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Why Oregon football recruiting has become so difficult

ByDale Bliss|
Four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton committed to the Ducks on Friday, but it's a tough era in college football recruiting, where the pace and the price have both escalated.
Four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton committed to the Ducks on Friday, but it's a tough era in college football recruiting, where the pace and the price have both escalated. | Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's Father's Day and Dan Lanning should be cooking barbecue for his sons. The demands of big-time recruiting might limit his time, however. He has phone calls to make.

There's been a considerable amount of angst about Oregon football recruiting and the direction it's taken. Oregon currently ranks 27th in the Rivals team rankings with eight commitments, 10th in the Big Ten.

USC, Ohio State and Penn State are 1-2-3 in the league with 27, 15 and 19.

The reason for Oregon's slow start is that recruiting is hard. Though Dan Lanning is very good at it and continues to work the relationships and host the events, the competition and the superheated marketplace for the type of athletes the Ducks pursue now are intense.

It's almost frightening how quickly it changes and how demanding it is. Last weekend five-star cornerback Brandon Arrington had a great visit to Eugene. He raved about it, the way top players have learned to do after visits.

This weekend Arrington is at Alabama.

This is not a knock on Arrington. He's the No. 8 player in the nation and No. 1 cornerback. He's worked hard to develop sought-after skills and in this marketplace he's going to be paid handsomely and wooed with fervor.

Recruiting has become like baseball. It's a game of failure. The talent acquisition economics make no sense.

At the same time Arrington was at Alabama No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 4 2026 prospect Immanuel Iheanacho visited Penn State.

Philadelphia safety Joey O'Brien tripped to Notre Dame this weekend, 6-3, 180, the No. 7 safety in the country.

All three of these players are outstanding young people, high school All-Americans with bright futures. O'Brien decides on June 20. He visited Oregon on June 6th.

The post-visit glow fades. Despite the clearinghouse and the new rules from the House Settlement the energy and machinations of the recruiting process continue to be frenzied and unpredictable.

Oregon made strong presentations to all three of these players, and as it stands now they're unlikely to gain commitments from any of them. Nobody cheated, nobody lied, but it becomes simply a case where you miss 100 percent of the fastballs you don't swing at, and 70 percent of the ones that you do.

On Wednesday, the Ducks offered an under-the-radar three-star quarterback from Vista Murrieta, Bryson Beaver. Over the weekend, Beaver picked up offers from Ole Miss and Alabama.

In recruiting, if you're a .300 hitter for ten years, you have a shot at the Hall of Fame. The chase is not for the faint of heart. A coach has to be relentless and resilient and the key supporters of the program have to be as ravenous as Wolverines, Bulldogs and Buckeyes.

At one point, Oregon led for linebacker Talanoa Ili.

After the barbecue, Lanning will get back to his phone or watch more recruiting film. He'll land a couple of players, and lose out on a dozen more.

ESPN's Greg McElroy asked him recently about the demands of coaching. Lanning said, "You can't be balanced, but you can be intentional." The coach is a fiercely intelligent guy, as driven as they come. Winning in recruiting requires the willingness to fail, a lot.

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