I have cut and pasted it because it is a subscriber deal...I don't often do that but in this case...
By James Crepea | The Oregonian/OregonLive
EUGENE — Hours after hiring Dan Lanning to be Oregon’s next head coach Ducks athletic director Rob Mullens spoke directly to fans about their new head coach.
“His track record of success, he’s got an incredible work ethic, just about in every phase of importance of leadership and then when you get a chance to talk to him he just exudes energy,” Mullens said shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday to an audience of over 600 listeners on the Oregon fan-led Twitter spaces, a live group chat feature on the social media app. “Obviously we do deep dives on background checks and talking to people and everywhere we turned it was, ‘what a wonderful human being.’ He values the student-athlete experience, the relationships and then obviously you can look at the historic defenses that he’s been a part of and see what kind of coach he is.”
Mullens, who isn’t on Twitter, used his wife’s Twitter account to enter the Twitter spaces forum where Oregon fans have discussed Oregon’s coaching search around the clock since Mario Cristobal’s departure on Monday.
The audience steadily grew over the course of the week and has included current and former players, player parents, athletic department personnel, local and national media members, UO coaches and even Dan Lanning’s brother, Jordan, who shared anecdotal stories with an audience of over 1,600 people Friday night amid reports of the Georgia defensive coordinator’s candidacy at Oregon.
The parents of several players were in the audience Saturday night, including the mothers of defensive end Bradyn Swinson (Kelli Swinson) and Keith Brown (Sarah Brown) and running back Byron Cardwell Jr.’s father, who all thanked Mullens for his work this week.
“What a great forum for parents, all these loyal Duck followers to jump on,” Mullens said. “Want to to say really appreciate everyone’s support over the last week. It’s great to see the Oregon family come together, the student-athletes, the parents. Really excited for coach Lanning to get here.
“Excited for all of our student-athletes. I received a lot of messages of support and this is a special, special group of young men who’ve built an incredible culture, who’ve really stuck together and I‘m really anxious for them to meet coach Lanning in person and to continue what they’ve built here.”
With their next head coach in place the fans in the Twitter space were already shifting their attention to who will be on Lanning’s staff, particularly on offense. Mullens deferred to Lanning for those decisions but said staffing was part of the interview process and Lanning has a clear plan and vision in mind.
“When you spend time with him he’s given this a lot of thought for a lot of years,” Mullens said. “He’s been planning for this opportunity and it just matched up. I am fully confident based on the relationships, the thoughtfulness and the connections that he has that he’s going to assemble a phenomenal staff.”
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens talks to Ducks fans via Twitter spaces about hiring Dan Lanning: ‘He just exudes energy’
Updated: Dec. 11, 2021, 7:04 p.m. | Published: Dec. 11, 2021, 7:04 p.m.
By James Crepea | The Oregonian/OregonLive
EUGENE — Hours after hiring Dan Lanning to be Oregon’s next head coach Ducks athletic director Rob Mullens spoke directly to fans about their new head coach.
“His track record of success, he’s got an incredible work ethic, just about in every phase of importance of leadership and then when you get a chance to talk to him he just exudes energy,” Mullens said shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday to an audience of over 600 listeners on the Oregon fan-led Twitter spaces, a live group chat feature on the social media app. “Obviously we do deep dives on background checks and talking to people and everywhere we turned it was, ‘what a wonderful human being.’ He values the student-athlete experience, the relationships and then obviously you can look at the historic defenses that he’s been a part of and see what kind of coach he is.”
Mullens, who isn’t on Twitter, used his wife’s Twitter account to enter the Twitter spaces forum where Oregon fans have discussed Oregon’s coaching search around the clock since Mario Cristobal’s departure on Monday.
The audience steadily grew over the course of the week and has included current and former players, player parents, athletic department personnel, local and national media members, UO coaches and even Dan Lanning’s brother, Jordan, who shared anecdotal stories with an audience of over 1,600 people Friday night amid reports of the Georgia defensive coordinator’s candidacy at Oregon.
The parents of several players were in the audience Saturday night, including the mothers of defensive end Bradyn Swinson (Kelli Swinson) and Keith Brown (Sarah Brown) and running back Byron Cardwell Jr.’s father, who all thanked Mullens for his work this week.
“What a great forum for parents, all these loyal Duck followers to jump on,” Mullens said. “Want to to say really appreciate everyone’s support over the last week. It’s great to see the Oregon family come together, the student-athletes, the parents. Really excited for coach Lanning to get here.
“Excited for all of our student-athletes. I received a lot of messages of support and this is a special, special group of young men who’ve built an incredible culture, who’ve really stuck together and I‘m really anxious for them to meet coach Lanning in person and to continue what they’ve built here.”
With their next head coach in place the fans in the Twitter space were already shifting their attention to who will be on Lanning’s staff, particularly on offense. Mullens deferred to Lanning for those decisions but said staffing was part of the interview process and Lanning has a clear plan and vision in mind.
“When you spend time with him he’s given this a lot of thought for a lot of years,” Mullens said. “He’s been planning for this opportunity and it just matched up. I am fully confident based on the relationships, the thoughtfulness and the connections that he has that he’s going to assemble a phenomenal staff.”
