The Oregon Ducks got flowers laid on their proverbial coffins the last time they played a competitive game. That Pasadena sunset became the backdrop to the sun setting on their ‘24 season at the Rose Bowl. A violent blowout loss to eventual champions Ohio State recontextualized their traversal up to that point, but it even led to some revisionism. Because zoom out and look at the bigger picture, as athletic director Rob Mullens just did. Dan Lanning and co., in the grand scheme of things, can take a lot of solace from how things transpired.

When Oregon realigned from the Pac-12 to the much more stacked and even daunting Big 10, many believed they were in for a reality check. A fair rationale, to be fair. But the skepticism didn’t quite permeate over to HC Dan Lanning. Who did his best Kirk Cousins impression: Walk into your trap, take over your trap! Oregon winning the B1G championship in year 1 is commendable. A testament to what Coach Lanning has set in motion out in Eugene since coming over from Georgia. That hardware was the ultimate legitimizer of his success, thus far, in building the program. A program for which, as clichéd as it sounds, the sky is the limit. Being in Nike’s backyard has fanned the flames of this progression for the Ducks. But winning the B1G isn’t even the only positive that Rob Mullens can base his confidence going forward on.

For what felt like the entirety of the season, Dan Lanning’s Oregon was the No. 1-ranked team in the country. They went through the season unbeaten, in case you needed reminding. Now, the masses smeared that invincibility with shades of fraudulence after the Ohio State drubbing in the playoff game. But Oregon did beat the Buckeyes in Autzen Stadium earlier in the year, albeit by exploiting a since-plugged loophole in the rulebook and an error by Will Howard. Nitpicking aside, they’re poised to sustain this positive motion from 2025 on. But as Rob Mullens sounded off on Oregon’s season, does he deem it a “success”? After all, that term can be tricky to navigate for a program of this ilk with as much expectation and as much resource poured into it.

Rob Mullens guested on the “Unafraid Show with George Wrighster” and reminisced over the season gone by. “As the athletic director, you said you want to compete for championships and everything else. How would you judge this last season?” asks host George Wrighster. In reply, Mullens only had superlatives to bestow on Dan Lanning’s team. “That was an outstanding success,” he said. “First year in the Big 10, to prepare for those opponents, tough road games, record crowds at Autzen Stadium…To go through a regular season [unbeaten] in any conference would have been an accomplishment. But to do it in the Big 10? Yeah, it’s exceptional.” He proceeded to elaborate, with even more superlatives!

[Then,] to go to Indianapolis and win the Big 10 championship. When you look at our schedule, the number of playoff teams that we played, yeah. I would say it was an overall huge success. When you get to the end and you’re playing in the quarterfinals, it comes down to matchups and performance. The Rose Bowl didn’t go the way we wanted. But when you step back after that emotion, in totality, it was a phenomenal season,” said Rob Mullens.

It goes without saying how big a co-sign this is for Dan Lanning. Yes, it comes from in-house. But these are the people he’s answerable to at the end of the day. So, to have AD Mullens’ vote of confidence and positive outlook is massive. Apart from looking back at affairs on the gridiron, Rob Mullens also looked ahead to some topical, off-field stuff. Pertaining to revenue sharing and NIL, in particular. 

Rob Mullens’ ability to continue backing Dan Lanning meets potential roadblocks

Dan Lanning cannonballing into a swimming pool alongside a 5-star recruit when they commit to the program is the end of the road. There’s a lot of extensive, laborious work that goes into reaching that juncture. You see Oregon reaping the rewards, but the seeds are sown in silence. Away from the pageantry. They’ve got one of the most powerful NIL arsenals in the country with Phil Knight and Nike behind them. But with the House Settlement and the imminent introduction of revenue sharing is a curveball. It’s proposed that schools’ expenditure will be capped at $20.5 million once rev-share kicks in. This is a separate mechanism of paying players altogether from NIL. NIL will simultaneously exist, too. But not how it currently works.

University collectives may become redundant, and 3rd-party deals are what will reimburse student-athletes for their contributions. But at its core, everything is in a state of flux. Rob Mullens discussed how he and Oregon are cautiously moving through this precarious situation. Where the laws aren’t rigid, and a mistake could lead to sanctions down the line. “There are two different things, right? There is a true market-based [figure]…It’s based on TV impressions, for the most part. We’re all trying to balance that. We’re trying to thread that needle where we can provide the incremental scholarships that the cap allows…And then, [we need to also] make sure we’re not getting sued on the other side, and provide the NIL on a market-based approach,” he said.

Rob Mullens also said, “We want to do everything that we can for our student athletes. Our collective has been phenomenal in creating business opportunities for student athletes in all of our sports. So yes, we’re going to distribute that $20.5 million [revenue sharing] cap.” He even alluded to being open to facilitating 3rd-party NIL for Dan Lanning and the remainder of Oregon athletics’ players. “We still see those opportunities. Because of the visibility and the brand for our student athletes,” said Mullens. So it seems Oregon is planning to utilize that $20.5M rev-share on football. Which is what a lot of their competitors plan to do as well. But ‘plan’ is the key, operative word here. 

It’s all tentative till the time things don’t become transparent around the House Settlement. Heck, the federal involvement and proposed college football commission involving Nick Saban have thrown another spanner in the works. As if there wasn’t enough uncertainty and potential for problems already. The dynamics around college football are changing rapidly. Amid all this in the background, Rob Mullens and Dan Lanning will hope to continue their forward progression on the gridiron.