Minnesota’s PJ Fleck showered Oregon and Dan Lanning with praise, and also discussed what exactly makes Lanning so special
PJ Fleck discussed what separates Dan Lanning from other coaches in college football.
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck had nothing but admiration for Oregon and head coach Dan Lanning ahead of the Gophers’ upcoming matchup, offering glowing remarks about Lanning’s leadership, defensive philosophy, and ability to bring elite talent together as one cohesive unit.
“When you play a team like Oregon, one, they have incredible talent,” Fleck said. “I think Dan Lanning’s done a tremendous job of accumulating elite talent. I think that’s well documented. But I think that when you talk about having talent alone doesn’t really get you anything. There’s a lot of teams that are really, really talented. We talk about the difference between skill and talent.”
Fleck went on to highlight what he believes is Lanning’s “secret sauce”, not just recruiting great players, but developing and connecting them.
“Skill is what you’re born with, blessed with, and the length and the size and the speed and all those things. That’s great. But then you have to develop that talent. Then you’ve got to connect that talent,” Fleck explained. “And I think Dan Lanning doesn’t get enough credit of how he connects that football team, how invested they are, how good they are, how well they play collectively together, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
Lanning, who built his reputation as a defensive mind during his time at Georgia, has helped turn Oregon into one of the most complete teams in college football. Fleck recognized that defensive identity, crediting Lanning’s approach for uniting a group loaded with NFL-caliber talent.
“We know he’s a really good defensive mind. He’s a great person. But when you’re talking about the defensive side of the ball, they have incredible talent over there,” Fleck continued. “But it’s one thing to have it. Another thing to connect it, have them all play together, have them all understand how the top affects the bottom, the bottom affects the top. And they’re really, really talented.”
Fleck even compared Oregon’s defensive front to some of the nation’s elite, including Ohio State.
“I mean, you talk about Ohio State’s front seven — I mean, this front seven is just as good, if not better,” he said. “And when you look at them and you look at, you know, what the game looked like with Iowa, I think everybody understood what kind of matchup that was going to be. And it was exactly what everybody thought it was going to be. And, you know, we’ve played some really good defenses. But it makes you, like, do a lot of the really, really small things really, really well.”
Fleck’s admiration underscores the level of respect Lanning has earned nationally for his program-building approach in Eugene. The Gophers coach not only praised Oregon’s physical tools but also emphasized the deeper element that makes the Ducks special – their connection, discipline, and unity on defense.
