A job once thought of as a stepping stone to the "truly elite" programs, tucked away in one of the quietest pockets of the country, has emerged as one of the premier jobs in the nation. Brian Kelly was just fired from LSU, one of the best jobs in the nation, and as always, Dan Lanning is the first name up on the list of top targets.
Though jobs such as Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, Texas and Florida may be objectively better jobs if a head coach was able to select from a blank slate - Dan Lanning isn't going anywhere.
Oregon lacks proximity to elite recruits in comparison to the schools listed and many others, but aside from that, what do they lack? Oregon has an elite fanbase, is aligned, well-funded, and has the best facilities in the nation.
Oregon is constantly on the cutting edge of innovation, a sentiment that Lanning has echoed through the entirety of his tenure in Eugene. Elite players such as Dakorien Moore, come to Oregon to "be different," and go against the grain of what others do.
Dan Lanning has lots of unfinished business in Eugene, and as he has said "there's a lot of starters, but the world doesn't have a lot of finishers, and we're finishers."
Considering the sudden opening of the LSU and Florida jobs, it is an appropriate time to take Duck fans back to January of 2024.
Nick Saban, the greatest coach in football history just retired from Alabama and one of, if not the first names to arise in the coaching search was Dan Lanning. The Crimson Tide eventually settled on former Washington coach and Lanning-kryptonite, Kalen de Boer. While it was never confirmed, it is widely believed that Dan Lanning was offered the Alabama job and turned it down.
Amidst that process, Dan Lanning assured recruits that he would be staying in Eugene. When talking to an unnamed recruits Mother, the only way she could be made 100% sure by Lanning's statements was through the public release of a video. In that video, Lanning made some statements that have stuck in the collective conscious of Oregon fans (and made the various Duck Stores a lot of money).
""I want to be here in Eugene for as long as Eugene will have me. This place has everything that I could possible ever want. There's a little bit of a problem in society today, with people looking for what's next, and where there's an opportunity, and the reality is the grass is not always greener. In fact the grass is damn green in Eugene.""Coach Dan Lanning - January 2024
Oregon fans and Dan Lanning aren't the only ones who feel as if he will stay put in Eugene. Josh Pate, who is as plugged-in as it gets, especially with head coaches, also knows that Lanning has no reason to leave Oregon.
When asked if he would leave Oregon for one of the perceived "top-tier" jobs, Pate said "No. My answer would have been different ten years ago... I think I can accomplish everything there that I can accomplish elsewhere... Here's what anyone needs to understand: Dan's not leaving Oregon. He's not leaving Oregon because at Oregon it's the only place where you have a deal with the school, and a deal with Phil Knight... When you really understand Dan Lanning's life there, you're really talking about a $40 million, $50 million dollar buyout."
The Nike and finances of it all certainly aren't the only factors in this equation, something that Lanning knows, Oregon fans know, and Josh Pate knows. "Even if it wasn't that, let's pretend that wasn't the case... Another thing people need to know, is when you go up there right now, you sit in his office, you look out, it's cranes everywhere, it's earth moving everywhere, cause they're overhauling it again. So this time next year, they'll be ahead of the pack on (the facilities) front."
On field results and recruiting matter too, to state the obvious. "Go back to that game against Penn State, and understand what you watched. Oregon, they recruit at a very high level already, they've mastered evaluation in the portal... Marshall Malchow is a really good dude running point for Dan Lanning, but Lanning himself and that staff are really good at evaluating."
Pate continued: They're doing stuff that you used to get told you couldn't do, it was a chore, you had to clear the hurdle 150% of what the southern schools did to get talent (to Oregon), you don't have to anymore."
"They've just happened to get the right guy from the south who is the closest removed from Nick Saban, or Kirby Smart. He looks like a psychopath... it fits... It's taking everything that you think is a stereotype because it's kinda true, about southern football culture and what's won down there forever, and you just transplanted it up to Oregon, at the best of times."
Another aspect, and perhaps what is of the upmost importance to coach Lanning himself, is the personal matter of it all.
It was a long, streneous journey to get to Oregon for Dan Lanning. What started with a thirteen hour drive from Missouri to Pittsburgh for a graduate assistant job, turned into him being one of the best coaches in all of college football.
Since being at Pitt in 2011, Lanning has had stops at Arizona State, Sam Houston, Alabama, Memphis, and Georgia. Along that journey, Lanning survived off food stamps, his wife, Sauphia, battled through cancer, and now have three children.
Lanning has been clear that he wants his kids to graduate in Eugene. Unless his children fly from Baton Rouge to Sheldon High School every day or every week, Lanning isn't leaving.
There are only two jobs that I feel have a serious chance at prying Lanning away from Oregon: Georgia, and the Kansas City Chiefs.
At Georgia, there are obvious connections. It's where Lanning got his first big-time break. It was his first non-graduate assistant job at a power-conference school, serving as the outside linebackers job, before becoming the defensive coordinator, a role he served for three seasons. The good news on the Georgia job? It's not available, and it won't be. Kirby Smart is the best coach in college football, isn't even fifty years old, and his spot is more secure than anyone else in the country.
Lanning has no experience at the pro ranks, and has expressed his love for college football. He seems to genuinely enjoy the recruiting process, the connection with players, the development of turning high school students into men, good husbands and fathers, and more. Dan Lanning is originally from Kansas City, a well-documented Chiefs fan, and if he had to pick one place to move his children one last time, one can assume it would be back home.
Andy Reid, the Chiefs head coach, is 67 years old, making him one of the oldest in the NFL. Another Chiefs super bowl could leave the future hall of fame coach seeking retirement, and Lanning would certainly be one of the first calls made by the Chiefs. While something to monitor, if I had to guess, Lanning wants to stay in college football, and only at Oregon.