What Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Said at his Signing Day Press Conference

There's never a lack of excitement on when it comes time to put pen to paper. The Oregon Ducks avoided flips from their commits, while fighting to secure a major five-star flip throughout the Wednesday, the first day of the Early National Signing Period.

The Ducks are set to have the most five-star commits in a single cycle in program history. They continue their attempt to flip wide receiver Chris Henry Jr.'s commitment from the Ohio State Buckeyes after the news of their offensive coordinator leaving the program. A potential flip would also mean Oregon surpasses the USC Trojans for the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.

Dan Lanning spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon about the players who have offically signed with the program. He also addressed how coaching staff changes impacted recruiting down the final stretch of the cycle.

What Dan Lanning Said

dan lanning oregon ducks recruiting commitment five star national signing day chris henry will stein immanuel iheanacho — Nov 29, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning during the second half against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Opening Statement:

“It was much more about quality over quantity. It wasn't about signing as many guys as we could possibly sign. It was more about signing guys we thought would really make an impact on this team. We've got a lot of great players that represent a lot of different places. Several guys recognized as the best player in their state,” Lanning said.

“I think we have 11 different states represented, guys from all over the footprint, which is always fun about Oregon, is we can go anywhere in the nation and find great players. Several multi-sport athletes, I think 14 guys that play multiple sports. That's always a big positive. And rankings can be overrated. But we signed some guys that are obviously really highly ranked and really, really good players. But more than that, quality people.”

On Not Having Any Decommitments on Signing Day:

“I just think its players come here for a reason, and there’s a lot of reasons that go into that, but I think we have a really complete program. In a lot of ways, everything that you're looking for from development on the football field and the opportunity to compete at the highest level on the football field, as well as what Oregon provides academically, and the support that exists here on our staff,” he said.

“The relationships, I think, are a real key here. Every player that we were able to sign, it's truly a complete staff effort. I think that speaks to this a place that's unique, where it's going to be more than just a relationship with one position coach or one person on staff. This is a place where we team recruit and develop those relationships, and those are paid off.”

If Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi Are Staying Until the End of the Postseason:

“Yeah, certainly the plan is for those guys to be able to help us as we go through and chase what we want to finish this season.”

The Challenges of Recruiting with His Coordinators Looking at Head Coaching Positions:

“Those conversations never changed here. Every player that signed here, they always sit down in my office, and I always share the truth about my vision for their future, and the truth of what does it look like for me here in the future, and the future of our coaches here. Never been shy about the fact, in fact, been very adamant about the fact that my goal is to help people reach their dreams and goals.”

“Will obviously grew up spending time in that stadium. His parents both went to school there. So, I think, when you're honest from the beginning to the end of, hey, this is what it looks like right now. We've got an unbelievable staff. We've had transition here in the past, and we've shown exactly what that looks like when transition happens,” he continued.

“But when you're really honest about that, you don't tell them, hey, this guy's here for life and then the next thing you know, the rug gets ripped out from underneath you, and you prepare him for those moments. I think that speaks volumes. And ultimately, people are signing up for more than just one person being here, but that's part of the goal is for people to come and get the opportunity to share in their dreams and their futures,” he said.

“And part of that is coaches get to celebrate their futures as well. So, when you're honest about it, I don't think that has to be a big conversation. I think when people are deceptive about it, when it looks different and other places, I think that's when it's a big shock. And a lot of things can a lot of things can change.”

The Certain Traits He’s Looking For in A Coordinator:

“I think what I would say is, you realize what traits are maybe more important than others. And I've been really blessed to have unbelievable coaches here, but like, the most important traits aren't always the most important traits that other people think. To me, it's about the ability to be humble, the ability to work with others and share a creative space, to realize it's not just yours, it's others, right?”

“A lot of people are involved in having success on offense and defense. We've been really fortunate to have coaches that realize that, to recognize that it's not their call, that it's the player, right? That's really the secret is having great players and having guys that can execute a high level, that accountability is necessary, and then being humble enough to again, realize when you make mistakes, you don't make the same mistake again,” he continued.

“I think a lot of those things don't necessarily exist in the game, and all those traits are way more important to me than how much football, what you can draw upon a dry-erase board. Like, none of that matters if you can't teach a player to do it and they don't know that they love you and you care about them, like all those things are way more important to me than a lot of the things that I think people evaluate when they're going through that process.”

The Impact the On-Field Success of the 2025 Class Had on Recruiting:

“I think it's just proven what we've always said: if you're good enough, you’re old enough. And I think this year was a great indication of that if you get the ability to make an impact here early, you can. That's really about you and how you progress as you get here. And again, everybody's process is going to be a little bit different. But I think certainly some people say that, some people show that. I think we were a team that could show that this year.”

How the 2025 Class’s Performance Impact Recruiting Strategy:

“I think you’re always looking for the best players. I think what's changed is, like, Oregon's a really good program, so we can go get the best players. And then we've had proven results, but you're always looking for guys that can go make an impact, but that by no means, means 100 percent of the players that come here are going to go make an immediate impact,” Lanning said.

“I think it's really hard to do, especially when you're talking about a good program. But when you go sign players, and you develop players, and you grow them to be really talented guys that are really important parts of your team. The goal next year is to go find players that are better than them and make the competition on the team even better and even stronger. And that's something we've been able to elevate every single year here is find guys that can make an impact, and guys that can get better, they're gonna push your roster to grow and improve. When you do that, you can have a lot of success.”

What He Credits to Being Able to Recruit Nationally:

“I think it's about finding the right players that are willing to say, okay, I'm looking for the best, not the most convenient. It starts there, and then you have to have a staff that's relentless and willing to take long hours,” Lanning said.

I remember spending time myself and several other coaches on our staff during bye week, and everybody else on a Saturday might be sitting somewhere back home, watching GameDay, and we're on the road recruiting, and that's not necessarily the thing that you want to do on your bye week, but when you have an opportunity to go get great players, that's exactly what you need to do. So, there's a relentless approach by everybody on this staff, and then it's about finding players that aren't afraid to travel to go chase their dreams. We've been able to find the right combination of that.”

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What He Saw From the Three New Additions on Signing Day:

“They're all guys that we identified earlier. There's guys that we rather like pull the trigger on later, knowing that we wanted to make sure we had a great opportunity. It's not like you want to alert the rest of the world what your intentions are necessarily with some guys you're looking at,” Lanning said.

“And then it's always the constant evaluation of, okay, what's our roster going to look like in the here as well? Where do we need to grow? What attrition might exist? There's always attrition every year, so I think you pay attention all those details and making sure you don't oversign to where you don't have enough opportunities for the people that you're bringing on to the team.”

What He Likes About Linebacker Tristan Phillips:

“Tristan is a guy that reminds me a little bit of guy you guys are all familiar with in Bryce Boettcher. It's just as far as how much he loves the game of football, how intense he plays, the level of intensity that he enjoys training, works extremely hard. So, he has all those traits that you're hoping that you see in a linebacker, and obviously, he's had a great season. I'm glad that he's gonna get to be a part of what we're doing here.”

On Communicating with 2024 Wide Receiver Recruit Gatlin Bair:

"Yeah, it’s been somewhat limited. There’s been some opportunities in there that we could (communicate). There’s still been great communication with Brad and Shay and his family, the ability to connect from time to time. But 'Elder Bair’s' been doing a mission, and he’s done an unbelievable job of that. But we’ve been able to stay in touch whether through email, the occasional opportunity to touch base with the people that he’s around," Lanning said.

"Really excited to get him here. You know, that’s one that you signed several years ago, and now you get the opportunity to have him here. I’m really excited about what Gatlin can do," Lanning said with a smile.

Whether Playing with the Right Mindset Comes Before or After Recruitment:

“I think mindset training is something to happen all throughout your career, and you hope you're going to a place where they take a lot of pride in that and spend the time. This is certainly a place where we do that, but nobody's a finished product when they get to college. You're still developing,” he said.

“You're still growing as a person, but you want to find people that are about growth mindset. You can identify is this somebody that's going to have the strong characteristics to be able to handle tough when it gets tough. You're never going to be 100 percent when you're evaluating those things, but what you can do, again, is be open and honest and communicate what that looks like. I think we've done a really good job of that here in the past and certainly developed some great guys on our roster currently.”

What They Liked About Quarterback Bryson Beaver:

“Quarterback’s always unique position, getting to see him come, throw in person, I think, is always a big piece of that, trusting your evaluation skills. And this is a guy that obviously got really hot towards the end and had a lot of opportunities and places that he could go. But you fall in love with family. Bryson's got an unbelievable group around him,” Lanning said.

“And then you really get to recognize, okay, the arm talent, the things that exist there. They're going to be beneficial and a piece that you want in your program. And then the ability to mentally handle the load that we ask for our quarterbacks to handle. There's a lot that goes to that he's a guy that checked those boxes.”

What He Likes About the Secondary Group He Brought In:

“Ultimately, ball production is really important secondary. I think you have to find guys that can attack the ball. A lot of these guys that we signed this year have a lot of position flexibility and versatility. I think that's really big, making an impact in special teams play, we continue to look for length, but we also look for dynamic players and all those things really showed up in the guys that we signed this year.”

Targeting Players Like Running Back Tradarian Ball Who Can Shift Out of to Slot:

“You're always trying to add great players. And then I think the best coaches adapt your system to fit great players. We played more 21 personnel this year than I've ever played in my time here. And that's credit to us having really talented players here that can do that. And T-Ball, Tradarian is definitely a guy that fits that. You can flex him out and throw in the ball. He can run it from the backfield. He has versatility, and that makes him harder to defend.”

His Thoughts on Offensive Line Signings:

“These guys are super athletic. They're guys we've been recruiting for a really, really long time. We think they both can play tackle, but they do certainly have position versatility. But seeing they're the tackle position, they're both guys that talk about recruiting for a long time,” he said.

“I mean, I remember seeing Tommy (Tofi) in a camp three years ago, and same thing really, with Manny (Iheanacho), in that situation, we spend a lot of time traveling to camps, seeing guys in action. Those relationships start then, then it becomes the body of work of building that relationship and seeing what it grows into, and making sure you're still through that, through that entire process. These are guys that can play for you at a high level, and we feel really confident and guys like that.”

Building a Relationship With Tony Cumberland:

“As we all know, like this looks different. This group looks different right now, compared today than it did come June. And I think Tony's a great example of guy that knew what he wanted. It's been really fun watching Tony grow up and become the man that we're all excited to see, but obviously he's an unbelievable player and an unbelievable talent that some big things here locally, and excited to see that show up on our field, but we're really grateful for guys like Tony.”

What Cumberland’s Decision to Move Here Early Says About Him:

“I think there's benefits from just a familiarity standpoint. I think ultimately that that's a decision Tony made for an opportunity to get somewhere he felt like it was going to put him in position to be where he wanted to be three years from there, two years from there.”

“And the great part about that is, there's a piece of where he can come over here and visit campus quite a bit over the last year, which was awesome for us. And coach line did an unbelievable job there at Willamette with Tony, and he's done it with several players. And obviously, him being an alum here at Oregon is certainly a benefit as well.”

Continuing to Stack Position Rooms Each Recruiting Year:

“I think time will tell. I mean, I'm really excited about the group of guys that we just signed, certainly, but college football's fluid, right? It'll continue to change. There'll continue to be attrition. We've been really lucky to keep guys here and show guys the plan for them. In a changing world, as things progress, it's harder and harder to do that, but I think it really goes into each class as individual in itself, and you have to attack it accordingly and make sure that you continue to work your tail off, because it just doesn't happen on accident.”

Recruiting Anthony “Tank” Jones:

“Again, I don't get to see a ton of games during season, was one of the games that I was able to go watch him play this year, which was a lot of fun to see the impact he can have on a game. He's been a guy that's been used on defense, used in the backfield, carrying the ball,” Lanning said.

“Those guys built unbelievable relationships, as well as several other people on our staff. And I think this was a great example of a place being a dream school for a player that really came to fruition for Tank and what he's going to be able to accomplish here. But just again, unbelievable player that said, hey, I don't care that it's not close, right? Like, if this is the place that fits me, that's where I want to be.”

His Thoughts on Safety Jett Washington:

“I think the options are limitless when you see a player of Jett’s ability. He's got great ball instincts, he can attack. He's a physical hitter. You look at a lot of things that we were able to do with Dillon this year, Dillon Thieneman on his stack position, I think Jett translates to a lot of that stuff really well as well,” Lanning said.

“But ultimately, just a really great program there at Bishop Gorman. It's turned out a lot of a lot of phenomenal players, a lot of success. The guy knows what it means to be a winner. And you want guys in your program that knows what it means to be a winner. He comes from a family of athletes, so just excited to see what he's able to do here.”

The Impact Player Retention Has On Recruiting:

“I think they're all tied together. It's all hand in hand, and really what it has a lasting impact on is your team, right? There's several guys on our team that made a huge impact this year that didn't have as big a role as last year.”

“And strength in numbers, like this is of all the years that we've talked about that really applying like this year is a great indication of we're going into a couple games this year where we have multiple starters out because of injuries here or there, that retention is part of what pays off in those moments, and guys creating moments for themselves because of how hard they worked,” he continued.

“You never know. Life's hard. Football is hard. It's a hard sport. Some people give up right before they reach an opportunity and what they can create. And we've had a lot of guys that have battled through didn't necessarily have the easiest path of the field and figured it out because they were able to stick around and say, I'm just going to work hard and see what comes out of it. And we've had a lot of guys benefit from that. This team certainly benefited from that.”

If a Coordinator Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Head Coach Would Gel with His Personality:

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, I guess. I've never really thought about that deep.”

If He Takes A Sense of Pride in Recruiting Big Names to the Pacific Northwest:

“I just take a sense of pride in the product that we have here. And again, that's credit to our players and credit to the coaching staff that I get to work with every day. This is an unbelievable place, and it's awesome that other people get to recognize what exists here and what's continuing to grow here.”

When Recording Messages to Signees Started:

“It’s something I've probably done for a little while. I don't know, I don't love that every secret gets out, but yeah, we build relationships. And not everybody always picks up the phone, not everybody always answers the text message,” Lanning said.

“But a lot of times when a video gets sent, it gets seen. There's a lot of different ways you communicate nowadays with guys and players, and we do everything we can to make sure that when they wake up in the morning, they see a message from us, and when they go to bed at night, they see that. So, communication is a big key to that.”

Who He’s Rooting For in the Conference Championships This Weekend:

“No, probably not. I mean, I'm gonna enjoy some good football games this weekend. I'm not rooting against them. Cutter Leftwich is on our staff. His brother’s over there. Sure, I hope they have success. I'm just gonna root for some good games. Probably, like all of you guys on Saturday, you want to watch good games.”