Every year since Dan Lanning got settled into his role as the Oregon Ducks head coach, it's felt like the team keeps getting closer to winning the National Championship. In the first season in the Big Ten, the Ducks won the conference but suffered a blowout in their first College Football Playoff game against Ohio State. This season, the Ducks knocked off James Madison and Texas Tech, but lost in a rematch against Indiana.
While the way the Ducks have lost after showing so much promise stings, you can clearly see that the program is trending in the right direction. It seems like it's only a matter of time before Dan Lanning and his staff breakthrough, and the Ducks head coach feels the same way.
Dan Lanning understands the challenge and just how close Oregon is
On Wednesday, it was the Oregon Ducks' turn to take the podium at Big Ten Media Days, where Dan Lanning and several players spoke to various media outlets. In an interview with On3's Wilson Alexander, Dan Lanning laid out just how difficult it is to win a National Championship and how close he feels the Ducks are to pulling off the feat.
"It takes time. It’s hard. It’s hard to build. There’s, what, four active coaches that have won national championships? We’re close."Dan Lanning
While Dan Lanning isn't saying anything bold or profound, the message he's sending proves that he truly gets it. Every college football fan and analyst can see that the Ducks are close, and that just because you're close doesn't mean that you'll ever end up reaching the ultimate goal.
Aside from the wild 2-year rebuild Curt Cignetti pulled off, it's taken all of the active coaches that Lanning is pointing out time to reach that goal. It took Dabo Swinney 8 seasons at Clemson to win a Championship, Kirby Smart needed 6 years, and Ryan Day needed 6 seasons while taking over a loaded program.
Dan Lanning is only heading into his 5th season as Oregon's head coach, and it's his first gig as a head coach. There have been times when it's looked hard to build, and it's certainly taken some time, but it's also clear that Lanning continues to build a strong foundation in Eugene.
It's impossible to know if Dan Lanning is going to win a National Championship, but it certainly seems like he's well on his way toward that goal. Plenty of coaches have come close, and never reached the mountain top, but the chase is what drives every player to play, every coach to coach, and the reason that no matter how many times a fanbase is heartbroken, they'll continue to show faith every season.
Dan Lanning clearly gets the difficulty and the challenge at hand for the Ducks as the program looks for it's first National Championship. The Ducks have a great coach at the helm, and as he continues to show the football IQ and the perfect mindset, it's easy to believe he'll get the job done.
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