Nobody’s smiling harder than Eugene right now, and for good reason. The entire city of Eugene and Dan Lanning‘s on Cloud 9. The No.1 ranked Oregon Football, backed by Phil Knight’s Nike empire, just pulled off the ultimate flex on National Signing Day. Oregon With a No. 1 recruiting class and unlimited NIL backing from their sugar daddy, the Ducks are soaring past their rivals, both in the ball game and the recruiting game. But here’s the kicker—this “Nike-fueled” dominance isn’t sitting well with everyone. Is it a success, or is it just a paycheck championship?

Phil Knight and Oregon go way back, like bell-bottoms and disco era. The Nike co-founder has been repping the Ducks since the ’70s; after all, he’s an Oregon alum. For Oregon Ducks, it’s “Uncle Phil.” But this ain’t just about nostalgia—Knight is literally the sugar daddy of Oregon Football.

And Uncle Phil loves to take care of his nephews in Eugene with crazy NIL money. Through Nike-backed NIL deals and his Division Street collective, he’s literally rewriting the rules of college football, letting players rake in millions. This changed the game for Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks. The Oregon Ducks are winning on and off the field. And Dan Lanning is having the time of his life. The Ducks literally own the recruitment game with Nike Money.

At 86 years old, Uncle Phil isn’t just funding the Ducks—he’s on a mission to see the ducking lifting that national championship trophy. But time’s not side on his side, though. Before he starts to see only black, he loves to see Green winning the chip. His all-out effort delivered a recruiting masterclass on Signing Day, flipping 5-star cornerback Na’eem Offord from Ohio State and 5-star quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele from Cal. Let’s not forget four-star Zac Stascausky ditching Washington or linebacker Gavin Nix waving bye to Miami.

Oregon’s final haul? Four 5-stars and 2 Signing Day flips. Diabolical doesn’t even begin to describe the work of Phil Knight and head coach Dan Lanning. The duo’s recruiting rampage left rival fans fuming—and Oregon’s faithful partying like it’s 1999.

Phil Knight and Dan Lanning had the entire college football world fuming

Oregon fans were all over social media celebrating their team’s No. 1 recruiting class and the rest of the college football world. Not so much. The haters came out in full force on Rival’s Twitter post, and boy, you could literally see them tweaking from their reaction. One fan threw some love at Oregon, saying, “Best team in the nation,” but others weren’t having it. An Ohio State fan chimed in, sarcastically noting, “With that Nike money, they’re very likely going to get a ring soon.” Yeah, because Oregon’s success is obviously all about the cash, right? Meanwhile, Oregon fans were ready to shut down the noise.

The hate kept flowing and flowing. One fan dropped a line that could’ve been straight out of a rage tweet: “The hate for Oregon is crazy. Hopefully, we can win a national championship this year and put it to rest.#1 in CFP rankings and recruiting, 12-0 record playing for the Big 10 championship in year 1, and people are still talking crazy.” This was clearly a shot at all the critics who can’t seem to stop talking about Oregon’s success, even though they’re sitting pretty at No. 1 at ranking and recruiting.

Some fans even took it further, saying, “These MFs (Nike) are paying big 🖕the NIL!” It’s like they couldn’t believe Oregon was stacking up top recruits with money backing them, but here’s the thing—Nike’s support isn’t the only reason the Ducks are dominating. Gotta give props to Dan Lanning for keeping the Ducks undefeated. Talent is real, too.

Then came the real gems: “Weird! I thought it was only because of ‘Nike money’ and not their actual success lol. Oregon isn’t even in the top ten in NIL and that all media and haters can talk about.” I mean, come on. Critics want to reduce Oregon’s top-tier recruiting class to just cash, ignoring the actual work behind it. But sure, let’s keep pretending it’s all about the dollars. At this point, they just hating. Meanwhile, another user dropped. “Very little to do with skill.” Yeah, keep telling yourself that while Oregon flips five-star recruits left and right. And they are literally in the Big 10 title conference game.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous, someone wrote, “I wonder if Phil Knight has anything to do with that? Championships are now being bought. Need a cap on spending.” Look, let’s be real- teams like Ohio and Texas have been paying for top talent for years, whether through NIL deals, boosters, or whatever else. But Oregon doing it with Nike backing them is somehow a problem? Come on. Oregon’s getting the job done with one of the best recruiting classes and coaching staff in the game, and the haters can’t stand it. So, let them keep talking. The Ducks are rolling, and no amount of whining is going to stop that train.