FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Oregon bills itself as a national brand, capable of attracting talent from across the country to come to the Nike-funded enclave in Eugene to pursue athletic greatness.
The efforts of Dan Lanning and his staff – described as a “recruiting first” group when he was first hired in Dec. 2021 – have lived up to that moniker, assembling four straight top 10 recruiting classes, including three consecutive top five groups.
A significant factor in Oregon’s successes on the recruiting trail is its ability to land top talent from Texas.
A staple of the Chip Kelly era at UO, players from the Lone Star state have come to Oregon in greater volume under Lanning than any of his predecessors. The Ducks have signed 13 high school recruits from Texas during Lanning’s tenure compared to three under Mario Cristobal and five by Mark Helfrich. During his four-year UO run, Kelly secured nine players from Texas, including Lache Seastrunk, whose recruitment led to sanctions for himself and the program followed by a lull in Oregon’s recruiting efforts in Texas.
Several factors have helped Oregon open an unprecedented pipeline to Texas like never before, with each of its last six high school signees from the state ranking in the top 265 nationally in the 247Sports Composite – not to mention several prominent transfers.
Lanning said the path to Texas is paved with familiarity from coaches on his staff.
“There’s no doubt there’s great talent in Texas and as long as there’s great talent in Texas, we’re going to recruit it hard and do everything we can to make sure that talent makes its way to Oregon,” Lanning said.
Oregon’s sustained success under Cristobal and Lanning, whose first full-time college coaching job was at Sam Houston State in 2014, has proven the program’s staying power among the nation’s elite. Assistants with connections to Texas, including outgoing offensive coordinator Will Stein, running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples, tight ends coach Drew Mehringer and former safeties coach Matt Powledge, brought relationships that prior Oregon staffs didn’t have.
Samples, in particular, carries weight as his father Reginald is a Texas high school coaching legend.
“He can walk into any high school in the state and automatically have a lot of credibility because he was a high school player and because his dad is such a great coach,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said.
Not surprisingly, Samples has been involved in recruiting each of Oregon’s signees from Texas over the past two years, the most prominent being receiver Dakorien Moore, who played for his father at Duncanville High School.
“That’s what I came here to do, to be able to sign some of these guys, bring a different landscape, bring in guys from Texas, and win recruiting battles … it’s the standard Dan expects from me,” Samples said shortly after arriving at Oregon in April 2024.
Flying from Texas to Oregon has become more convenient. Moving to the Big Ten and Oregon being showcased more prominently on television, nonconference series against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor and name, image and likeness (NIL) resources have also aided its efforts.
This year’s Orange Bowl between No. 5 Oregon and No. 4 Texas Tech features two programs that have embraced the changing landscape of college football, albeit with different apparel and overall recruiting footprints. But the common ground of Texas is unmistakable.
In some regards, Texas Tech is attempting to follow Oregon’s path to success. McGuire mentioned the Ducks’ “cool” factor with uniforms as something the Red Raiders employ, though in their case, it’s with an association with Adidas and Patrick Mahomes.
“They have a great booster in Phil Knight that really said, hey we’re going to go win at the highest level and there’s no excuses whenever it comes to finance. You turn around and I think that we’ve shown that we’re doing that. I think we’re really comparable. … They’ve done it for a little bit longer and that’s what we’re trying to do,“ McGuire said.
McGuire is as aware of Oregon’s successes in Texas as any coach in the sport. A longtime high school coach, McGuire had Helfrich in his office at Cedar Hill High School in 2013 when the Ducks landed his quarterback, Damion Hobbs. He was attracted to the Ducks’ offense at the time.
“It was a pretty easy decision when it came to wanting to be a part of that program at the time,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs only spent the 2013 season in Eugene before transferring to Utah State, but appreciated his time at UO and learned a lot while sharing a meeting room with Marcus Mariota.
In his ninth year coaching in high school in Texas, currently as the receivers coach at Richland High School, Hobbs worked at Forney High School when Ducks safety Aaron Flowers was a freshman.
Hobbs still follows Oregon as well as his former high school coach, McGuire, who he visited over the summer in Lubbock.
“If I could afford it,” Hobbs said, “I’d be flying to Miami to see that offense for sure.”
He was referring to the Red Raiders, but the same could be said of the Ducks.
The names have changed from LaMichael James, Josh Huff and Bralon Addison to Moore, Flowers, Ashton Porter and Terrance Green, but Oregon’s foothold in Texas is stronger than ever.
No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) vs. No. 5 Oregon (12-1)
When: Thursday, January 1Time: 9 a.m. PTWhere: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.TV: ESPN and ABCStream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.