Dan Lanning responds to Mike Gundy’s NIL comments on Oregon: “We spend to win”

Earlier Monday morning and then later in the afternoon, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy made multiple references to the Oregon Ducks and their NIL spending. Gundy spoke with reporters as well as the school’s in-house media about previewing this weekend’s matchup and cited the Ducks big-spending power on the recruiting trail this season. By Monday evening, Lanning gave a response to the comments by the Oklahoma State head coach.

Gundy was first asked about his thoughts on facing off against Oregon during his weekly Monday press conference with the local media in Stillwater.

“Well, same thing as you. They’re a good football team. Oregon is playing really well. I think they’re well coached, they’re spending a lot of money, and they’ve put a lot into that organization. You can see they’re a good football team.”

Later on in the day, Gundy went on his radio show and again highlighted

“Obviously, Phil Knight, the CEO and owner of Nike, is supporting them in a big way. They’ve made a big investment in the last 10 to 15 years or so… over the last three or five years, they’ve elevated themselves. They have a lot of resources. They spend a lot of money. They are a good team. No doubt about it.

“These are opportunities for young men to go out and compete at the highest level. They have it pretty stacked pretty good right now.”

Gundy was later asked about non-conference scheduling and how schools should potentially be scheduling games against opponents with similar NIL budgets.

“The truth of the matter is, eventually, they need to get a grasp on how they distribute the money across the board. My fear is long-term. My fear is that if there is a lopsided amount of money to 10 or 12 schools in the country, how does that affect the everyday fan that wants to turn on the TV and watch a game between two teams? They want o see a good football game, played hard, and they dont want to know who’s going to win.

“What I hear from chatter from coaches around the country is that non-conference scheduling should be based on the financial situation for each school. Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team.”

“I think Oregon spent close to $40 million last year,” Gundy said on the radio. “That was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million.”

Lanning, on Monday evening, gave his response to the Cowboys’ head coach when asked about what Gundy had to say multiple times on Monday.

“Like I said, I’ve got a ton of respect for coach Gundy. Ultimately, how blessed are we to be in a place that is invested in winning? If you want to be a top 10 in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win. Some people say [that] to have an excuse for why they don’t. Ultimately, he’s a great coach and they’ve done an unbelievable job, but I want to be a team that is competing at the highest level, and we’re really fortunate to be in that situation. I can’t speak to their situation. I have no idea what they’ve got in their pockets over there. I’m sure UT-Martin maybe didn’t have as much as them last week and they played. So, we’ll let it play out.”

The Ducks and the Cowboys will play one another in a game that was scheduled well before Lanning’s arrival at Oregon ahead of the 2022 season. Saturday’s game will kickoff at 12:30 PM PT and broadcast on CBS.