“We Love This Place”; Dan Lanning Joins John Canzano After Shutting Down Bama Rumors
By 750 THE GAME STAFF
Where in the world is Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning?
That was a legitimate question on Wednesday night after reports were surfacing that Lanning was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama visiting with the University of Alabama about their open football job.
But Lanning was at home. In Eugene. With his family.
On Thursday Lanning posted a video on Twitter stating that he isn’t leaving Oregon for Alabama and is staying at Oregon.
— Dan Lanning (@CoachDanLanning) January 11, 2024
Lanning joined the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano on 750 The Game to discuss what his mindset was and why Oregon is the job that he doesn’t want to leave.
“Great jobs in college football are a combination of things in my mind,” Lanning said on 750 The Game. “I always talk about innovation when I talk about Oregon. College football’s changing so much I feel like they are on the cutting edge. I’ve never been around a better administration in my life. I enjoy working with Rob Mullens. I enjoy working with our president. Everyone’s working together and rowing the boat in the same direction. And then when you combine it with a great staff where we have some continuity.
“If we continue to pour into this like you do when you work hard and when you care we can make this the best job in the nation and I think we will.”
Recruiting, resources, facilities, fans, and coaching staff. Those are just some of the boxes that need to be checked off in order to win a national championship in college football. Lanning says Oregon has all the boxes.
“We have a great structure here,” Lanning said. “We have a great system in place. Everyone else outside tries to say ‘man, how do we see what they’re doing and how do they do it so well?’ It’s more about the people than anything. And we have the people here that have a vision of what they want this place to look like and how can they be a part of it. There’s some people that want to make this place a better place, and when you have all of that. You get a chance to check every box and we’re one of the schools that checks every box right now. We’re not content with staying the same, we’re trying to figure out how to be better. We always talk about growth mindset around here and we’re always trying to figure out how do we grow. How do we get better.”
The life of an assistant coach in college football is tough. Lanning and his family have been moving from state to state in a short time. Lanning said he joked with his kids about making another move, but ultimately loves where he’s at and won’t leave.
“It’s funny you sit around the dinner table last night and we’re just kind of laughing and joking with each other. And I’m (saying) ‘boys what do you think? You ready to go to state number nine?’ You would have thought there was a mutiny about to happen in my house because they didn’t realize I was just joking with them. Yeah. We like where we’re at. We love this place.”
Listen to the full interview with Dan Lanning by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.