‘College Football Coaches and Their Wooing Mission’ – yes, that could become a whole separate chapter in CFB this offseason. Remember Brian Kelly dancing awkwardly to Garth Brooks’ classic song, ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ with Walker Howard? This left the fans feeling ‘Yikes!’ Then came Jim Harbaugh, who had a sleepover at kicker recruit Quinn Nordin’s home. The newest addition to this chapter is Dan Lanning. The Oregon head coach, celebrated 5-star EDGE Richard Wesley’s commitment with a big pool splash. And BOOM! Trolls started to pour in. Not just the Oregon fans, but Pat McAfee too, joined the trend. Keeping the Lanning’s daring stunt aside, here comes major intel on Wesley. 

“We don’t have anything set in stone with Oregon as far as the full package. As far as we’re concerned, we like Oregon a lot. But there is still some fine-tuning that we need to do,” said Wesley’s dad, Johnathan. A big blow came for Lanning’s squad on May 28. Oregon had a big celebration as the Ducks were able to end their recruiting drought with Wesley on May 10. The last player that Lanning hunted was 4-star safety Xavier Lherisse on February 26. But as per the latest updates, the young chap from Sierra Canyon, Wesley, has decommitted from Oregon. So, what’s next for Wesley?

On the May 30 episode of the On3 Recruits podcast, analyst Steve Wiltfong shared his take. Wesley will return to Eugene for the weekend of June 6. He will also be taking official visits to another Big Ten Conference program, along with a pair of Southeastern Conference foes. Wiltfong shared, “Well, he’s going to take his official visits, talking to his dad this week. There’s still a lot of love for Oregon and great communication with Dan Lanning …after they commit, and he’s going to go out and see Texas, Ohio State in the fall, maybe get back to Texas A&M, and then Oregon still has their official visit scheduled.” Wesley will be paying a visit to the Texas Longhorns on June 20 and, Ohio State on August 30. A trip to the Texas A&M Aggies is in the planning. No date has been set at this time. 

The USC Trojans are also said to be in the hunt for Wesley. However, amidst all these programs, he is likely to play for Oregon. The reason? Sheer comfort playing alongside defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei. But even then, who is the threat to Lanning in his mission to woo Wesley? “The Longhorns remain the biggest threat. Ohio State is a dark horse, and then A&M is still hanging around,” noted Wiltfong. While the Oregon head coach is yet to figure out a way to find a permanent place in Wesley’s heart, McAfee did not let the situation pass by and went in on the 18-year-old.

Pat McAfee’s subtle reminder for Dan Lanning after Richard Wesley’s latest move

The grand celebration, followed by the decommittment, is what is fueling the trolls. A video went viral on May 10, right after Wesley’s commitment. The clip captured the player-head coach duo chilling out at The Standard’s rooftop pool in Eugene. The young chap looked full of energy as he said, ”There is one school that showed me the most love and guess where I am going.” And when the camera panned towards Lanning, the coach shouted, “Let’s get in!” And guess what happened next?

Lanning removed his t-shirt and cannon-balled into the pool. It did not end there. Coming out of the water, the duo threw an ‘O’ with their hands. This kind of celebrity treatment just did not go with the Ducks’ head coach’s personality. Now that Wesley has backed off, McAfee can no longer maintain silence. On the Pat McAfee Show, he said, “I don’t like Coach Lanning getting the run-around here by some 18-year-old.” McAfee then continued, “He did the whole thing and then two [weeks] later, ‘I’m not doing it anymore.’ …Remember when the coach [Tom Herman] had to send the voicemail singing Justin Bieber? Don’t do it. Can’t have it.”

The former Texas Longhorns head coach even had to pull up a microphone singing Justin Bieber’s song to melt a recruit’s heart. So, long story short, Pat McAfee is trying to say that head coaches must know where to draw the line. Now that Richard Wesley’s commitment is off the table, Lanning might just pull out all the stops to reel him back to Eugene—let’s just hope he doesn’t have to trade pride for promise.