The scoreboard read 34-14 in Evanston but Dan Lanning’s postgame voice carried something heavier than football. After Oregon finished off Northwestern with ruthless efficiency, the No. 4 Ducks’ HC stepped into the media room and didn’t just talk about Dante Moore’s growth or Jerry Mixon’s pick six. Instead, he also talked about America through the lens of a locker room. Because when tragedy collides with sports, silence isn’t an option. 

An X post on September 13 threw light on how Dan Lanning viewed the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a visit to Utah Valley University. “The US could learn a lot from our locker room. I think the people in this world can learn a lot from our locker room,” he said. “You walk in that locker room, you got guys of different races, guys of different backgrounds, different religions, and you got a team that loves each other… And I think we’re missing some of that in our country.” In a world ripped apart by political division and violence, he dared America to imagine a Saturday night huddle as the blueprint.  

Dan Lanning had just learned that Charlie Kirk was an Oregon fan. That revelation shook him. “I hurt for his wife, Erika, and their kids,” he said, his words slowing as if he were talking not to reporters but to his own family. “Like that sort of evil should never exist in our country. And that’s what it is. It’s evil.” He explained how he had to sit down with his own kids to talk about Kirk’s assassination, the way other families across the nation talk about school shootings or church shootings. “Life matters and I think we’ve lost sight of that,” he added. “But I just wish, I wish the world could learn a little bit of something from our locker room.”

And here’s where Dan Lanning turned blunt. “And the reality is there’s just not a lot of common sense on both sides,” he said. “Like common sense says, oh, it’s mental health, right? Common sense says that, oh, it’s guns. You know what? It’s both. Like, let’s have some common sense.” The HC even took aim at the “internet warriors” who blasted the graphic video of Charlie Kirk’s murder across the web. His hope is that his own kids and Kirk’s kids never have to see it. So, when he says America should learn from a locker room, it’s not a metaphor. It’s his lived reality, from Bible studies with players to conversations at home. But of course, there was still football to talk about. 

Dan Lanning nods his acknowledgement to Oregon players

For Dan Lanning, the Oregon locker room is a living, breathing example of what society keeps missing. Inside those walls, linemen from Texas share laughs with receivers from California, Polynesian teammates pray alongside Midwestern kids, and nobody cares who voted for who in the last election. “Like tons of differences, where they come from, what they deal with, and ultimately you got a team that loves each other,” he said. He went a step further, pointing out that the game itself forces unity. 

No touchdown happens without 11 men moving in sync, and no defense thrives unless trust is absolute. That dynamic, Dan Lanning believes, should be a mirror for a divided country. And that’s why Dante Moore thrived, finding his rhythm as Oregon’s engine. “It’s unbelievably high,” he said. “We go with the quarterback. And we got a really good one here.” The sophomore QB looked every bit the rising star in Evanston, going 16-of-20 for 178 yards and a touchdown, guiding Oregon to a commanding lead before the Ducks eased off the gas.

In other words, Oregon’s season may be defined by touchdowns and playoff rankings. But on this night, it was defined by a coach who reminded everyone that love, not division, wins in the long run.