Oregon has just finished signing the third-ranked recruiting class in the 2026 cycle, according to Rivals. However, based on player average score, Oregon has the best average. The Ducks broke a record number of five-star recruits with five, and have just as many five-star recruits as they do three-stars. Even Mr. FishDuck paused from his investigation into quick money support ...

Five Factors That Built Oregon Into a Recruiting Juggernaut

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.

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/

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by OregonDucks

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 …

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by OregonDucks

55 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

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/

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.

1 hour ago, OregonDucks said:

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 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.

2 hours ago, 1Funduck said:

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.

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.

1 hour ago, David Marsh said:

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.

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

2 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

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/

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

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.

1 hour ago, woundedknees said:

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.

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.