Dan Lanning shares importance of getting all commits to sign

Dan Lanning has pieced together one of the top recruiting classes in the country through the early singing period. Flipping two prospects on signing day and losing none — the Oregon headman revealed the true significance of signing every verbal commit in his 2024 class.

“I just think it speaks to the consistency of, you know, of our approach, and ultimately, you always want to focus on the guys you get and not the guys you don’t,” Lanning said on Wednesday. “And we did a good job of identifying targets that fit our needs of what we were looking for but also fit our values of what we want in this program.”

Overall, Oregon has the No. 3 recruiting class nationally as of this report, thanks in part to Oregon making those late flips. Four-star wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan’s commitment followed by fellow four-star wideout Ryan Pellum‘s now sees him as the Ducks’ third-highest rated recruit in the 2024 class behind EDGE Elijah Rushing (N0. 38 overall) and DL Aydin Breland (46).

This also makes McClellan and Pellum one of four incoming receivers coming to Oregon next season, joining Dillon Gresham and Jack Ressler. The class also ranks No. 1 in the Big Ten, eclipsing Ohio State’s No. 4 overall-ranked incoming class after jumping four spots in the On3 Industry Ranking after the two wideout flips.

But how did Lanning manage to pull two major flips like this off at nearly the same time? The Ducks head coach provided a brief recap on what happens in the make-or-break moments of a kids recruitment.

“You keep your phone plugged in, right? It was a lot of work,” Lanning continued. “It’s a lot of work for our staff, a lot of work for our you know, everybody here in the program, but that’s the way these days are supposed to look right. It requires hard work to be able to, you know, get results and, like again, I can’t praise our staff enough for doing a great job.”

It’s not just on the staff to make the athletes want to come to Oregon — it’s no secret that the recruits want to be in Eugene, themselves. It’s Lanning’s job to get the most out of them once they get there, however.

“I can’t commend the players that made the decision to come to Oregon, every one of them certainly won’t regret it. We’re gonna give them our best every day,” he said.