In today’s college football landscape, roster depth is becoming more of a luxury than a given. The transfer portal and the chase for NIL opportunities have turned the sport into a revolving door of talent, and even the biggest programs aren’t immune.
Just look at Oregon: the Ducks lost 30 players this offseason. Texas Tech saw 31 walk.
Same with Michigan and Washington. Oklahoma?
They had 37 players bolt. Purdue?
A staggering 58.
This isn’t just a trend-it’s the new normal.
For Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, it means rebuilding on the fly. The Ducks have brought in 11 new signees so far, but that only tells part of the story.
The real challenge lies in the attrition of the second unit. Players who might have been key rotational pieces or future starters are now starters somewhere else.
That’s the cost of success in the portal era-if you’re not starting, you’re probably leaving.
Nowhere is that more apparent than on the defensive side of the ball. Oregon lost six defensive backs and seven defensive linemen.
That’s not just turnover-that’s a full reset. And when you lose that many contributors, it’s not just about replacing talent.
It’s about retraining, rebuilding chemistry, and reestablishing identity.
And then there’s the schedule.
After a bye on October 2, Oregon faces an eight-game gauntlet with no breaks. November alone looks like something out of a video game: Ohio State in Columbus, Michigan at home, a trip to East Lansing to face Michigan State, and a season finale against Washington in Eugene. That’s not just a tough stretch-that’s a playoff-caliber proving ground.
To navigate that kind of grind and still have gas left in the tank come December, Lanning may need to evolve. His reputation for intensity is well-earned.
Rimington Award winner Jackson Powers-Johnson once said Lanning could get fired up for a Tuesday practice like it was game day. Tez Johnson echoed that, noting that full-pad Tuesdays often felt like national championship previews.
That kind of culture builds toughness. It forges competitive fire. But in a 16-game season with no bye in the final two months, it can also burn players out before the finish line.
The challenge now is balancing that edge with endurance.
Other coaches are already adapting. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti has embraced shorter, sharper practices-90 minutes, minimal contact, high efficiency.
“I don’t like to waste anybody’s time,” he said. It’s a mindset that values investment over exhaustion, and in today’s game, it might just be the blueprint for survival.
Lanning’s record speaks for itself: 48-8 over four seasons, an .857 winning percentage that ranks among the best in the country. But the one thing missing from his résumé is the ultimate prize-a national championship.
To get there, he’ll have to do more than coach hard. He’ll have to coach smart.
That means managing a thinner roster through a longer season. It means making sure his running backs are fresh, his receivers are healthy, and his offensive line is intact when the games matter most. It means peaking in December and January-not just September and October.
Because in this era, no one has depth like they used to. And the teams that figure out how to adapt-how to train, rotate, and recover-are the ones that will still be standing when the confetti falls.