Oregon took the annual spring game to the next level on Saturday, undoubtedly assisted by the graces of mother nature. Mid-April is always hard to predict weather-wise in the northwest, but on Saturday it cooperated, bringing sunny skies and temperatures nearing the 70s.

The attendance was estimated to be 42,000, and even if that is on the liberal side, it isn’t debatable on whether or not this was one of the most attended spring game in Ducks history. The success of this event was driven by the excitement surrounding new head coach Dan Lanning and by a great deal of improving the wheel.

Laying the groundwork, Lanning and his staff continued to take reaching out to former players and staff to a new level. That’s not to say that the last staff didn’t open the doors to former players and coaches, but Lanning and company seem to be putting in an extra gear of effort.

Four former NFL Ducks were placed in charge of play calling for part of the spring game. De’Anthony Thomas, Arik Armstead, Haloti Ngata, and LaMichael James all returned with the chance to man the play-calling on their respective sides of the ball in the fourth quarter.

Other former players and even a head coach (with the field named after him) were in attendance. Rich Brooks helped with the opening coin toss, and the former players spent time interacting with fans.

Included on that list of players was Jeremiah Johnson, Jaylon Redd, Chad Cota, Tony Washington Jr., Dennis Dixon, Dwayne Stanford, Penei Sewell, Kenjon Barner, John Boyett, Dino Philyaw, Ugo Amadi, Jeff Maehl, Lavasier Tunei, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Ed Dickson, Alex Molden, and Walter Thurmond III. Oregon made graphics to announce each of these former player visitors, which eventually turned into a meme used by Oregon fans on Twitter:

The next piece of the puzzle came in creating the atmosphere and capitalizing on the other Oregon sporting events. The sporting events were pretty much set, but the timing worked out perfectly with a track meet at Hayward, a baseball game at PK, a softball game at the Jane, and even a soccer match at Pape Field. If that wasn’t enough, the Ducks booked a live band, Common Kings, to play at the HDC following the Spring Game. All of these events combined were branded under the hashtag, #DuckDay.

Lanning and staff didn't look to change everything, just to improve it. You could see that stance in the maintaining of old traditions, like working with Food for Lane County to collect donations before the game and in having players give away their jerseys post game to Military members. Where Oregon once again grew was in attention to detail, by adding in more social media presence with their players to push people to donate (more).

This really is a chess-like move, as it not only helps a very worthy cause, but it also is developing the name of these players, which makes them more marketable for NIL.

New events were included to add to the excitement and attempt to draw fans to Eugene. Each of these promotional events were player and location focused (namely, getting people to Autzen). The first marketing event (to get people to the lots) was #LaMikesTailgate, a chance for fans to win free gear from none other than LaMichael James himself. The second draw was a chance, or the ability to just watch, five fans race Darren Barkins in the 40-yard dash with a 10-yard head start. Already mentioned above, the addition of live music was another example of adding layers of in-person excitement to Saturday's event.

Leaving no stone unturned, Oregon added a bit of psychology to their marketing campaign, asking for fans to pick a side. The majority of the coaching and support staff, claimed their alliegence to a side in the week leading up to the game. This was done to get fans to plant their flag and become more emotionally invested in the game. There was some fun banter back and forth between the players and the coaches/staff, but one of the funniest moments came when husband and wife staffers "chose" opposite sides.

The "cheese on the top of the nachos"? This was all done with recruiting in mind, and by the reports of one of the players parents, there was an estimated 170 prospective student athletes visiting campus this weekend for the game.

Oregon didn't reinvent the Spring game, they just made it better to highlight what makes Oregon, Oregon. As offensive coordinator Kenny DIllingham said, "When it comes to football and when it comes to sports, it’s a true college town that can win championships. And if you’re out west, this is the only real college town that can win championships."

From a talent perspective, there probably hasn't been a bigger weekend in Oregon football history for recruiting. What might make it scarier for other Pac-12 teams is that I don't believe the Oregon staff intends to resting on its laurels. I'm not going to go into great detail on the recruiting part, I'll leave that for a later update in the coming days, but I'll leave you with a couple images from the recruiting efforts inside the HDC.