Kirk Ferentz compares how Oregon uses NIL, transfer portal to Dodgers, Yankees

Ahead of a pivotal meeting this weekend that could carry College Football Playoff implications on both sides, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is tipping his cap to Oregon and coach Dan Lanning. He’s impressed by what he’s seen.

In fact, he used an interesting comparison to praise the way the Ducks have gone about building a juggernaut. He likened it to two baseball dynasties.

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“I’ll say this, it’s kind of like Dodgers or you go back when (Joe) Torre was managing the Yankees, just having talent’s not always enough,” Kirk Ferentz said. “To utilize your talent and put people in the right places and get them playing the right ways — they’ve done a great job of that. They’ve really done a great job of that for a long time now.

“There’s an art to that, too, so I’ve got a lot of respect for just their talent, their ability, but moreso how they’re coached and how they play. That’s really the end of the discussion, it’s about how you play. And they’ve done a really good job of that.”

Make no mistake about it, Oregon has stacked Yankees-level talent across the board. The transfer portal has been a big part of that.

“They probably did as much work with the offensive line as any other spot,” Kirk Ferentz said. “I’m guessing — I don’t work there and I don’t want to presume I know what Dan was thinking — but looks like they targeted that as an area where they needed a little bit more experience, and they’ve remedied that really well. They’ve got three transfers playing in that position, or in that group, I should say.”

Oregon also relied on the transfer portal at quarterback, where Dante Moore is now shining as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. He’s had a huge impact.

But it takes more than a quarterback to be successful. Oregon has patched holes in any number of areas in the portal. Couple that with elite recruiting and you’ve got one heck of a roster.

“And then the rest of it is kind of strategic and where they needed it,” Kirk Ferentz said. “They’ve done a really good job there. And then I mentioned the freshman, I’m impressed with how many young players they have that are really contributing in a really impactful way.

“Then I’ll throw in they’ve got two D-lineman that, all their guys look like NFL guys, these two guys were in high school a year ago. I think it’s 50 and 42. And they fit right in with anybody anywhere in the country. So they’ve done a nice job recruiting.”

As for how different Oregon looks from a year ago with some of the changes via the transfer portal and freshmen stepping in, for Kirk Ferentz is mainly comes down to one spot. That’s quarterback.

“To me, more similar than different, in my mind,” Ferentz said. “Start with the quarterback, he’s a guy that can hurt you a lot of different ways, and same thing last year. They’ve got a guy who can run around and make some plays, and in that Penn State game he made a couple that were really, really impressive and gave them a chance to win a really tough ballgame. So it starts there.”