© Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
The saying goes, ‘There’s a grain of truth in every joke.’
That maxim rings true in the latest back-and-forth, dust-up, shots fired, whatever one wants to call it, between Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Oregon coach Dan Lanning, who in part was schooled by Smart when Lanning coached in Athens.
At SEC Media Days recently, Smart took the first jab at Lanning, all with what seemed like light-hearted humor.
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“I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Phil Knight and his wonderful wife, Penny,” Smart said. “I wish I could get some of that NIL money that he’s sharing with Dan Lanning.”
Later, in a follow-up question for Smart to expand on that shot taken at Lanning, Smart went further trying to prove his point saying Lanning has, “the treasure chest to open up and get whatever he wants.”
Smart playing the ‘woe is me’ angle doesn’t really play well. He’s not far removed from winning back-to-back national championships and Georgia is the best program in the country. Resources are hardly thin in Athens. It does seem like Georgia’s strategy in NIL is to sell the program and then pay up once kids actually sign and get on campus, not before. Others have different approaches.
Lanning has not held back, either. All the while keeping the tit-for-tat lighthearted and fun (for now) but also making it clear that the Ducks aren’t some Pacific Northwest backwater who won’t retaliate with a bazooka if needed.
“The rabbit has the gun,” Lanning told I-5corridor.com. “And people don’t like the fact that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/dan-lanning-kirby-smart-exchange-220727883.html
Author : Rivals
Publish date : 2024-07-25 22:07:27
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