Hundreds of college football players enter the transfer portal every year, but very few are enticed by the portal and decide to stay.
That was the situation Seven McGee faced when former Duck head coach Mario Cristobal left Eugene for Miami.
No one would have blamed McGee if he wanted to either play closer to his home of Rochester, NY, or follow Cristobal to south Florida and be a Hurricane instead.
But then new head coach Dan Lanning received his first chance at recruiting for Oregon and that was to convince McGee to stay.
Whatever was said worked out in the Ducks’ favor because the sophomore is preparing to face Georgia on Sept. 3 and not at another program.
McGee, who has appropriately switched his uniform number to No. 7, now looks to become the next De’Anthony Thomas and force defenses to defend him as a tailback/receiver hybrid.
“Staying here has helped me as a person,… as growing into a man,” McGee said this week.
“Coach Lanning and his staff definitely helped me grow into myself. Staying here was the best option. If I had left, you never know what would have happened. So I’m glad I stayed here.”
McGee is also happy that he can now show off his skills in this new offense.
Although he’s officially listed as a “wide receiver,” opponents will have a difficult time preparing for his offensive prowess since he’ll line up anywhere from the tailback position to a slot receiver or wideout.
“Coach (Junior) Adams and coach (Colin) Lockett are two (great) coaches,” he said. “They put me in the right places and the right positions and going through techniques and just understanding the details and really getting it done.”
Practices are closed so very few have seen what the new offense really looks like, but McGee says the schemes tend to get the ball to those in space and let their natural talent flourish.
But all of that won’t happen if the preparation isn’t there and according to Adams, the receivers are doing the work needed in order to compete.
“These guys come to work every day, they come into meetings, they come in early, they put in the extra time and they know they can’t just show up and play football,” Adams said.
“That’s why Seven’s game is getting better. He’s improving and developing at the receiver position.”