Dan Lanning fires back at Mike Gundy’s comments of Oregon’s NIL budget: ‘Some people save to have an excuse’

The Oregon Ducks have been one of the true powerhouse programs in college football for quite some time now. And while some believe that may be due to the excellent job Dan Lanning has done with the program, others, like Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, believe it is due to the large pockets that Oregon has in their NIL collective to bring in top-tier talent both in the transfer portal and in recruiting.

On Monday, Gundy spoke to Oregon’s NIL budget on his weekly radio show, explaining how he and other coaches around college football believe that Oregon should have to face non-conference opponents that are closer to them in the total sum paid out to players. Oregon and Oklahoma State are set to face off this coming Saturday.

“I think Oregon spent close to $40 (million) last year alone,” said Gundy. “So, that was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million. Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team. From a non-conference standpoint there’s coaches saying they should play teams with similar budgets.”

Lanning was asked about Gundy’s comments during his press conference on Monday, explaining how he feels blessed to be at a program like Oregon that is “invested in winning,” unlike what appears to be the case for Gundy at Oklahoma State.

“Yeah, it sounds like there is listening to him,” said Lanning of the significant differences between Oregon and Oklahoma State’s NIL funding. “Like I said, I’ve got a ton of respect for coach Gundy. Ultimately, how blessed are we to be in a place that’s invested in winning? If you wanna be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning.

“We spend to win. Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t. And ultimately, he’s a great coach. They have done an unbelievable job. But I want to be a team that is competing at the highest level. We’re really fortunate to be in that situation. So I can’t speak on their situation. I have no idea what they have got in their pockets over there. I’m sure UT Martin maybe didn’t have as much as them, and they played.”

THAT MY MF COACH. https://t.co/deynGhLJsd pic.twitter.com/lo11u6SdIq

— ﱢ (@cookinquack) September 2, 2025

Clearly, Lanning isn’t apologizing for being in a position to spend to bring in some of the best talent around the country. And he certainly shouldn’t, as there is far more that goes into building a successful college football program than to just throw money around at top recruits.

We have seen several programs that consistently rank inside the top-10 in NIL spending, such as Texas A&M and Florida, have far less success than their peers near the top of the spending list, like Oregon, Ohio State, and Texas.

As Lanning alluded to, referencing Oregon’s NIL budget sure seems like a built-in excuse that Gundy is already making in case things go south in their matchup against the Ducks on Saturday. And at least on paper, it sure seems like Oklahoma State is outmatched in this game, currently sitting as 27.5-point underdogs ahead of this Week 2 matchup.