University of Oregon’s football program rolled out the red carpet for junior college, high school and middle school coaches from across the country this past month, among them Ceres High School leader Brett Johnson and his staff, Paul Smith, Angel Garcia, Jonathan Hamilton, Conner Johnson and Caden Johnson.

Brett Johnson and company – excluding Caden who lives in Oregon – made the eight-and-a-half-hour drive to Eugene in a rented vehicle to attend the Ducks’ April 11-13 Coaches Clinic in Eugene.

 “We’re blown away about how they run their organization,” Brett Johnson said. “It was so refreshing to see a big-time Division-I program focusing on character development. The way they treat their players reaffirms what they were telling us.”

Coaches got an inside look at how Oregon’s football team operates under leader Dan Lanning’s guidance with assistance from his staff. They attended position and team meetings, and strength-training sessions. They also watched the Ducks scrimmage at their stadium.

“He (Lanning) was really down to earth,” commented Brett Johnson. “His whole message was amazing. It’s not about the Xs and Os. It’s about developing the person. The thing that was cool was the respect all of the other coaches have for him.”

Guest speakers at Oregon’s Coaches Clinic included Urban Meyer, Bob Ladouceur and Patrick Toney.

Meyer, a former NFL/NCAA Division-I football head coach, won two national titles with the University of Florida (2006, 2008) and one with Ohio State (2014).

Ladouceur is the winningest coach in high school football history in the state of California.

He led Concord’s De La Salle High School to 399 wins, a national-record 151-game unbeaten streak, 11 national championships, five state bowl trophies and 28 CIF North Coast section titles during his 34-year tenure (1979-2012).

Toney is defensive backs coach for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

“The whole experience was enjoyable,” said Brett Johnson.