Can Oregon be a long-term recruiting challenger to Ohio State football?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In early August, five-star safety, and Shaker Heights product, Trey McNutt stood up and donned an Oregon hat and chain, opting to turn down his in-state Buckeyes to head thousands of miles westward to play for the Ducks.

From the outside, it looked a bit off — a five-star player from Ohio going somewhere other than Ohio State is a relatively uncommon occurrence.

But was that a one-off, or a sign of things to come? And could that be a problem for Ohio State moving forward?

“It just shows you that distance doesn’t mean anything,” McNutt told Cleveland.com at the time. “When you go to a place that makes you feel like home, and you have a good system there, and everybody’s genuine, it shows everyone that it’s OK to leave.”

Since Dan Lanning took over at Oregon, the Ducks’ recruiting has reached new heights — not even accomplished since they reached two national title games in a decade.

The Ducks, in the 2023 and 2024 classes, ranked 9th and 3rd in the 247Sports team composite rankings. And in 2025, while they currently rank 8th, they have the highest average player rating of any program in the country.

And some of those players that have made up, and make up, those classes have chosen Oregon over Ohio State.

“Really just the coaching staff,” five-star Archbishop Hoban 2026 cornerback Elbert Hill said in late September of Oregon’s impression on him. “They really go for guys that they think are some dudes. Me just knowing they’re coming after me, that just boosts my confidence even more. They’re coming after a dude.”

Notably, in the 2025 class, Ohio State was in on five-star receiver Dakorien Moore, McNutt, four-star cornerback Dorian Brew and four-star running back Jordon Davison. And in 2026, four-star quarterback Jonas Williams. All of them committed to Oregon.

So does that mean Oregon has supplanted Ohio State as the Big Ten’s preeminent program, or even recruiting operation? It does not.

But, it shows that the Ducks are always going to be in the hunt for top high school prospects — and that’s something the Buckeyes haven’t had to experience much in the Big Ten. In short, there’s a true adversary to Ohio State recruiting in the conference now.

“He has a relentless approach that is based on his success in the SEC, that goes a long way when he got here coming right off the national championship with Georgia,” said Scott Reed, who covers Oregon for Duck Sports Authority, as part of the Rivals network. “That goes a long way to selling kids on what the vision of the future looks like and that you can achieve it if we do it the right way.”

In the 2023 class, Ohio State placed fourth in the 247Sports team rankings, and the next closest Big Ten competitor was Penn State at 14th. In 2022, Ohio State also placed fourth, while Penn State and Michigan placed at sixth and ninth. In 2021, Ohio State was second, ahead of the next closest Big Ten Team, Michigan, at 13th.

The SEC, and occasionally, Clemson, Notre Dame and USC have presented some modicum of discomfort for Ohio State for individual recruits. But now with conference realignment, the threat of losing on a national recruit — for both Oregon, Ohio State, USC, Michigan and every other Big Ten school — and then seeing them on the field multiple times a season is now on the table.

“The relationship I have with their outside linebackers coach, and he’s telling me and pushing me that they don’t really recruit a lot of people,” 2026 five-star defensive end Zion Elee, from Baltimore, told Cleveland.com in August. “They keep the edges recruiting tight. If I go there, I’ll have a nice spot, is what they’re promising.”

Naturally, there’s the thought that Nike CEO Phil Knight has financed Oregon to a level where players only commit there for the money. Lanning took exception to that narrative back in July.

But even if Knight and the Ducks’ NIL collectives are handing out blank checks, that’s something Ohio State and other Big Ten schools have to combat either way.

“You think about the advertising, people are out there talking about Oregon,” Reed said. “Even if it’s untrue stuff, they’re out there talking about Oregon again. And I think that’s the kind of stuff that the staff and the administration like is, if you’re saying that, if Kirby Smart is saying that on national television, people are hearing about Oregon and they’re hearing about what they have out there and that makes other people get interested in the future.”

There are still issues that Oregon has to work through, though, even with the recent bump in recruiting.

Notably, Oregon is not a talent-rich football state for high school talent, meaning that the coaching staff has to convince players from historic Big Ten and SEC territories to come to the Pacific Northwest. Then, as Scott noted, there’s the issue of offensive and defensive linemen — for whatever reason — usually not opting to stray far from home. That, in part, has led to the narrative in the past that Pac-12 schools aren’t as tough or physical as Big Ten and SEC schools.

But in any case, there’s not much to debate about Oregon’s recruiting operation at the moment. The Ducks have dipped into Ohio, Florida and Texas to bring elite-level talent to Eugene. And they’re going to continue to work those relationships for as long as Lanning and his staff are at Oregon.

“Coach Dan Lanning, he’s different,” McNutt said. “He’s got a different vibe to him. He’s hungry. It’s just the whole team, they’re hungry. The energy there is different.”