Not many people have busier schedules than college football coaches come National Signing Day. With the increasing popularity of the transfer portal and many recruits on “flip-watch,” there can never be true peace this time of year.
But the entire month has been anything but calm for Lanning and his team, having had to replace a successful offensive coordinator, the ramifications that had on recruiting and weathering some notable departures through the portal.
Losing the commitment of five-star quarterback Dante Moore, who flipped to UCLA this week in the wake of former OC Kenny Dillingham leaving for the Arizona State head coaching job, was significant blow, but Lanning didn’t panic.
He and his staff, including new OC Will Stein, remained steady on recruiting front and made the most out of the past 48 hours to rally that situation and start Early Signing Day on Wednesday off with a major win, flipping four-star QB Austin Novosad off his Baylor commitment.
That set the tone for the momentum to follow.
“I think every one of us had our phones plugged in pretty much nonstop for the past 48,” Lanning said. “We’re never going to trick someone into coming to Oregon. We want someone to pick Oregon because it's the right feel for them in their heart.”
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This isn’t a new recipe for Lanning either. Since coming to Eugene last year, he has tried to find the people that truly want to be an Oregon Duck.
“One thing that I’m proud of right now is that you look at our freshmen — we don’t have a single freshman in the transfer portal right now. What’s that mean? It means what we said last year is reality," Lanning added.
And the Ducks are now backing that up with an incoming recruiting class that moved up to No. 8 in the Rivals rankings Wednesday -- tops in the Pac-12 -- with the additions of Novosad and four huge late pickups in five-star defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei (beating out USC and Ohio State), four-star Rivals250 cornerback Daylen Austin (who flipped from his LSU commitment) and four-star Rivals250 running back Jayden Limar (who also flipped from Notre Dame).
“Obviously the biggest thing is time. We had time to be really thorough and go back and evaluate," Lanning said. "This year we had the opportunity to develop strong relationships going down the stretch with guys that we think can impact us in a positive light.”
The Ducks have signed 26 players so far and have another commit they have not announced as signed yet.
As for Novosad, the No. 8-ranked pro-style QB and No. 86 overall national prospect in this class, he came on a visit to Eugene last weekend amidst the Moore-to-UCLA rumors. His unmistakable talent made it a no-brainer for Lanning and his relationship with Stein -- who spent the last eight years in Texas, where the QB is from -- made it a perfect fit and opportunity for Novosad to step in and develop behind starter Bo Nix for a season.
“Will’s a guy that’s felt very strong from the moment he stepped on campus about Austin, and Austin is a guy he had a relationship with all the way back to when he was in 8th grade,” Lanning said. “I think when you watch the film and do a deep dive on Austin's character and learn more about his family you realize right away what a special individual he is.”
Here's the full signing class as it stands now ...
