Dan Lanning takes issue with players returning to college football from NFL: ‘I think it’s unfair’
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Once upon a time, in a galaxy that’s getting further and further away, college football players fought to get to the NFL as soon as possible. These days, we’ve somehow flipped the script.
Multiple players, including former UCLA and SMU running back TJ Harden, now find themselves in the transfer portal after making NFL preseason appearances earlier this month, thanks to a temporary restraining order in Louisiana. At this moment, the TRO will allow Harden (and others) to suit up for the 2026 campaign. To Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, that means the wheels have officially fallen off the wagon.
“I don’t think that’s fair to the players who worked all summer, all spring… to let any of those players come back,” Lanning said in a Saturday press conference. “Fair or unfair to them, it’s unfair to the sport.”
The biggest issue, in Lanning’s opinion, centers on how schools chasing NFL players will have to treat players at the back end of their roster.
“Most of us have built our rosters, and you have a roster limit now,” Lanning said. “So if you invited somebody back to your team, you’re kicking somebody else off your team,”
Harden is considering Kentucky, Kansas, Baylor and Syracuse, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.
