'The rabbit has the gun': Dan Lanning on Oregon's rise, Kirby Smart and Phil Knight's treasure chest

"There’s no one that I’ve ever wanted to go win more for than Phil and Penny Knight."

JJ Anderson photo/I-5 Corridor

EUGENE — Dan Lanning has heard what everyone has been saying about Oregon’s riches. 

How could he not? 

Two weeks ago, former Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel went on ESPN radio and claimed Phil Knight is supplying Oregon with unlimited NIL resources. A week later, Georgia coach Kirby Smart ran with that story at SEC media days, quipping that he wished he had “some of that NIL money that he’s been sharing with Dan Lanning,” later joking about his former defensive coordinator “having the treasure chest to open up and get whatever he wants.” 

Well, Lanning would like to make a couple of things clear. 

One: Yes, the Ducks are incredibly well-supported.

Two:

“I think anyone that thinks that we have unlimited NIL money is living in a fantasy world. I mean, that sounds awesome,” Lanning told The I-5 Corridor Thursday in his office. “We do have great support here. That’s no secret. But we’re not the highest bidder and we’re certainly not winning battles just because of NIL. It’s great that we’re going toe-to-toe with the big dogs because we are one.” 

Few dogs have had a bigger bark this offseason than Oregon. Coming off a 12-2 season, UO replenished its departing talent with, in many cases, better talent in the transfer portal. It secured its best recruiting class in program history in February. And the last few weeks have been a mixture of headlines about five-star commitments and predictions for just how good the Ducks could be in Lanning’s third season at the helm. They have the Heisman favorite at quarterback. They have guys in the trenches who are “drastically different,” Lanning says, than when he took over the program two seasons ago. When the AP Preseason Top 25 is released in August, the Ducks will very likely be a top-five team — a program projected to run right alongside Ohio State in the Big Ten’s new super-conference.

The Ducks are no longer a program built to peak every five years or so. They’re no longer a program that needs a blur offense, a once-in-a-generation quarterback and a prayer to contend with the high and mighties of the Southeast.

It’s a change in the status quo.

And if the well-read Lanning knows anything about the status quo, it’s that those relinquishing power don’t go quietly.

“I think that all of a sudden, the rabbit has the gun,” Lanning said. “And people don’t like the fact that we’re able to go into gunfights with a gun as well.”

Lanning always knew how far the Ducks had to come.

It was almost two years ago that the Ducks flew into Atlanta for Lanning’s first game as a head coach. Then, the No. 15 Ducks faced Georgia, who Lanning had just won the national championship with before his hiring in Eugene. That provided enough intrigue to make the game interesting enough until Georgia, with its roster filled with five-star talents, took the field.

The next 60 minutes were as if the varsity was playing the JV. The Bulldogs won 49-3 for reasons Smart outlined clearly the next week.

“He's gonna do a really good job at Oregon," Smart said of Lanning. “He's relentless. They'll bounce back from this, and he knows we have better players. He'll never say that, but he knows we've got better players.”

At the time, 77 percent of Georgia’s roster was comprised of blue-chip prospects (four-stars or better). Oregon’s roster sat at 56 percent — good enough for a solid debut season for Lanning, but not nearly deep enough to hang with football’s elites.

That needed to change.

“My job since I got here is to go get better players. That’s the job,” Lanning said. “I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re a better team now than we were two years ago. And that’s because you go recruit. We have a relentless staff that works their tail off and we develop. It’s just as important that you’re developing the players that you have on your roster, not just recruiting talented players.”

For the record, Georgia’s blue-chip numbers have increased over the last two seasons, now up to 80 percent. But no team in football has gained ground on the front of the pack like the Ducks, whose roster is now made up of 76 percent blue-chippers, with skill players harboring track speed and players in the trenches, such as the 6-foot-8, 365-pound freshman OL JaQawn McRoy, whose bodies just aren’t found naturally around the Northwest.

The Ducks pulled McRoy, the No. 95 player in his class, right out of Crimson Tide country in Pinson, Alabama.

“We’re a different team than we were two years ago. I think anybody that watches us can see that,” Lanning said. “Across the board, our team is more talented and deeper than it was when I first got here. And that always happens with transition. You’re going to have some guys that come and go and some guys who don’t fit exactly what you’ve done in the past. And my job next year is to make sure we’re even better next year. Our goal is to always out-recruit our team and then develop the guys already on our team into better versions of themselves.

“That’s the challenge, right? When Kirby first got to Georgia, his team then didn’t look at all like it does when you compare it to now. It’s a completely different team. That just means your program is growing. It’s getting better.”

After an offseason where Lanning’s name was linked to the Alabama job, which came after a season where Lanning’s name was linked to the Texas A&M job, which came after a different season where Lanning’s name was linked to the Auburn job, there’s a new feeling within Oregon’s walls.

Stability.

Remember, Chip Kelly left Oregon after his fourth season. Mark Helfrich was fired after his fourth year, Willie Taggart ditched after one and, after four consecutive seasons of saying some form of “We’re just getting started,” Mario Cristobal is now promising the world to fans in Miami.

Lanning is signed through 2028. To date, he’s never wavered on his commitment to Oregon. On Thursday, Lanning’s kids were running around the Hatfield Dowlin-Complex. Players, such as former five-star QB Dante Moore, walked around the building with “The Grass is Damn Green in Eugene” shirts on, the quote pulled from a video Lanning had posted back in January to shoot down the Alabama narrative. Staffers say Lanning challenges them but is rewarding to work for — and when I asked one for advice on how to approach our Thursday sit down, I was told that Lanning is “great” but that I should also make sure to ask the important questions first and not rely too much on small talk.

Lanning, simply, doesn’t have time for filler.

I found that to be true. He shrugged when I asked him how he felt about being turned into a bobblehead by the Eugene Emeralds this summer. If you want to know what it’s like to pick up after 100 football players who were just at your house for a barbeque — like they were on Tuesday night — Lanning will simply tell you he has a great staff.

What about favorite items in an office filled with signed helmets, jerseys and photos?

“Nah,” Lanning said.

And with two seasons under his belt, he’s certainly not going to be one to offer up some free rat poison.

“I don’t really care for that,” Lanning said. “We have higher expectations here than anywhere else and preseason accolades don’t mean shit. They don’t mean anything. We got to go play the game.”

Well, how about this one:

How much pressure is on you to get Phil Knight what he wants?

That, Lanning had time for.

“If you’ve ever sat down and talked to Phil, his goal forever was just for Oregon to be in the Rose Bowl,” Lanning said. “I don’t feel any undue pressure from Phil to overachieve, but I will say this — there’s no one that I’ve ever wanted to go win more for than Phil and Penny Knight. I certainly feel indebted to him that I have this opportunity.”

There are, of course, perks that come with such an opportunity. With the little free time he does have, Lanning has become an enthusiastic golfer. He’s got a golf simulator in his house and over the last two years has gotten to practice his craft on some of the country’s nicest golf courses.

“A guy from Richmond, Missouri has no business playing at Pebble Beach,” Lanning said.

But he did play there. Everyone else is just going to have to deal with it.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor