Over the past week, we have seen a number of people be added to the Oregon Ducks football program. It started with the hiring of head coach Dan Lanning, the former defensive coordinator at Georgia who is expected to bring youthful energy and elite recruiting ability to the program.
The hirings continued with offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, and co-defensive coordinator Matt Powledge, both of whom bring some big upside to the table. The additions continued on Wednesday as the early signing period arrived, giving the Ducks six more 4-star recruits on the roster.
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On Thursday afternoon, though, Oregon made quite possibly the biggest hire of the whole bunch, reportedly bringing in Marshall Malchow as the new football chief of staff. He may not have the name recognition that the other hires hold, but his ability to change and define the Ducks program is more massive than you can even imagine.
Malchow is yet another young, up-and-coming figure that the Ducks have had an eye on. He was named to the 247 Sports 30-Under-30 list in 2019, and was hired as the Associate Athletic Director at Texas A&M in 2021, working with player personnel. He is thought to be among the most impactful members of the recruiting game in the nation. Where he goes, top-rated classes seem to follow.
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The list of names that he has worked under is pretty astonishing. Legends like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Chris Peterson; Malchow has been a part of all of their recruiting teams, essentially making himself the right-hand man to each one of those coaches. During his 5 years with the Bulldogs, Georgia signed five consecutive top-5 recruiting classes, with the nation’s No. 1 class in 2018 and 2020.
This past year when he was leading the charge at A&M, the Aggies signed the No. 1 overall class in the nation.
Malchow started as many front-office workers or coaches do, as a grad assistant working his way up the chain. He made his value known by parsing through the endless tape and figuring out the best way to single out the top recruits. He helped Nick Saban streamline his recruiting process and ultimately build a dominant dynasty in college football. That’s not to say that he is the reason for Alabama’s success over the years, but he was certainly along for the ride in the early years.
After landing at Georgia, Malchow was praised for his part in helping put the Bulldogs on the map when it came to recruiting, giving UGA a chance to compete with the likes of Alabama on the field.
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“It was also a major coup for the 29-year-old Malchow, who was honored as FootballScoop’s Player Personnel Director of the Year before being named to 247Sports’ 30-under-30 list,” wrote AL.com’s Rainer Sabin, speaking of Malchow’s ascension at Georgia. “Almost overnight, Malchow’s profile as backroom staffer was raised and pushed to the fore, which proved uncomfortable for someone who has spent his professional life operating behind the scenes in relative anonymity.”
Now he is established, though. People in the industry know his name, and they’re aware that when it comes to members of the player personnel world, there are few guys better at elevating the bar of success. Just this past week, The Athletic released a piece made to identify the best player personnel people across the country in college football. Malchow was ranked No. 2 on that list.
“He’s a top evaluator and leader in his role,” one recruiting coordinator said. “He has done it at the highest level at multiple places. And he’s a great dude.”
“In the two years he’s been there, coming from Georgia, they’ve been able to become a national power in recruiting,” another wrote. “The 2021 class they signed and 2022 class they are signing are special.”
Now Malchow is in Oregon, working alongside Dan Lanning and Don Johnson, buoyed by the resources given by Uncle Phil Knight. Not like he didn’t have the abilities to reach far and wide across the nation with the athletic departments in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M, but with the shield of Nike University now around him, it’s almost intoxicating to think about what he might be able to achieve.
After losing Mario Cristobal, there was a deep-seated worry that the Ducks might slip in the recruiting game and fall back to the levels of talent that we’ve seen over the past decade. The result is quite on the contrary.
Oregon AD Dan Mullens went out and hired a head coach who is one of the best recruiters in the nation, and now he went for the kill shot. Marshall Malchow is now a Duck, and he very easily could be the man to deliver the level of talent to Oregon that will ultimately bring a championship trophy back to Eugene at long last.
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