The Oregon Ducks are quietly separating themselves in one of the most important areas of the new transfer portal and NIL era of college football.

The Oregon Ducks are quietly separating themselves in one of the most important areas of the new era of college football: retention in the transfer portal era under coach Dan Lanning.

At first glance, the 2026 transfer portal numbers raised eyebrows. After back-to-back transfer classes were ranked in the top-5, the Ducks' 2026 class ranked No. 25. Oregon saw 30 players depart after both coordinators took head coaching roles elsewhere and added 13 transfers for the 2026 cycle.

In today’s college football landscape, those unbalanced numbers can trigger concern. However, analyzing the transfer class shows that Oregon “won” in the portal ... and college football GMs and NIL decision makers took note.

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Oregon Ducks Emerge As Transfer Portal Winner According T...

The Oregon Ducks are quietly separating themselves in one of the most important areas of the new era of college football: retention in the transfer portal era u

Thank you, NJ.

Roster management in today's CFB is, in itself, a full-time job. Not losing a starter with poachers on the prowl is a rare accomplishment.

If you are only picking from the portal, you can go 13-0 as did FSU in 2023, but you can also crash and burn like FSU in 2024 and 2025.

Rather than deal with the roster turnover and the demands from parents and agents, one of Dan Lanning's mentors, Nick Saban, walked away from the game. Dan is wisely following the model of another mentor, Kirby Smart, who uses the portal as necessary to fill holes in the roster.

Thanks for another terrific post.

DL is a definitely a players coach. He hit the ground running when he was hired, and has been growing into his position.

His focus is on relationships, and development. The fact that he is accessible to his players goes a long ways in keeping key personnel here at Oregon.

I know I have confidence in his ability to win a championship. Just need to win that last game of the season.

Returning Production for B1G teams - Note that in 2025, Penn State and Clemson were among the leaders in returning production.

Maryland is No. 1 in the B1G and 2nd in the nation. But other than QB Washington, what team wants the 2025 players who turtled back in 2026?

Twerps do not = Terrifying Terps.

https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2026/03/24/oregon-football-big-ten-returning-production/89294693007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SMGbaseline&utm_term