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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Oregon coach Dan Lanning has heard the comments about the school’s name, image and likeness program, which helped add notable transfers like Dillon Gabriel, Dante Moore and Evan Stewart.
Even Lanning’s former boss, Georgia coach Kirby Smart, mentioned Oregon’s NIL program and chief benefactor Phil Knight, joking at SEC media days that he wishes he “could get some of that NIL money he’s giving Dan Lanning.”
Others have wondered whether Oregon’s NIL pool is limitless.
“The reality is, find a top-10 team in college football right now that doesn’t have great support,” Lanning, who was Georgia’s defensive coordinator before coming to Oregon, told ESPN on Thursday. “Do we have a lot more than everybody else? I think that’d be an exaggeration or we’d never lose. Everyone else right now is focused on our ice cream cone, and if I’m busy looking at theirs, that means mine’s melting.”
Lanning added that Oregon will always have a chance to sign top players, and that defending national champion Michigan produced the most players selected in the 2024 NFL draft. The Wolverines had a team-record 13 players selected.
“I’m sure there’s a correlation, right?” Lanning said. “Is our situation different than other teams in the nation? Absolutely. Is our team’s situation different than the premier teams in the nation? Probably not. And that’s OK. We want to be in that [group].”
Oregon’s NIL situation might not be different, but the program’s overall approach will be, as Lanning used “mighty different” as a motto of sorts as the Ducks enter the Big Ten.
The Ducks generated attention as Big Ten media days began this week when a giant inflatable duck appeared floating on White River in Indianapolis, near NCAA headquarters and Lucas Oil Stadium.
Lanning called the duck “pretty badass” and hoped to take it to Oregon’s road games this season.
“We don’t want to come in and be a team that follows the trends; we want to be a team that sets the trends,” Lanning told ESPN. “That just means studying yourself and how you can improve. It’ll be a learning experience.”
Lanning stressed the need to finish seasons stronger. He’s 22-5 at the school, but three of the losses came on Nov. 12 or later. He said Oregon’s expectations don’t change with the College Football Playoff expanding from four to 12 teams.
“At the end of the day, you control your destiny by winning at the end of the year,” he said.