Dan Lanning breaks down transfer portal philosophies, building team for Big Ten

Oregon has come away as one of the biggest winners of the offseason transfer portal frenzy.

Landing two of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 portal cycle, a former Five Star Plus+ wide receiver and one of the biggest breakout defensive backs in the Pac-12 last season — Dan Lanning has his bases covered when it comes to plugging holes with ready-made talent for next season.

“Find guys that make your program better. [Players that will] enhance character in your program and create competition,” Lanning told PicKell. “For us, we still always want to build it from the ground up. We want to find a great high school class, but competition is necessary to get the best out of people.

“We want to create that competition and find ways to enhance our roster and make sure we don’t have holes when you step on the field on Saturday, it’s the thing that gives us our best chance of being successful.”

The transfer portal additions of QBs Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore, WR Evan Stewart and DB Jabbar Muhammad, among others, have slotted the Ducks with the No. 6 overall transfer portal class as of this report, according to On3’s rankings.

It’s not just the transfer portal — as Lanning has seen success in the high school recruiting scene as well. Locking up the No. 4 overall recruiting class during the 2024 cycle, Lanning has landed some big-time talent out wide, one the defensive and offensive lines. His team is shaping up nicely ahead of the Ducks’ jump to the Big Ten Conference.

“Winning football starts up front,” Lanning continued. “If you want to be a team that’s recognized as a tough team, a team that can control the line of scrimmage — you have to have great players up front. You have to have size, you have to have strength in the front and that’s what we’ve looked to recruit.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to put multiple guys in those positions and that’s going to create, again, more one on ones for players, a better opportunity to reestablish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively. Give your guys outside a chance to win whether it’s in the secondary or wideout, give your backs a chance to run or linebackers to play clean.”

With Lanning’s recruiting success on full display, the Ducks are expected to be a legitimate contender in the Big Ten from day one. Although, he now has to compete for recruits and transfers against teams like Michigan and Ohio State.