Dan Lanning compares recruiting to relationships: 'I probably wasn't my wife's first choice'
College football recruiting is all about relationships. Dan Lanning takes that saying to heart.
The Oregon head coach was recently asked about Oregon commitments going to visit other schools. Lanning looks at it as a challenge. He’s determined to win over recruits who may prefer to go elsewhere.
Lanning compared it to securing his most important off-field commitment.
“I think each situation is different,” Lanning said Saturday, per Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire. “Certainly we love having committed players be committed to us and not take trips to other places, but they need to know where they’re going when it’s all said and done and they have to have a great feel for that.
“It’s our job to continue to recruit them to be here. You know, like I said before, I probably wasn’t my wife’s first choice, but over time, I won her over. We have to do the same thing when it comes to recruiting, and just continue to keep doing that same thing.”
Lanning and his staff are on their third class of recruits. The 2022 transition class between the previous staff Lanning’s finished with 17 high school enrollees and 10 transfers, ranked No. 13 nationally on the 247Sports Composite. The 2023 class finished No. 8 on the Composite, with 29 high school prospects (16 early enrollees, 13 signees) and 10 transfers. For 2024, Lanning’s staff has 5 players committed to the Ducks. The 2024 class currently ranks No. 8 on the Composite.
I asked Lanning for his thoughts on Oregon commits taking visits to other schools. Got this gem out of it:
“I probably wasn’t my wife’s first choice, but over time, I won her over. We have to do the same thing when it comes to recruiting.” https://t.co/6HlprWT570
— Zachary Neel (@zacharycneel) March 19, 2023