Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning is one of the hottest names in college football coaching. After Nick Saban retired, Lanning was the first name mentioned for the Alabama coaching job. He quickly said he wasn’t interested and would stay in Eugene. In a recent interview, he revealed how much he thought about taking the job.
Oregon Ducks Dan Lanning On Alabama Job
Dan Lanning on the Alabama job opening:
“It was never really a thought in our mind.
I love Coach Saban and, gosh, I can’t tell you how much he’s done for my career and where I’m at.
But I think we can make Oregon the best job in college football, and that happens with… pic.twitter.com/MKRsKN2Aif
— On3 (@On3sports) January 27, 2024
Lanning is apparently happy with his current program.
“It was never really a thought in our mind. I love Coach Saban and, gosh, I can’t tell you how much he’s done for my career and where I’m at. But I think we can make Oregon the best job in college football, and that happens with focusing on where we’re at.”
“I made a commitment to players. … People see the commitment publicly, but they don’t see when you sit down on a coach with a family and tell them that you’re gonna be here [and] what that looks like,” Lanning said. “Some coaches say that and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. For me, that means something.
“I’m committed to being here. I’ve got a 10 year old, and I gotta get him through high school. The only way that doesn’t happen is I don’t win enough. To put my focus on something else other than Oregon football, that’s gonna be a distraction to us to accomplishing that goal.”
Lanning wants to stay with Oregon and thinks very highly of the program. With the move to the Big Ten next year, it isn’t hard to see why he wanted to stay.
2024 And Beyond
Oregon is now in one of the premier conferences in the nation. The Big Ten has the reigning national champions, the Michigan Wolverines. Ohio State is a powerhouse in the college football world. With the addition of Oregon and USC, the conference has some of the top teams in the nation. It isn’t difficult to see why Lanning wanted to stick with the current program rather than start all over in a new place.
Can Lanning lead the team to a national championship? They have a loaded roster and have a Big Ten schedule to help them make the College Football Playoff.
