‘We’ll continue to adapt:’ Oregon Ducks embrace challenges that NIL and transfer portal create

It’s no secret the new NIL rules and the revamped transfer portal have transformed the game of college football in a significant way.

Players now have more control than ever, with the ability to make real money off their name, image, and likeness, while also having more freedom to pursue other opportunities via the transfer portal.

For coaches who have been in the business for decades, these new changes are no doubt daunting and frustrating, which led to a lot of said coaches voicing their displeasure.

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However, for Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning, it is a part of his new role as a first-time head coach, and he is embracing the challenge with the same attitude he has carried into everything in Eugene — a willingness to adapt.

“I think as a coach and just as someone who is operating in today’s landscape in college football, you have to be willing to adapt and change,” Lanning told assembled media on national signing day. “Ask questions, don’t assume that you know everything. I think we kind of worked through that process together and were able to put a great staff together that sees the big picture. I think it starts there; that everybody has a similar vision as we approach it. Each team right now, I think there’s a lot of teams that don’t know what direction this will head, and everyone’s taking a different approach.”

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Allowing athletes to profit off their own NIL was a long time coming. It was clearly problematic that a billion-dollar industry, profiting directly off the backs of these hard-working college students, was not funneling a single penny of that money to the athletes themselves.

While Oregon’s connection to Nike affords them the opportunity to entice student-athletes to Eugene, the transfer portal is certainly not a one-way street.

One of the big reasons players advocated for changes to the transfer portal was the frustration of committing to play for a certain coach, only for that coach to take a new job with zero repercussions. Meanwhile, the athletes themselves weren’t able to leave without sitting out a year at their new destination.

Mario Cristobal’s departure from Oregon definitely had a direct impact on the Ducks’ roster, as a huge chunk of current players and incoming recruits changed their minds after Cristobal went home to Miami.

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Lanning acknowledged the significant changes the transfer portal has created in college football, but once again viewed those changes through a positive lens, suggesting his team could exploit other teams’ desire to add via the portal by being even more aggressive about recruiting high school kids.

“You can see it, there are less high school players being recruited at times,” Lanning said. “That can be an advantage for us because we’re going to be aggressive in recruiting high school players. I think teams can change their rosters quickly. It’s a little bit of a balancing act.”

While there may be groups of people in the Oregon fanbase who are a bit wary of the fact that Lanning is just 35 years old with zero head-coaching experience, that youth may be a positive in certain areas. An ability to diagnose the current landscape and find the best and most aggressive path forward is certainly a place where that youth can be an advantage.

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“At the end of the day, you can look at our approach, and we’re going to look to enhance our program through the transfer portal, but we’re also going spend more time looking to enhance our program through the high school signings,” Lanning continued. “I don’t know if every program is approaching it that same way, but we still want to be able to develop players. But it’s going to change year to year, and I think we’ll continue to adapt our approach as we move forward.”

Of course, Lanning admits the full scope of these changes around the NCAA — and his particular strategy — won’t be apparent for a few years, when he has been in a head coaching role for a full recruiting cycle.

“I don’t know that we’ll completely know the entire impact until we sit here four years from now and do an analysis of what it’s looked like,” Lanning said. “For us, we’re going to continue to evaluate. I’m not going to have a hard stance one way or the other until we know how it impacts us and benefits us.”

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