Dan Lanning, Pat McAfee Talk NIL, Dillon Gabriel, Big Ten Travel, & More

Why Could Oregon be the Next Dynasty in College Football

Shortly after completing a round of interviews at Big Ten Conference Media Days, Oregon Football Head Coach Dan Lanning joined the Pat McAfee Show in-studio to talk about a variety of topics relevant to the Ducks.

On transitioning away from Bo Nix after his two years in Eugene:

“There’s something to experience … especially when you talk about big games and Bo obviously had experience but now we have a guy in Dillon Gabriel who has a lot of experience … it’ll be new but we gotta lean in on each player’s strengths.”

It’s hard to overstate the value of having seen it before in college football, especially at the quarterback position.

Lanning & Co. seem to be keenly aware of this as they transitioned directly from the most experienced quarterback in college football history to a new starter who, provided health, will break Nix’s starts record in 2024.

On the “unlimited NIL” moniker and its accuracy:

“I don’t think we’d ever lose a recruiting battle if that was the case. I think it’s impressive that guys like Kirby (Smart) have been signing the No. 1 class in the nation without any NIL money this entire time. So impressive.”

I love to see Lanning getting loose like this and clapping back at the online detractors who claim the only reason Oregon is recruiting well is because of its financial resources.

On the travel demands of the Big Ten Conference:

“Wherever the game’s at, that’s where we’re gonna play it. I think the conference has done a great job of trying to make sure teams aren’t going too too far. There are some trips that are gonna happen but they’ve done a great job of saying ‘okay you’re gonna travel coast to coast maybe once every two years.”

With the resources available to modern major college football programs, I think the travel issue has been wildly overblown.

Sounds like Lanning is on the same page.

On the viral pre-game speech against Colorado last season:

“As a coach your job is always to motivate your team. I knew how they felt in that moment. We wanted to go out there and perform. We certainly talk to the team every week and the message is sometimes different. Sometimes you gotta have a little bit of juice, sometimes you don’t.”

I suspect Lanning is underselling the amount of motivation that goes into every game but he certainly acknowledges that that week may have had a little extra flair.

On organizational differences between the Big Ten and the Pac-12:

“It’s where alignment really matters. I remember sitting at those Pac-12 meetings and it felt like everyone had a gun under the table. Now being part of the Big Ten, Commissioner Tony Petitti and the job he’s doing, having a little vision down the road I think is really important.”

There’s a lot to unpack in this answer. The point about the guns under the table rings true as there was a whole group of teams looking at bailing for other conferences but in the meantime had to appear ten toes down on a conference that was clearly losing.

As for the vision piece, it’s one that I think a lot of Oregon fans are feeling the benefits of right now as the Big Ten has done a far better job than most conferences in setting itself up to be successful in the future.

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