Oregon's Perfect Propaganda Machine

"That Team Out West" AKA Hard Knocks with Ty Burrell.

We’ve talked endlessly on this blog about Oregon football’s historic ability to promote itself.

Whether it’s been SportsCenter commercials, bold billboards, or the birth of our beautiful baby boy, RoboDuck, the U of O has never been afraid of a little publicity.

Hell, they even managed to turn Dan Lanning’s rejection of the Texas A&M job into a top-selling t-shirt.

And then they turned his Bama rumors into the greatest recruiting pitch known to mankind.

Maybe when the Kansas City Chiefs come calling, Weiden + Kennedy can produce a feature film based on Dan’s life, that ends with a Marvel-style post-credit scene in which Phil Knight emerges from the shadows to name him the new chairman & CEO of Nike.

But until then, Oregon’s latest multimedia flex will have to suffice.

I assume most of you are familiar with the hit series, Hard Knocks?

Since 2001, HBO has embedded a documentary film crew within an NFL team’s training camp as they approach the upcoming season.

Each week in August, we get a new episode that profiles famous star players, fresh-faced rookies, and journeyman vets that are simply struggling to make the team.

It’s about human interest just as much as it’s about football.

And to turn up the tension even more, the team chosen each year is usually an absolute dumpster fire of a franchise, struggling for a winning season, and on the verge of firing everybody.

In contrast, the New England Patriots, at the height of their powers, never let the “distraction” of the film crew into their doors (they were more interested in being a film crew, of course).

The truly great teams have never cared to be documented.

Until now.

Dan Lanning and the masterminds in Oregon’s PR war room have decided to open their doors—and their wallets—to allow unprecedented access to their preparation for what could be the most important season in Duck history.

Their YouTube series, titled That Team Out West, takes a page directly out of the Hard Knocks manual by literally using the same theme music and swapping in UO grad Ty Burrell in place of HBO’s usual voiceover star, Liev Schreiber.

With deep dives into lesser-known players—like Rodrick Pleasant—and minivan ride-alongs with Dillon Gabriel down to Grants Pass for his QB camp, the show seeks to introduce Oregon football to the Big Ten world with the highest production value imaginable.

It’s made by Oregon, so it obviously looks pretty, but believe me when I tell you that it has substance coming out of its ears.

In episode one, we watched Tosh take the edge rushers to Haystack Rock for a tough sand workout.

And in the next episode, we heard strength coach Wilson Love’s story of injury, recovery, and redemption.

In the most recent installment, in a sequence that was tailor-made with me in mind, Drew Mehringer took the whole team on a run to Hayward Field to sit them down and duck-splain the fact that Oregon football played all of their home games from 1919 - 1966 right there in Hayward field.

Now, if only he had used the term, “Knothole Gang,” to describe the fans like my grandfather that snuck into those games, then my life would’ve been complete.

“Football Is Fun.” An actual ad for Oregon football in 1953. They’ve come a long way.

I suppose I’ll just have to settle for a basically perfect and increasingly rare glimpse into 1) my favorite team, and also 2) a really, really good team.

They’ve done it again, folks.

The Oregon propaganda machine still finds a way to deliver a meticulously controlled message while making it seem fresh and ultra-exclusive.

I’ll leave you with a link to the first episode, and wish you the best of luck over the next hour and a half of your life as you binge it all.

Go Ducks.