After seeing a few interviews and witnessing some different coaching decisions, it looks to me that there has been a change in Dan Lanning. He seems calmer and much less high energy in interviews and Gambling Dan seems to have given way to Chess Match Dan.

In recent interviews, he has acknowledged his own growth and regret in the gamblers mentality and feels it has cost his teams chances to win. Not only has he called the late mid field 4th down gamble at Oklahoma St a mistake but he has also counted gambles at Washington three years ago as bad decisions as well. I see this as a welcome evolution in his coaching style. Risks will always have to be taken but they need to be factored in a case by case basis and not just the default option. He seems to have learned that.

Also his demeanor seems to have shifted from pedal to the metal amped towards calculating strategist. As seen in the recent Us vs Them, he will always be a top tier motivator and high energy guy but it seems that now it is coming with a higher percentage of calculating restraint. I welcome this appearance of maturation. He seems to be heading in the direction of long term successful coaches like the Sabans and the Smarts.

His leadership after the hit on Dante was outstanding. Within seconds he was on the field making sure his guys stayed focused and keeping his team from losing control and turning a bad situation into a melee. Contrast that with Riley who claims to have not seen either the hit or his player acting like a clown afterwards. His leadership in the locker room at halftime was outstanding and may well have helped the team course correct the season. Time will tell.

I don't know if I'm reading to much into this with such a small sample size but it seems to me that something has changed in him and so far, I like what I'm seeing.

His offense and defense has gone more conservative, by winning with superior talent and letting the other team make mistakes. Because he had been undefeated vs. unranked opponents--I see why he and the players were not ready for the Cowboys. But it is also evident that this team is not playing to their potential yet, and I sense he is in a thoughtful mode and figuring that out.

Experience as a head coach counts a ton, and while he is learning on us--his 85% win percentage is pretty darn good for an up-and-coming head coach.

I'm looking for more improvement from coaches and players against UCLA.

I think USC showed what our floor is when we show up, but I think UCLA is going to give us a better idea of our trajectory/ceiling, at least until we play Ohio State. How much are we able to evolve our schemes, correct player execution, will tell us if the problems are terminal or if there is opportunity to continue to grow and improve significantly. If you can't course correct with the bye week, then I don't know what we can improve on significantly later.

Lanning's attitude has changed for sure.

I think in large part it came from the off season when he got to comfortable. He promoted from within so he knew all his coaches. He had a load of returning starters who knew the scheme. He knew he would have to break in the transfers and the new recruits but with so many other pieces as established that probably didn't feel as pressing.

The reality is that he took the foot off the gas and it backfired. The whole program relaxed.

Watching the Under Construction series this year about fall camp did have a different vibe to it. It felt... well more relaxed. It seemed to lack some of the edge it had in the previous versions. Even the Boise State Ducks vs Them was pretty boring from a behind the scenes standpoint. What was the theme? "Mission Based Response"

Uninspired and completely lacked the fire this team needed from a head coach. Lanning brings the intensity and the motivation for his team. He sets the baseline and makes everyone in the program jump.

The beginning of the year was relaxed... dare I say "lazy?"

Lanning knows his program has some major problems in it and is working overdrive to try and fix as many of those problems he can. I don't think some of them can be realistically fixed until the off season but 2026 plane took off over a month ago and any repairs need to get done in flight at this point.