Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning led the program to multiple records. The man helped Oregon achieve its first undefeated regular season since 2010. Not just this, under Lanning, the Ducks reached a 13-win record – the first time in Oregon history. However, amidst this, Lanning has got gold stars on his report card for being a recruiting pro. But there, too, the Ducks’ head coach witnessed two big misses. One by Jared Curtis and Jackson Cantwell. While Lanning is yet to handle the trauma, Ducks comes with a contingency plan. Around whom is this surprising tale surrounding? 5-star offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho.  

When it comes to Lanning hitting milestones as a recruiter, there are plenty of examples. The Ducks’ 2024 recruiting class ranked as the best in the Big Ten and No. 3 in the nation. We can also take a look at a broader timeline to get to know about Lanning’s recruiting talents. From 2022 to 2024, he added two five-star commits and 51 four-star recruits to Oregon’s ranks. However, in the 2025 season, he seemed to have lost his charm. The Oregon recruiting trail has gone dormant since February 26, when they got the 4-star safety, Xavier Lherisse. However, Lanning woke up from his long rest and landed 5-star EDGE Richard Wesley.

It’s now time for Oregon to turn its focus to the No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 3 player in the class, Iheanacho. After all the craze for the player is real. That’s because, standing tall at 6 feet 6.5 inches and weighing 350 pounds, he can become an immediate impact player for a college football playoff contender in the run game. So, the competitors against whom Lanning has to fight are Penn State, Georgia, and Maryland. Analyst Hudson Standish predicted, “There was a lot of buzz for Oregon early on. Maryland is the hometown favorite. I would say Maryland is the team for him right now… I give them the edge over the Ducks at this point.” But looks like the tables are likely to turn in Manning’s favor. On the May 14th episode of the On3 podcast, Oregon insider Max Torres came up with some interesting scoop.  

“Immanuel Iheanacho, this is a guy that Oregon has prioritized for a while. He hasn’t been out to campus that many times…but they got him back on campus for an official visit. I fully expect Oregon to get an official visit for Immanuel Iheanacho during his recruiting process.” Lanning’s staffer has gone to great lengths to woo the player, seeing him in Baltimore. He will take his final official visit to Eugene on June 22 and announce his commitment on August 5. Given the projections of Oregon winning the Iheanacho race, what will make the player count on Lanning’s squad?

Oregon has also done a nice job of developing the offensive tackle position in recent years, with Penei Sewell and Josh Conerly Jr. having gone in the first round over the last five years. Amidst this, the head coach’s heart must still be paining from two recent setbacks. 

Do the missed shots call for bigger moves by Dan Lanning? 

Curtis had cut ties with Georgia back in October last year. After that, he started to talk in favor of Lanning’s program. “My interest in Oregon is above the others right now. It’s my relationship with Coach Stein and Coach Lanning. It’s great, and we had a great time when we went up there.” However, he made a flip back to Athens. Meanwhile, Lanning is trying his best to heal his wounds ASAP. For that, he has already set his sights on the Archbishop Moeller High School quarterback Matt Ponatoski, who was named the winner of Ohio’s Mr. Football.

The Ducks even got snubbed by 5-star offensive tackle recruit Cantwell after he chose the Miami Hurricanes on May 13.  As per the reports, Miami offered Cantwell $2.5 million, and that number will increase throughout his time with the Hurricanes. Oregon made one last push for Cantwell on May 12 by visiting his high school, but it went in vain. Even though Cantwell did not admit, Lanning went to the backseat in the race because of the NIL factor. The player shared, “I think relationships won out in the end…They’ve spent so much time recruiting me over the past year, they spent so much time checking in with me, they texted me every day.”

Now, this snub makes Dan Lanning 100x more stubborn to seal the deal with Immanuel Iheanacho. So, can we expect a Richard Wesley kind of celebration after landing the hot target? Recently, the Oregon head coach went viral for removing his t-shirt and jumping into the pool with Wesley. If the last one caused a stir, wait ‘til you see Lanning’s next celebration in Iheanacho’s honor.