Dan Lanning says Oregon is 'fortunate' to have NIL opportunities for players

It’s not the only thing, but Dan Lanning recognizes how important NIL has become to convincing players to join your program.

Alas, Oregon is doing pretty well in that department, and Lanning’s first season in Eugene was a huge success. Now, the Ducks are looking to build on that, and their coach isn’t one that’s going to ignore the NIL-sized elephant in the room.

During his press conference earlier this week, Lanning spoke about how Oregon is “fortunate” to be able to afford NIL opportunities for their players, something that’s sorely needed nowadays.

“I think any program that doesn’t look to take care of their players and look for opportunities to enhance their experience in a world where that exists is going to fall behind,” stated Lanning. “We’re fortunate to be at a place that’s innovative in their approach and does a great job of trying to create opportunities. It’s never going to be the end all, be all. In fact, if that’s the reason you’re picking here, we don’t want you here.

“But do we have great opportunities for our student-athletes here? Absolutely. I wouldn’t want to be at a place that didn’t.”

Dan Lanning isn’t one that’s going to fall behind the times. Oregon is moving forward in good hands in 2022 is any indication, and the Ducks are ready for more success next season.

Dan Lanning stresses importance of keeping in-state talent in Oregon

First-year coach Dan Lanning won 10 games with Oregon and then signed a top-10 recruiting class, an excellent start for a program that has the potential to run the Pac-12 when firing on all cylinders. One way to get there is keeping in-state talent in Oregon.

There may not be a ton of it, but Lanning wants to make sure the Ducks protect their home recruiting grounds.

“Sometimes the thing that gets lost at a place like Oregon is the feeling of pride in performance because there’s not necessarily (guys that) grew up being a hometown team for a lot of people,” Lanning said.

But that’s not to say there isn’t occasionally talent in Oregon’s backyard that is worth defending.

One example in the 2023 class is three-star edge rusher Teitum Tuioti, who signed and enrolled from nearby Sheldon High School in Eugene, Ore.

“I think the guys that we’re able to bring in from Sheldon, there’s a little bit of pride in performance,” Lanning said. “There’s a little bit a piece of wearing that ‘O’ means a little bit something more to them.”