Dan Lanning may be nation's best recruiter not named Kirby Smart

When Mario Cristobal left Oregon football for Miami after the 2021 regular season, there were fans that were worried about the program's recruiting.

Cristobal was a plus recruiter and while he left a lot to be desired as an on-field coach, he did recruit at a high level. So when Dan Lanning was hired, some were worried that he wouldn't be able to match his predecessor's success on the trail.

Two years later, he's doing more than that.

In 2019 and 2021, Cristobal landed top-10 classes and in 2020, he had a top-15 group. Lanning came in and salvaged what would have been a lost 2022 class, signing the No. 16 group in the country which was headlined by five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. who he convinced to commit to the Ducks. He also signed a solid transfer class led by Bo Nix, Bucky Irving, and Christian Gonzalez.

As if that wasn't enough proof that he was an elite recruiter, he went out and signed the No. 9 recruiting class for 2023 and the No. 9 transfer group as well. In 2024, he signed the No. 4 recruiting class and the No. 2 transfer class. And so far for 2025, he has the No. 12 class, led by two five-stars. Oh, and he has the No. 3 group for 2026.

While this might be a hot take, I think Lanning may be well on his way to becoming the best recruiter in college football not named Kirby Smart. He did learn from Smart so it makes sense.

An argument could be made for Ryan Day, but that might be more on the program that he coaches at than the actual recruiting prowess he has. It's hard not to recruit elite classes at Ohio State.

Lanning is a top-10 class machine and it doesn't look like that's going to end any time soon.

Now only if he can match the on-field production to that elite recruiting (he's already showing that he can). This program is in great hands.