McLaughlin: Oregon Ducks Should Not Follow The Trend Of Doing Away With Spring Game
By SPENCER McLAUGHLIN
Contributor, 750 The Game
Nebraska. Ohio State. Iowa. Minnesota. USC.
What do these programs have in common besides being Oregon’s Big 10 brethren? (No, I’m still not used to that)
They’ve all decided to move on from a traditional Spring Game in the modern era of college football. Nebraska HC Matt Rhule has cited concerns over tampering, arguing that such a televised showcase too easily serves as a recruiting tool for other schools to poach their players. Other schools cite varying reasons, but I suspect that they are all conscious of the Spring transfer window no matter what they say.
Should Dan Lanning give that notion the same sort of examination?
Lanning has routinely, and understandably, repeated a line that most power 4 programs are not able to say. The Ducks have never lost a starter to the transfer portal since Lanning arrived ahead of the 2022 season. That’s not a small thing.
Georgia is arguably the best program in the country right now, and their multi-year starting QB is now a Miami Hurricane. Alabama’s standout true freshman safety Caleb Downs bolted for Ohio State and was a key piece in the Buckeyes’ national title run. Those are just the marquee examples for major programs all across the land.
Certainly, Oregon has had some notable players transfer out of Eugene who have gone on to succeed elsewhere. Dont’e Thornton Jr. was one of Tennessee’s leading wide receivers this past year, and might see his NFL Draft stock continue to tick up in the coming weeks. LB Harrison Taggart has found a role at BYU, serving as a foundational piece of a defense that propelled the Cougars to an upstart 10-2 season in the Big 12.
Plenty of players that have left Dan Lanning and his staff have failed to find greener pastures for their careers as Thornton and Taggart did. Will that trend reverse itself if Oregon continues playing its annual Spring Game?
I haven’t seen the evidence for that yet. Those programs that are cancelling their Spring Games appear, to me, to be doing so out of an abundance of caution. Perhaps the other reasons are more legitimate than it seems to me, as Texas HC Steve Sarkisian cited the rigors of consecutive Playoff Semifinal appearances as the reason for cancelling the Spring Game in Austin.
I don’t want to see Oregon remove this opportunity for fans.
The Ducks usually draw a good crowd in the tens of thousands on an April afternoon at Autzen Stadium. Last year around 40,000 showed up in person for their first glimpse of the future Big 10 champions. Let’s not overthink the room here: it’s fun! You can’t get tens of thousands of people to show up to something they’re not interested in.
ICYMI: Oregon Ducks Announce Football Spring Game Set For April 26
Movies have trailers. Sports talk radio hosts use teases to keep people tuned in whilst driving in their cars. Good restaurants serve an appetizer before the main course.
I don’t see how Oregon’s record on losing starters to the portal would be tarnished because the Spring Game was on TV. Dan Lanning clearly has a culture that players want to be a part of, and the NIL offers that the Ducks can offer don’t hurt either for keeping a roster intact. That was a big discussion for Ohio State last year, who funneled a lot of their extensive NIL resources to keeping key players from leaving for the portal or NFL Draft.
Fans get the short end of the stick a lot these days. Maybe just this one time we can give them something good?
Here’s to hoping.
Spencer McLaughlin is an Oregon Ducks football contributor to 750 The Game. He also hosts the “Locked On Oregon Ducks” and “Locked On College Football” podcasts and has work featured throughout the season here.