EXCLUSIVE: Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning ‘Real’ Recruiting Approach Shines With Authenticity

Those comparisons hold a lot of weight, considering the success that those football coaches have experienced.

The 39-year-old Lanning is unique, often described as someone who “has never met a stranger.” Coach Wasikowski has experienced Lanning’s authenticity first hand, as the two coaches are actively recruiting some of the top talent in the country to play football and baseball in Eugene. 

“He plays tic-tac-toe in his office with recruits. Like he's real,” Wasikowski said. “There was a recruiting call one time - he's with a couple of his college buddies on a lake in the Ozarks on a boat. And he didn't even have a shirt on and he's taking a recruiting call. He picks up the phone… He answers a FaceTime at all hours of the day or night… You never know, you're not always on your prettiest face and the best look when you're getting FaceTimed by somebody randomly. And yet he's that guy, right?”

“He's the guy that just wants to do whatever he can,” Wasikowski continued. “He's a genuine person.”

Lanning’s approach is working, he landed a top-5 recruiting class and transfer portal class in 2025. 

The first time “Coach Waz” met Lanning and his wife Sauphia at Lanning’s introductory press conference, Waz knew the two coaches would work well together. 

“Coach Lanning is awesome. He comes to our scrimmages. He comes to practices. He sits up in the suite and hangs out with his entire staff and family,” Waz said. “It's an easy relationship… Coach Love and the entire coach staff, Coach Davis and those guys, they want us in that weight room to wear just the culture of what they're doing. They want us to be a part of it and vice versa.”

Currently, Waz and Lanning are hoping to land the commitment of Archbishop Moeller (Ohio) two-sport athlete Matt Ponatoski. The quarterback Ponatoski led his team to an Ohio state title, throwing for an impressive 4,217 yards and 57 touchdowns passes. On the baseball diamond, Ponatoski is a shortstop/third baseman and ranked as a top-20 prospect nationally. 

Ponatoski has grabbed the attention of the top college programs in the nation after earning Ohio state Gatorade Player of the Year in both football and baseball. He is currently competing in the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and was tabbed as a 'top performer' by On3.

The Ducks are fending off the Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks and Kentucky Wildcats for Ponatoski's committment.

Safe to say, Lanning and Waz have an excellent example to point to in the success of two-sport athlete Bryce Boettcher. 

The inside linebacker Boettcher is Oregon’s leading tackler and a beloved Duck-fan favorite. Boettcher won the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy which presented to the nation's most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. 

A Eugene native, Boettcher also dominated on the baseball team in 2024, batting .276 with a career-high 12 home runs while driving in 35 runs and leading the team with 46 runs scored. The center fielder became the fifth player in Oregon history to be named to the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team. Boettcher is a 13th-round pick by the Houston Astros in the 2024 MLB Draft, and decided to return to the football team in 2025 for his final year of eligibility.

The 2025 season looks promising for both the Oregon baseball and football team. 

The Ducks football team looks to continue their dominance from 2024: the first 13-0 start in program history, the Big Ten Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff. 

The Ducks baseball team is fresh off winning the regular-season title in their first season in the Big Ten: their first conference title since 1974. Wasikowski led the Ducks to a 42-14 record, the most wins for  Oregon in his tenure, winning Big Ten Conference coach of the year.