Dan Lanning Defends Oregon's NIL Program: 'We'd Never Lose' If Money Was Limitless

Amid external comments about Oregon's NIL wealth, head coach Dan Lanning defended his team's use of resources, saying that it would be "an exaggeration" to say the Ducks have more NIL funding than other top schools.

"The reality is, find a top-10 team in college football right now that doesn't have great support," Lanning said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "Do we have a lot more than everybody else? I think that'd be an exaggeration or we'd never lose. Everyone else right now is focused on our ice cream cone, and if I'm busy looking at theirs, that means mine's melting."

Lanning's comments come after Georgia head coach Kirby Smart suggested Nike CEO Phil Knight is fueling an NIL fund that brought in top recruits over the offseason.

"I wish I could get some of that NIL money he's giving Dan Lanning," Smart told reporters at SEC Media Days earlier in July.

Over the offseason, Oregon added transfers like former Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel, former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore and former Texas A&M wide receiver Evan Stewart.

While it's unclear how much those top prospects will make in NIL deals now that they're with the Ducks, On3 Sports gives Gabriel a valuation of $1.2 million and Williams a figure slightly higher than that.

It's also unclear just how much NIL money Oregon has available, but current Nebraska athletics director Troy Dannen—formerly the AD at Washington—claimed the Ducks have a $23 million budget, per 247Sports' Grant Hughes.

Oregon has been a top player in NIL since the early stages of what has now become commonplace in college athletics. In 2021, just a few months after the NCAA passed a policy allowing athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness, Oregon alumni launched Division Street, one of the first NIL collectives.

With prominent donors such as Knight, it would be no surprise to see the Ducks boast one of the highest NIL budgets in college athletics.

Whether Oregon has a leg up on other schools when it comes to NIL is up for debate, but Lanning is just hoping to continue his team's upward trajectory after another successful season in 2023.

The Ducks went 12-2 last year and were arguably just a win over Washington away from reaching their second College Football Playoff. With a slew of talented transfers and recruits, Oregon will look to make another leap in Year 3 of the Lanning era.