What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Dan Lanning? The man who helped the Oregon Ducks achieve their first undefeated regular season since 2010. Hold on as Lanning gave more top moments in 2024. Under him, the Ducks reached a 13-win record – the first time in Oregon history. However, amidst all the milestones, Lanning picked up most praise for his recruiting magic. The Ducks’ 2024 recruiting class ranked as the best in the Big Ten and No. 3 in the nation. While he struggles with the 2025 class, with their 5-star hot target Jared Curtis closing the doors in their face, he is busy building his 2026 class. That’s when he found the social media spotlight by putting an end to their recruiting drought. And it came with a daring stunt…

Let’s take a look at Lanning’s milestones as a recruiter. From 2022 to 2024, he added two five-star commits and 51 four-star recruits to Oregon’s ranks. The man who showed himself as a pro in 2024 seemed to have lost his charm. That’s because he might have pressed a ‘PAUSE’ button. Lanning last recruited on February 26, when they got that 4-star safety, Xavier Lherisse, from Florida. While they hailed former Georgia quarterback, Curtis, they got landed with a blow as the young chap is making a U-turn to Athens. Maybe this came as a blow to Lanning’s ego, and he woke up from his sleep.  

The Ducks succeeded in bringing 5-star EDGE Richard Wesley to Eugene. The young chap is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 20 player in the 2026 class, and the No. 3 EDGE in the nation. Was it an easy chase for Lanning and co.? Absolutely not. They had to defeat heavyweight programs like Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, and USC. After all, the craze for Wesley was real since he belonged to the 2027 class but reclassified to 2026. But what might have made him choose the Ducks? Lanning’s program is one of the best platforms to catapult oneself from college to the pro league. They produced a record 10 players for the 2025 NFL Draft. While Lanning earned kudos for his recruiting win, he went viral with his over-the-top celebration. On May 10, Hayes Fawcett posted a BTS clip. 

The caption read, “Elite 2026 EDGE Richard Wesley and Oregon HC Dan Lanning celebrate the big commitment🦆.” Yes, oftentimes landing a 5-star gives head coaches butterflies in their stomach. But in Lanning’s case, the excitement led him to take a plunge in the pool along with Wesley.

The video showed the player-head coach duo chilling out at The Standard’s rooftop pool in Eugene. The camera panned towards Wesley, where he said, ”There is one school that showed me the most love and guess where I am going.” That’s when Lanning enters the camera, shouting, “Let’s get in!” What happened next was the head coach removing his t-shirt and cannon-balling into the pool and coming out of the water, throwing the ‘O’ with their hands. Now, what are the fans saying about Lanning’s pool splash?     

Fans didn’t hold back from calling out Dan Lanning for his over-the-top celebration

A MaxPreps All-American as a sophomore last fall, Wesley had 44 tackles (16 for loss) with nine sacks and three forced fumbles. His commitment marks the eighth commit in the 2026 class. So, definitely it’s news worth celebrating. However, fans might have been expecting Lanning to only pose for a picture with the new recruit. A confused fan thus commented, “Dan going to be going to prom with kids soon instead of just asking for pictures to get commits what happened to Dan Lanning?”

Lanning’s big swimming pool splash reminded a fan of Brian Kelly. Back in 2021, the LSU Tigers landed 5-star quarterback recruit Walker Howard. At that time, a video went viral that showed Howard tossing a football and throwing up the Tigers’ “L” hand sign. In that clip,  Kelly was spotted dancing awkwardly to Garth Brooks’ classic song, “Callin’ Baton Rouge.” On that note, a fan wrote, “This is near Brian Kelly level cringe.”

Well, we all know how Deion Sanders and Colorado were dragged through the mud by former player Cormani McClain, who claimed the Buffs play for “clicks.” So, sprinkling salt on their wounds, before the Ducks face off with the Buffs in 2024, Lanning said, “We don’t do it for clicks , we do it for wins.” However, a fan dropped the quote again in the comments, “‘We don’t do it for clicks, we do it for wins.’-Dan Lanning,” hinting at how the Oregon head coach is not standing up to his claim.

Not just Kelly, ex-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, too, went to great lengths to woo a recruit. Back in 2016, Harbaugh arrived at kicker recruit Quinn Nordin‘s Rockford, Michigan, home for a sleepover at 12:01 am. Harbaugh stayed the night. Lanning’s out-of-the-box move reminded a fan of Harbaugh. “This is giving Jim Harbaugh staying at a recruits house kinda vibes.” Even though Oregon made it to the playoffs, they lost in the Natty race. Thus, it’s high time Dan Lanning takes care of addressing the loopholes. Thus, a fan came with a reality check: “Lanning should focus less on the corny recruiting celebrations and more on winning playoff games.” With the recruiting firestorm behind him, will the Ducks’ coach start plotting his Natty takeover?