In today’s day and age of college football, there are many ways to construct a roster. While established coaches focus mainly on high school recruiting and player development, other, typically newer coaches lean on the transfer portal to find established players to come in and run their system.
There is a wide spectrum between these two methods, and all 138 FBS programs fall somewhere in between.
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For the Oregon Ducks, we’ve seen a shift in methodology under Dan Lanning over the past few years. Early in his Eugene tenure, he leaned heavily on the portal to land difference-makers like Bo Nix, Bucky Irving, Christian Gonzalez, and Tez Johnson, among many others. More recently, though, as he’s been able to acquire talent and build depth from the prep ranks, we’ve seen the number of impact transfer additions decline each year.
Now, in 2026, The Athletic claims that Oregon has sent a stark message with its transfer class, which featured just 12 players. That message? «We don’t need much help.»
When looking at Oregon’s incoming 12 players, you could argue that at most, three of them will earn starting spots — Koi Perich, Iverson Hooks, and Carl Williams IV. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be surprising if that number was just one, though, with Perich acting as the lone can’t-miss starter. Elsewhere on the roster, there is such adequate depth and talent that the belief is Oregon will lean on the players who got them here.
When looking at the national landscape and studying the offseason moves of the projected championship contenders, it’s clear that many programs evaluated their rosters, identified some holes to fill, and went about plugging them in the portal.
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Based on Oregon’s portal movement, or lack thereof, it’s not hard to argue that they evaluated their roster and said, «For the most part, we’re good.»
As they chase a championship in 2026, that’s a strong message to send.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks’ transfer class sent strong message, per The Athletic
