Dan Lanning won a national title with Georgia to cap off his career in Athens before heading to Eugene to be the next Oregon football coach.
For the first time in 41 years, Georgia can claim the title of national champion thanks to a former walk-on quarterback and one of the best defenses in the sport’s history, led by the next Oregon football coach, Dan Lanning.
It was quite the victory over Alabama after getting trounced by the Tide and giving up 41 points just over a month ago. The Bulldogs didn’t crumble under the spotlight of the national title game despite Alabama having their number over the years and Lanning’s defense had the perfect game plan to stop Nick Saban and the Tide.
Lanning’s perfect playoff run as defensive coordinator opened some eyes and it just proved that Oregon acted at the right time to hire him as the next head coach. After giving up 42 points to Alabama in the SEC title game loss, his Bulldogs surrendered just 29 total points against Michigan and Alabama in the playoff.
And by helping secure the program’s first national title in over four decades, Lanning opened some eyes across the country. He proved to be the best coordinator out there.
Not only did he open the eyes of the Tide who seemed to have every punch met with a defensive counterpunch and then a knockout by Kelee Ringo who recorded the pick-six to secure Georgia’s win, but he opened the eyes of recruits across the country. Lanning’s defense led this team to a title and he is bringing that brilliant mind to Eugene.
Who wouldn’t want to be part of the next great college football defense?
In fact, Oregon four-star safety commit Trejon Williams took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Lanning’s defense in the national title game.
I love what I’m seeing 🦆🦆🦆
— Trejon Williams (@trejon_williams) January 11, 2022
Williams decided to wait until February to sign with the Ducks, but it seems pretty clear that the top-250 safety likes what he sees and wants to be part of something special in Eugene.
When Lanning hits the recruiting trail for years to come, he’ll be able to flash a national title ring and point to the defense he helped build in Athens for a few years. It’s going to do wonders for recruiting and we’re going to see the benefits of this national title almost immediately.