s probably the best blocking tight end I’ve been against and that just speaks to the player he is.”

The final day of Big Ten Media Days concludes on Thursday with appearances by Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, USC, and UCLA, who will speak with the media. Oregon will hold its local football media day on Monday, July 28th.