As Oregon gets ready for its 2026 season opener against Boise State, Dan Lanning is carrying a different kind of weight this week: the loss of a young player at the coach’s alma mater.
William Jewell College, where Lanning played linebacker in the 2000s, was shaken last week when running back MicahJo Barnett collapsed on the sideline moments after scoring a touchdown on Saturday. Emergency personnel tried to resuscitate Barnett, but he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. He was 20.
“You put things in perspective that there’s a lot of things bigger than football,” Lanning said Wednesday. “I’m sure he was on the field doing the thing that he loved, but you never know when that last moment is gonna be. So, really feel for the Jewell community and feel for his family.”
The news hits especially close to home for Lanning, whose own program has lived through painful losses. Oregon tight end Spencer Webb died in 2022 after a tragic accident near Triangle Lake, and former Ducks cornerback Khyree Jackson died in a car crash in Maryland in 2024.
Lanning has woven that grief into his team’s daily routine. Every meeting starts with “four, five” chanted aloud, with claps in between, a tribute to the former players’ numbers.
“Sad moment that I hope nobody has to experience, but obviously it’s happened now,” Lanning said. “So, just praying for that group, and that they have strength in this moment, and they can fulfill and live their lives out in Micah’s honor.”