Why Oregon football is practicing during the hottest part of the day

Eugene Register-Guard
Day one of year two in the Dan Lanning-era began Wednesday under a hot afternoon sun and temperatures reaching 90 degrees.
It was almost perfect for the Oregon football coach, who was asked what he liked above all else following the first of what will be a month’s worth of practices leading to the 2023 season opener on Sept. 2 against Portland State at Autzen Stadium.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning speaks to members of the media during the 2023 Oregon Football Media Day Monday, July 31, 2023, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.
“Man, the football field,” Lanning beamed. “I’m just excited to be out here on the grass. I think every one of our players is as well.”
As thrilled as he was to have his team back on the field for the first time since spring practices ended in April, Lanning admitted there was plenty of good and bad from Wednesday’s session.
“Good because everyone’s excited to be out there, everybody wants to get to work," he said. "Bad because we got a lot of things we can work on. But I’ll say this, I think our guys are hungry to go work on those things. … We gotta get in football shape, and the only way you can get into football shape is by playing football. We pushed at a high level today and we gotta come out and push at a high level again tomorrow.”
Part of that process is holding practices late in the afternoon — typically the hottest time of the day — instead in the morning as the case was last season.
“I like having the ability to have meetings and walk-throughs in the morning with an install fresh on your mind before you go into afternoon where you’re on the field,” Lanning said. “I think having the heat up is good for us early in the season when we can train in harder environments. … Later on when we get into our class schedule we’ll transition back to morning.”
Two players OK after car accident
Freshmen running back Dante Dowdell and linebacker Jerry Mixon are on the mend after being involved in a car accident Monday afternoon near the University of Oregon campus.
According to a report by The Oregonian, the two players were treated for minor injuries when the car being driven by Dowdell collided with another car on East Broadway near Patterson Street.
The driver of the other vehicle did not yield and was cited for driving without a license.
Lanning said both players were going to be fine and that Dowdell was a participant in Wednesday’s practice.
“Thank God they’re both healthy,” Lanning said. “They were both in an incident there. Jerry had a little laceration they were able to stitch up. Both of those guys are going to be good.”
Safety JJ Greenfield leaves Oregon program
Lanning confirmed earlier this week the departure of safety JJ Greenfield, a reserve redshirt sophomore safety who played in all 13 games last season.
Greenfield’s freshman season was 2020 and he saw action in six of the seven games during the pandemic shortened year.
He left the program and played at College of San Mateo in California in 2021 before transferring back to Oregon in the spring of 2022.
Last season he played 143 snaps on defense and 134 on special teams and made 16 tackles.
Oregon announces Fall Fan Fest
Oregon will host a Fall Fan Fest Aug. 13 in the Moshofsky Center, with athletes from football, soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball and men’s basketball in attendance.
The event, which will include games, inflatables, activity stations, agility drills and the opportunity to take photos with athletes starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free, and fans must sign a liability waiver upon entry.