Why fans should buy stock in Dan Lanning at Oregon

Once USC and UCLA bolt for the Big Ten, you could argue Oregon will become the class of the Pac-12. Head coach Dan Lanning has the ball rolling in Eugune, securing 10 wins in his first season. There are high expectations heading into 2023, with the Ducks looking to compete nationally.

On3’s J.D. PicKell is looking further down the line though, wanting to buy stock in Oregon. His main reason is how well Lanning is recruiting early in his tenure. Lanning has plenty of SEC experience when recruiting and has brought the same mentality with him to the Pacific Northwest.

“Long-term, I am buying stock in Oregon,” PicKell said. “I’m buying stock in Oregon for a few reasons. The first of which being — they’re going to recruit. How do I know they’re going to recruit? Because Dan Lanning in a very short period of time has proven he’s going to recruit. He doesn’t care where he does it. He’ll go anywhere to recruit.”

Oregon’s 2023 class finished No. 8 in the country with just a 3% in-state rate. Ten incoming freshmen come from the state of California, while Texas, Florida, and over West Coast states feature.

Lanning is doing the same early in the 2024 class, landing players from sea to shining sea. In an era where recruiting nationally is becoming more common, Oregon has been one of the best in the country over the past two cycles.

J.D. PicKell buying into the personality of Dan Lanning

Whenever a coach takes over a program, his personality quickly becomes the culture. Especially heading into a second season when there has been time to reset the roster and bring in your own guys. Winning 10 games and getting buy-in helps as well.

With Lanning, PicKell describes the Oregon head coach as “tough.” He is buying into the method, saying it’s going to reflect when the Ducks take the field on Saturdays.

“His persona is tough,” PicKell said. “Tough, gritty, blue collar, hard hat, and lunch pail. Let’s go get it. Let’s go get what we’re supposed to get. Rosters, teams as a whole — they take on the persona of their coach.”

“Tough” is going to be something Oregon becomes if they are going to compete for a national championship. We saw the level during last year’s opener against Georgia, getting smacked around from start to finish. That’s not where Lanning has his team now.

When the 12-team College Football Playoff comes around, PicKell believes Oregon will be ready. Lanning will have implemented his ways by then and they will not be like Pac-12 teams we have seen in the past.

“The College Football Playoff, when that expands, will bless the good people of Euguene,” PicKell said. “The way they’re building this thing, when they get to the College Football Playoff — there’s that narrative that’s the soft Pac-12 and they’re going to show up and get ran through by whatever SEC or Big Ten team they play.

“That may be true historically but the way Dan Lanning is building this thing — I don’t expect that to be the case for these Ducks.”