Oregon's hiring of Dan Lanning caps a wild week for the Ducks
From big-game hunting to toilet flushes on Twitter, the second week of December in 2021 won't soon be forgotten
The coaching search thankfully came to an end Saturday afternoon with Oregon announcing the hiring of Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning. And I say thankfully, because any chance of this plane landing gracefully crashed and burned late Friday night with a loudly flushed toilet on Twitter.
More on that in a bit.
First: I’m not going to pretend to have a hard take on a guy whose name I learned two days ago, but Lanning has the credentials you’d need to take this sort of leap at 35-years-old.
He’s the defensive coordinator of the No. 2 team in the country.
The Bulldogs have the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation.
He’s worked at Alabama.
He’s a fierce recruiter.
He’s a two-time Broyles Award finalist as the country’s top assistant. He has, arguably, a better resume than Mario Cristobal did when the Ducks hired him four years ago.
“I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work with our players in the pursuit of championships,” Lanning said in a release.
Again, those are the sort of resume pieces needed for a top-tier Power 5 program to give an opportunity to a first-time head coach. It’s a risk, certainly. Especially with whom it alienates.