Oregon Media Day: Ducks Address the Press

The 2017 Oregon Media Day took place at the Country Club from Autzen Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Head coach Willie Taggart addressed the press at 2:30 p.m. before most of the team joined him.

Fall camp will open eight days earlier than it did last year. With the rule change that made two-a-day practices illegal, every college team will get a jump on the season a bit earlier than usual.

Entering his first season with the Ducks, Taggart has massive expectations for himself. It will take some time until the program is completely full of his commits. For now, he’s excited for the opportunity to play with guys he didn't recruit like Royce Freeman, Justin Herbert, Charles Nelson and Troy Dye.

Media Day means the start of a new season. The Oregon program has renewed hope heading into the 2017-18 campaign and it all starts with their leaders; the coaching staff.

The Ducks addressed the media and here are Taggart’s positive statements heading into fall practice on Monday morning.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

HEAD COACH WILLIE TAGGART

Taggart: Everybody ready? Good afternoon. I think I’ve seen a couple of you guys the other day. Thanks for being here. Well, it’s Christmas in July. Usually, it’s in August, but with the new rule (no more two-a-days), we kind of speed up Christmas.

Very excited for the 2017 season. Looking forward to tomorrow. Actually, looking forward to tonight. Meeting with our guys and getting ready for tomorrow’s practice. Getting up in the morning, eating meetings, rule meetings. Very excited about that meeting. You know, rules are very, very important so looking forward to discussing that with our players to make sure we are all on the same page and ready to roll.

Really excited about this training camp. My guys have done a great job this offseason of working together and training their bodies to get ready for training camp.

I think training camp is a time when we can all come together as a football team and mold what this 2017 football team is going to be about. Throughout that process, there is going to be a lot of competition. That’s how we want it around here.

Again, I’m excited. I’m excited for the guys that participated in the spring and also excited for the freshmen that weren't here.

It’s go time. The honeymoon is over and we’re ready to roll.

We'll continue to post brand new interviews with Taggart on a daily basis.

ATQ will have updates, breaking news, and photo/video live feeds on Twitter for the entirety of fall camp. The Quack Addict will give fans an inside look at Oregon football beginning at 10:00 a.m. PT on Monday morning from the outdoor practice facility.

Stay tuned on Instagram @eugene_levys_eyebrows and Twitter @TheQuackFiend