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Great article David, and I forgot about the expanded number of officials visits, and how that helps us enormously. How many coaches double, and triple-down on "I'm not leaving" as Lanning has. I agree that in a very unstable business--hearing that is certainly another recruiting advantage.

Recruits pay attention to the coaching carousel that takes place each year. When DL emphatically takes his name off the list for “prestigious” HC opportunities, it resonates with the recruits, and their parents. His promise of a family type team environment, an opportunity to play at the highest college level, and the opportunity to move on to the NFL have a proven track record. Oregon is not a stepping stone for DL. As a fan, I respect how he handles his business.

Absolutely, the fact that Lanning isn't leaving gives recruits the peace of mind knowing that he is highly likely to be there for their entire career. Just think of all the other coaches since Bellotti at Oregon, only one other coach gave players that feeling they were going to be there for their entire college career, Mark Helfrich. Now, in the end it wasn't up to him as he was fired but if it was a decision up to him he wasn't leaving. Lanning isn't leaving. If he wasn't leaving for Bama he isn't leaving for any other program. Recruits know that and the way he recruits is also worth noting, again ran out of space, but he has a full staff recruiting method. Sure, the "primary" recruiter is often the position coach but the reality is that he uses the whole staff to recruit each recruit. There is a reason why Oregon lost BOTH coordinators in Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi and lost ZERO recruits. Are recruits disappointed, probably, but they are invested in the entire program and the staff and not on just one recruiter. Contrast that with the Ohio State and the Chris Henry Jr. saga where Oregon almost managed to flip a recruit who has been committed to Ohio State for years all because the recruitment opened up in the loss of their wide receiver's coach and offensive coordinator. If Oregon was willing to spend a considerable amount of additional NIL funds they probably could have pulled off the flip.

Riley has his QB, Maiva, coming back. OBD will see Maiva in LA in 2026. Fortunately, Riley and Maiva will not be making Lemonade. 😁The Biletnikoff award winner is off to the NFL. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/jayden-maiava-usc-trojans-lincoln-riley-2026-season-transfer-portal/

Moore on Dante. A good guy who made a bet on himself that will pay off. ESPN.com'It's OK to wait your turn': How a gap year paid off for...After transferring from UCLA, the five-star QB welcomed a year as the Ducks' backup to reset his career.

Bob Chesney is going with all Neu coaches at UCLA. 😁OBD OC and DC have distractions but not main man Dan. Larry Brown SportsUCLA gets rid of beloved coach as Bob Chesney cleans houseIncoming UCLA coach Bob Chesney is making big changes to the staff, and that includes parting ways with a very popular coach. Tight ends coach and interim

A CBS mock draft has Mendoza as the first selection and Dante as the second. 14 Big Ten players drafted in the 1st round. 43.75% is SEC-like. This mock has 8 SEC players going in the 1st round. QUACK! 4 Ducks in the 1st round - Dante, Sadiq, Washington, Pregnon, and 5 Buckeyes https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2026-nfl-mock-draft-giants-trade-no-1-pick-qbs-edge-rushers/?ftag=SNL-04-10aaa0b&ET_CID=499308&ET_RID=52482716

One of the significant things we see with Lanning is he doesn't seem to periodically flirt with other programs in the manner that even Coach Belloti did. So far, each time the question of leaving OBD arises, Lanning doesn't deflect the question or make bad jokes, like Chip Kelly did. He looks EVERYONE straight in the eye, and talks about promises, family, and how DAMN GREEN the grass is in Eugene, Oregon. CDL appears to be cut from a much finer grade of raw material than most college football followers have witnessed. I believe players, coaches, and others respect that.

QBs on the move with more (not Moore) to come. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-transfer-portal-2025-26-quarterback-market-reset/?ftag=SNL-04-10aaa0b&ET_CID=499308&ET_RID=52482716

Would Akili Smith Jr be ready if needed? It's inconceivable to me that a quarterback school like UO hasn't had a home grown recruit ready to play since Herbert in 2016. Even back when the Ducks were struggling in the 80's they had Chris Miller and Bill Musgrave. Nearly every Duck QB from Miller in 84 to Dixon in 07 was at least drafted in the NFL. How is it possible that QB recruiting and development has regressed so bad since then? Miller, Musgrave Graziani, O Neil, Feeley, Harington, Clemens, Dixon, Thomas, Mariota, and Herbert all would have been ready to sling it all over the yard next year in their sophomore year. Something really doesn't add up.

The expanded off field staff and Malchow have made HUGE impacts. Yes!

Thank you, David. Thank you, Charles. Write On!

There are composite rankings, 247 Sports, for example, that combine both. Today's roster rankings often include both, but the Blue Chip Roster calculation, 50% or more of a roster made up by 4* and 5* recruits, does not include transfers.

If Moore returns he's probably a #1 consensus for the Heisman. If the Ducks don't win the CFP this year I would think that it would be a personal challenge to him to return for unfinished goals. Seems to me the only thing is the $$$$$$ if he goes pro but that's always going to be there. Drew Allar came back for $$$ NIL money and unfinished business but that didn't turn out very good for him. Gotta think that same scenario is going through Moores head as well.

I don't think it was as much that he turned down the job as much as it is that it proved that he's going to stay here for a time. Recruits have known what Oregon is about for a while, but Lanning being very direct that he isn't going anywhere for the near future means that recruits probably feel more comfortable committing. This is especially true after having multiple coaches leave.

This article in the NYT via The Athletic might be worthy of its own topic line as it compares the money out-money in economics of all 12 CFP teams, with an emphasis on Oregon v JMU. It gives a sobering look at the money involved to get a team to the top of FBS conferences, but also debunks the accusations that Oregon simply buys it's players when compared to other winning programs. How do College Football Playoff teams compare financially? The gap can be tens of millions - The Athletic https://share.google/TAW0IYe9EwQVO699i

Oregon was one of the first teams to really embrace the new GM model for sure and that's been a huge benefit to recruiting. But a normal article is typically a max of 1000 words this one is closer to 1.6k and Charles is good enough to let me write longer stuff from tike to time but I ran out of room. But you are absolutely correct the addition of Malchow has been huge for the program. We don't see his work but is work is on display every single day. I probably should have added a section about players reaching the NFL as well. Right now Oregon has three starting QBs in the NFL in Herbert, Nix and Mariota. Gabriel har some starts this season and I know he was injured but I have honestly lost track of his status at the moment but I know he didn't start last last weekend. And that's just the quarterbacks there are loads of other Ruck ambassadors in the league as models for the aspirations of future Ducks.

I disagree as Johnson has been an awesome weapon when the linebackers are more focused on Sadiq. Also getting this depth back means we can spread the ball around more and run it more effectively as Uw stacked the box and negated our run game. TTU could do the same thing if we dont have reliable downfield passing. All love to Sadiq but he's not getting more than 15 yards before the ball comes his way, kind of the same with JMac. His best routes are 15-20 yards from LoS and usually to the outside, GBJ is phenomenal in the seam/slot area. Maybe I'm overthinking it but TTU scares me as much as Indiana defensively at least.

Agreed, it feels like we only have 2 wide receivers on the field since Wisconsin.

George Wrighster indicated that he has heard that Sam Leavitt’s teammates do not like him. Luckily Coach Lanning has a pretty good relationship with ASU’s HC so I’m sure he’ll get honest feedback on whether he would be a good locker room fit…

Someone mentioned that Raiola transferred to 4 high schools (played at 3) and committed to 3 college teams before enrolling at Nebraska and playing for 2 years. This indicates that he is restless and is always looking for something else. No, thank you.

Is it just me or does it seem like interest in Oregon from top blue chip recruits, from coast to coast, reached a new level once Coach Lanning turned down the Alabama job? Perhaps it piqued their interest and made them want to check out Oregon for themselves, a little bit more …

I would also add the hiring of Chief of Staff/GM Marshall Malchow, who served in a similar capacity at Texas A+M, Georgia and Alabama. Lanning understands that building a championship-caliber team today goes far beyond the football field. “This isn’t the same college football it was ten years ago,” Lanning recently told reporters. “You’ve got to build an organization, not just a team. And that means having the right people in the building.” https://www.lexsportnews.com/2025/07/14/dan-lanning-talks-gm-model-nil-and-building-a-powerhouse-at-oregon/

It sure looks like DL is going to have THE top class this year. One needs to include the Transfer Portal as well, right? Oregon just might have the top class going forward, with this recipe, for a long time.