Dan Lanning admits Mike Gundy’s NIL comments ‘poured gasoline on the fire’

Prior to Saturday’s matchup between the Oregon Ducks and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, much was made of Mike Gundy’s comments on Oregon’s NIL budget and whether they should be required to face a more difficult non-conference schedule because of it. But for Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, all Gundy’s comments did was give his talented team even more motivation to go out and thoroughly dominate Oklahoma State.

Most, including Dan Lanning himself, saw Gundy’s comments about Oregon’s NIL budget as a built-in excuse in case Oregon did go on to beat Oklahoma State.

In a sense, Saturday’s game actually proved Gundy right about Oregon being in a entirely different caliber of team from Oklahoma State. Within the first two minutes of the game, Oregon had already jumped out to a 14-0 lead that they would never look back at, going on to steamroll Oklahoma State to the tune of a 69-3 drubbing.

Invested in winning. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/RnOtVkD50J

— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) September 6, 2025

“I told our team right before the game, it never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass,” said Lanning. “But it never hurts when someone pours gasoline on the fire. I felt like these guys wanted the chance to go and prove who they are. I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Gundy. But at his press conference, he’s probably saying, ‘See, I told you so.’ That’s probably what his comment is. But that doesn’t change the way we have to play to be a winning football team.

“We have good players. One of our best, Bryce Boettcher, played good today. He came here for a backpack and a t-shirt. So I’m really proud for those guys on our team that have developed into great players. Again, the guys that watched other people play last year and are now playing for us, that’s what makes our team great.”

Dan Lanning in full on how Mike Gundy’s comments about the amount of NIL money around Oregon affected his team’s play this week:

“I told our team right before the game, it never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass but it never hurts when someone… pic.twitter.com/MbI0ZRrIDy

— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) September 7, 2025

Lanning’s message here is quite clear. While Oregon does have resources at its disposal in terms of an NIL collective that perhaps other schools don’t have, it is far from the only reason they are a great team.

There is an obvious truth to that message. This week, we saw a team outside the Power 5 in South Florida go into Gainesville and take down their in-state rivals, the Florida Gators, who obviously have far more resources available to them.

Being able to bring in top talent is obviously important for any program. But high-level coaching can cover up a lot of flaws on a team. And when you combine high-level coaching and top-tier talent, like Oregon has under Dan Lanning, you have a true powerhouse in college football.

Unfortunately for Mike Gundy, the talent on Oklahoma State doesn’t seem to be at the level necessary to compete with top-tier programs in the sport. And considering just how lopsided Saturday’s game was, it’s certainly worth debating whether Gundy’s coaching abilities have slipped as well.