The Oregon Ducks were one of the busiest teams on Early Signing Day, managing to flip several top recruits en route to producing one of the best 2025 classes in the country.
At the top of the group was five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord, who had been a longtime commit of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but was also being heavily pursued by the Auburn Tigers up until the Early Signing Day period.
Many believed that Offord would end up at one of those two programs, but the top-five recruit stunned the world by committing to the Ducks and head coach Dan Lanning. So, what led to the decision?
“[At the end], they just recruited me the hardest,” Offord said at the Under Armour All-America Game week on Tuesday. “[Head coach Dan Lanning], he got a real good staff around him, a real good culture, a very good school, as you can see. Dan Lanning, he’s only been there for a couple of years. Like I told everybody, you can see a big impact. He coming in, he’s trying to make a huge impact. He’s trying to win him a national championship.”
With Ohio State, Auburn and Oregon all pursuing heavily until the end, how tough a decision was it for the five-star?
“It was an extremely tough decision for me because, you know, I loved all three of them schools,” Offord acknowledged. “I visited all the schools multiple times. Yeah, you know, I mean, me being an in-state guy [for Auburn], it was kind of hard.”
At Oregon, Offord has the chance to play early, as the Ducks will have some opportunities in the secondary with Jabbar Muhammad and others likely moving on to the NFL after this season.
“I feel like if I just come in and learn the playbook, do what I’m, supposed to do and do everything the right way like everybody else, I feel like I could come in and start [as a freshman] and make a big impact. Like I said, I’m just trying to come in, impact, help the school and help build my brand and my marketing and not just football.”
Offord will have a major opportunity to achieve his goals both on and off the field with Nike founder Phil Knight being a major player with the program, helping student-athletes with branding opportunities.
The five-star cornerback wasn’t the only major pickup on Early Signing Day though, as the Ducks also flipped four-star linebacker Gavin Nix from the hometown Miami Hurricanes.
What prompted the late decision for him?
“It was most definitely hectic. I’ll be lying if I say it was easy, but, you know, just like I said when I posted it publicly, it was really just me following my heart,” Nix said about choosing Oregon. “Nothing bad about Miami, nothing bad that I can say about them. Love the guys over there. And yeah, it was hard, but Miami understood and at the end of the day, I had to do what I felt like was best for my future. And, you know, we both parted ways but it ended off pretty much good. You know, I’m glad it’s all over and I’m just ready to get to work now.
“Oregon was my favorite out of all of them. So, that going down to the wire, I didn’t want to have too many schools in the loop. I was always serious about Oregon. It came down to Miami and Oregon. Oregon was always the one I loved. And you know, being from Florida, it was some natural stuff that I battle with the family and this, that, and the third. Everything happens for a reason. If I had to do it all over again, I wish it didn’t pan out like that, but I’m just following God.”
Dan Lanning was a big player in Nix’s recruitment, as the linebacker could sense the authenticity in the head coach’s message throughout the process, which made the decision easier when paired with Lanning’s reputation and history.
“Starting from Coach Lanning, it’s authentic, man. Like, everything that Coach Lanning has pitched to us is all coming to fruition with his success this year and, like, the way he runs his operation, his organization, it’s kind of a feeling like when you sit in those meetings and you see how they work, they prepare, it’s different. And you can kind of get that sense, that feeling. And, Coach Lanning, he came from Georgia winning back-to-back-to-back.
“He’s had people on his staff who’vr been at Alabama winning national championships. So he has really elite developers, elite teachers on that staff. And, you know, you look at every position on his team, they all have great coaches in the room, and he all has great players in the room. And I don’t think that’s for no reason. And, us recruits, we can tell that, you know, being able to get recruited by these guys, build relationships. So I think that’s the main thing. You know, in the process, there could be a lot of glitz and glamours, but at the end of the day, we want to play ball. And Coach Lanning prioritizes that.”
The idea to work with Nike was also exciting for the four-star, and Oregon was very upfront about being able to have that involvement throughout the process with Nix.
“[Talking about those connections outside of football] really came from me,” Nix shared. “I’m very interested in that. Being a football player is what I do. I believe it’s not who I am. I don’t want to make myself one-dimensional. I want to continue to build relationships off of this blessing through football. And when I presented that to Coach Lanning, he was real intentional, showing me like, ‘Hey, this is where Nike started.’”
Oregon has quickly developed into a perennial contender and were able to stack up another strong recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, thanks to a couple of major late-cycle flips with five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord and Gavin Nix.
Both players are expected to enroll early with the Ducks, as Nix is expected to be on campus starting on January 3rd after participating in the Under Armour All-America Game on January 2nd.
