{"id":100637,"date":"2025-07-28T23:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100637\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T23:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:51:15","slug":"oregon-ducks-transfer-safety-dillon-thieneman-on-new-leadership-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100637\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Ducks Transfer Safety Dillon Thieneman On New Leadership Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oregon Ducks<\/a> enter their second season in the Big Ten hungry to taste the same kind of success they experienced a season ago. Amidst a lot of roster turnover, the Ducks added another dangerous weapon in safety Dillon Thieneman.<\/p>\n

Thieneman was one of dozens of Oregon players who spoke to the media at the program\u2019s media day on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Dillon<\/p>\n

Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Dillon Thieneman (31) reacts after a Penn State Nittany Lions touchdown Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, during the NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Penn State Nittany Lions won 49-10. \/ Alex Martin\/Journal and Courier \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The transfer<\/a> Thieneman might be new to Eugene, but the safety brings prior experience to a defensive back room with a handful of younger players.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing in here, I feel like I needed to earn my place to the new guys, to prove myself,\u201d Thieneman said. \u201cAll the experience I have from my past two years, I wanted to use that as a platform to kind of be a leader and help the younger guys who don\u2019t have as much experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dillon<\/p>\n

Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Cooper Flanagan (87) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Kevin Bauman (84) celebrates in front of Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Dillon Thieneman (31) after a Notre Dame Fighting Irish touchdown Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, during the NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Notre Dame Fighting Irish won 66-7. \/ Alex Martin\/Journal and Courier \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The former Purdue Boilermaker joins the Ducks heading into his junior season. Thieneman comes off a standout sophomore season with the Boilermakers, leading all Big Ten defensive backs with 104 tackles and tallying seven pass breakups.<\/p>\n

Thieneman said it\u2019s a balance between proving himself to his peers while also stepping up as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the spring, I feel like I got a lot closer with the guys. There\u2019s like that completion there,\u201d Thieneman said. \u201cAnd what we need to do with the leadership stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow defensive back Jadon Canady said during media day that him and Thieneman have spent a lot of time together since arriving to Eugene, helping mentor some of the younger players in the secondary.<\/p>\n

Oregon\u2019s defense played a key role in its 13-1 finish in 2024. The Ducks lost a handful of defensive starters from last season, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like chemistry has been really good,\u201d Thieneman said. \u201cI feel like we\u2019re kind of chill with each other and we\u2019ll be a lot closer in fall camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Dan Lanning<\/a> added several prominent defensive players from the transfer portal, including the star safety. Ole Miss transfer Jadon Canady and Northwestern transfer Theran Johnson also joined the Oregon secondary.<\/p>\n

MORE: What Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning, Teammates Said About ‘Unbelievable’ Dakorien Moore<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: Kirk Herbstreit Predicts Which Cleveland Browns Quarterbacks Won’t Be Cut<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: Updated Recruiting Rankings After Oregon Ducks Land 5-Star Commitment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: How Quarterback Bo Nix Performed In Denver Broncos’ NFL Training Camp So Far<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Thieneman heads into the fall as the highest-ranked Oregon player by Pro Football Focus (PFF), ranking No. 25 in the preseason. He starred as a freshman at Purdue, earning an 89.5 overall PFF grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this scheme it\u2019s very important to be very vocal and communicate with the linebackers and the corners,\u201d Thieneman said. \u201cYou have to have that knowledge and communication, anticipation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dillon<\/p>\n

Combat Ducks running back Noah Whittington, left, breaks past Fighting Ducks defensive back Jahlil Florence and defensive back Aaron Flowers as the Fighting Ducks face off against Mighty Oregon in the Oregon Ducks spring game on April 26, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. \/ Ben Lonergan\/The Register-Guard \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Lanning has repeated to the media throughout the past week that 2025 theme is double down. Even though Thieneman wasn\u2019t a part of the 2024 Oregon team\u2019s success, he comes in equally motivated to build off the Ducks\u2019 process from previous years. <\/p>\n

\u201cEmbrace the change,\u201d Thieneman said. \u201cKnow that things are going to be a little different, but I\u2019m in a new place and I\u2019m ready to get out to the field and show what I can do. I know I got two years behind me, but I still got a lot more that I need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thieneman is set to take the field for his first official game with the Ducks against Montana State on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oregon Ducks enter their second season in the Big Ten hungry to taste the same kind of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":100638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-100637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114933549289074120","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}