Lanning, Ducks understand the challenge is more than just physical

 At Oregon Media Day yesterday from The Club at Autzen Stadium, Dan Lanning and the Ducks continued their 20-mile march to greatness.

The 20-mile march is a concept from a series of books by business writer Jim Collins, the idea being that "Enterprises that prevail in turbulence self-impose a rigorous performance mark to hit with great consistency—like hiking across the United States by marching at least 20 miles a day, every day."

I can't think of a better metaphor for a college football season. It's a grind, one that demands an understanding that not only is it a marathon and not a sprint, it's a series of marathons that reach into November and December. 

And some weekends it requires a sprint at the finish.

In his opening remarks the coach said:

I’ll be honest, we’re not really worried about any other opponents. We’re worried about ourselves. That’s our focus. I know you guys will have a lot of questions about other teams but I’m gonna keep telling you that we’re worried about the Oregon Ducks. 

You know right now we believe our business has changed. We have to grow we have talked about their growth mindset in the past. What can we get better at if we came in here and tried to do everything exactly the same as last year? 

Certainly, we have a process that we believe in, but we’d be failing ourselves want to figure out where’s where we can improve what things we can do better, and we’ve made some adjustments to do that. And also we’re focused on the 20-mile march. 

Everybody’s excited about the first day of school. Everybody gets excited about the first practice, but the reality is it’s about consistency, consistency in your approach consistency and about the way you attack things and the reality is we also know it won’t be pretty. So when it’s not pretty how are we going to win in those scenarios? We’re ready for it and we’re excited attack this season.

Lanning knows that to be a successful organization, the Ducks have to embrace that standard of commitment and consistency. More importantly, the players have bought in too. Yesterday Bo Nix said, "I truly believe our second year in, a lot of guys understand more what the expectation is, what the standard is."

Last year the Ducks won eight straight games and climbed into playoff contention before fading badly at the end, losing both rivalry games. It's encouraging that they've spent a significant part of their off season developing connection and a stronger culture, analyzing their strengths and how to use them better, arming not only their bodies but also their minds for the challenge of greatness.