Dan Lanning: “Zero Chance” I would be coaching somewhere other than Oregon

750 THE GAME STAFF

Dan Lanning shut down any possibility of him leaving the University of Oregon for the opening at Texas A&M at his Monday night press conference as the Ducks prepare to visit Arizona State on Saturday.

“I think I’ve been really, really clear here since day one, everything I want exists right here,” said Lanning. “I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here. There’s a lot that I want to accomplish here at Oregon. My number one priority is being elite here at Oregon.”

Lanning said the rumors linking his name to the vacancy left by Jimbo Fisher’s firing is only generating from outside Eugene.

“We talk about outside noise a lot in our program. I guess the reality here is one, my name and our program would never be a topic of conversation for another school if we didn’t have something here that everybody else wanted. And the reason we have something here that everybody else wants that’s because of what our players, our coaches, the support that exists here at Oregon have created.

“We have the resources, the tools, anybody that can’t understand why you would want to be here at this place, doesn’t understand exactly what exists here.”

The Ducks are No. 6 in the AP Poll and await to see if they hold serve at No. 6 in the third release of the College Football Playoff rankings set to unveil at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday night. Lanning made it clear that with so much at stake this season, his focus is only on this year’s team finishing strong. He in no way is factoring in a possible career change or new contract for himself.

“A lot of coaches hang on to these moments and they don’t do anything or don’t say anything one, because they don’t want egg on their face when they decide to do something else,” the Oregon head coach said. “Two, because they’re concerned about things that I’m not concerned about, like getting a better contract. I’m taken care of extremely well here at Oregon. I have the resources I need here at Oregon to be really, really successful. I’m not motivated by that. I’m motivated by winning. I’m motivated by being elite here. And our players deserve my complete focus, our fans deserve the best product on the field. So it’s outside noise. It didn’t mattered before. It doesn’t matter now. I’ll continue to say it until I’m blue in the face. I want to be here at Oregon. That hasn’t changed. That won’t change.”

Texas A&M agreed to pay Fisher’s $76 Million buyout to fire him after last Saturday’s 51-10 win over Mississippi State. Possible candidates for their new head coach include Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Kansas’ Lance Leipold, Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, and Duke’s Mike Elko, among others.

Don’t miss John Canzano deliver the Bald Faced Truth afternoons 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game for the latest on Lanning and the Ducks coming down the stretch.