Dan Lanning gives interesting philosophy on transfer portal

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison08/09/22

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Dan Lanning is a first-time head coach at Oregon. That means that this is the first time he has had to manage a roster. With the transfer portal, this can be incredibly difficult. He’s leaning into it, though, with his own unique philosophy.

“I think there’s a misconception with the portal that hey everybody’s answers are in the portal,” Dan Lanning said. “Your answers come from developing your own roster, your answers come from recruiting young guys, your answers come from having intimate knowledge of the people that you’re gonna go pursue.”

“The one thing that I can say about the guys that we went and actively recruited from the portal, we had intimate knowledge of those guys. We knew them well.”

In other words, Dan Lanning doesn’t believe in going and grabbing random players from the transfer portal. He wants to take players that he or his coaching staff have enough of a relationship with that they know what they’re getting in them.

Dan Lanning is leaning on experienced transfers

While quarterback Bo Nix is the highest profile transfer to Oregon, given his position, he’s not the only experienced transfer. Dan Lanning is bringing in plenty of experienced, Power Five transfers. That includes several that came during the Summer who he’s excited about.

“Obviously, for us, anybody that we want to bring into our program, the first thought is can they actually enhance our program? Can they help us win games?”

“I feel really confident,” Dan Lanning said. “You know, all those guys have a variety of experience. But all of them have been exposed to real football.”

“I think the one thing I can say about all these guys is they all want extra. They all do extra and get extra. But, more than anything beyond just the talent piece that we’re adding with those guys, is the character they operate with day in and day out. I think how supportive they’ve felt with our players. You know, they’ve been welcomed with open arms and they’re anxious to get better, which is fun to see.”