Dan Lanning and Oregon are riding a winning momentum after going undefeated in the regular season last year and winning the Big Ten championship. They have already secured a 5th-ranked class for 2025, featuring players like 5-star Trey McNutt and Dorian Brew. Moreover, the 12 incoming transfers make things even easier for the head coach with the promise of a national championship. But, behind all these shiny additions of 2025 lies a dark reality.
Tampering has been a persistent issue in college football for some time, and despite NCAA regulations, instances continue to occur. It’s a vicious cycle of mistrust between different programs, where even those that don’t want to engage in the act are forced to do so in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Dan Lanning, a few months back, had landed himself in a similar cesspool of tampering allegations.
Two separate such allegations came up against Oregon from January 2025 to March 2025. Initially, Boise State’s offensive coordinator alleged that Dan Lanning had poached his players by promising to pay $700,000 to play for them. After that came the allegations after their loss in the playoff game against Ohio State. It was alleged that Oregon promised more than double payouts to at least 6 OSU players if they joined them through the transfer portal. And now, after Bryson Beaver has committed to Dan Lanning’s camp, similar conversations have again started.
Brysen Beaver, the 4-star 2026 QB, has finally committed to Oregon after he decommitted from Boise State just a few days back and chose Oregon over programs like Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss. Beaver expressed praise for Dan Lanning and the coaching staff. “I’d say, just obviously the opportunity to play for two of the top coaches in the nation. Hearing them and the way they believe in me and the plans they have, I can’t wait to go out and do great things for them.” Landing Beaver is a big move, and it changes the dynamics of Oregon’s 2026 class, which is now ranked 9th nationally.
The 6’3″ and 195 lbs QB from Murrieta, California, is a prolific pocket passer and also can make plays with his legs. In his junior season, the prospect passed for 3,214 yards and ran for 411 yards, totaling 33 touchdowns. And while currently he is the 30th-ranked QB in the country, it may not take long for him to make that top-10 list.
BREAKING: Oregon lands a commitment from four-star QB Bryson Beaver.
“Coach Lanning and Coach Stein and all the other coaches they have in there, they’re people players want to play for and they’re a big team builder guys and I feel the chemistry there with all the players and… pic.twitter.com/cdQcBkVqIs
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) June 25, 2025
This is because he delivered exceptional performances in the Elite 11 Finals, and according to Charles Power, the ON3’s director of scouting, Beaver was “the best 7-on-7 sessions on Thursday, hitting 19 of 26 passes for five touchdowns, in impressive fashion”. But what does a 2026 prospect have to do with poaching and tampering, since Beaver had just a verbal commitment to Boise State and hadn’t signed any NLI?
Dan Lanning’s past issues resurface?
The issue has more to do with Dan Lanning and Oregon’s aggressive stance on recruiting and landing in portal players without any regard for NCAA regulations, as Boise State’s former OC pointed out. In just two weeks after Beaver’s decommitment from Boise State, the 4-star QB has landed with Oregon, which brings up old wounds. Dirk Koetter alleged that after the transfer portal was closed on Dec 28th, someone from Oregon contacted his Boise State player, who remained undisclosed, and offered to pay $700k in that 5-day window after the portal got closed.
“I know for a fact that just last week- after the Fiesta Bowl- one of the key starters on defense got a call from the Oregon Ducks. Offering him $700,000,” said Koetter in January this year. But the issue he outlined was larger than this, which involved Oregon’s deep financial pockets to Boise State’s limited resources being a G-5 program.
“Let’s get some numbers out there. Our salary cap is $2 million. it. But the people we’re competing against, maybe not in our current conference, but where we’re going and who we’re expected to compete against, it’s as high as $20 million,” said Koetter. All of this makes it not an issue of just one player but a larger issue of parity, which, with the onset of the House v NCAA settlement, has widened even more and will do the same over the years.
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