Why Ducks coach isn’t replacing Nick Saban at Alabama

In the immediate hours of Nick Saban’s stunning retirement as Alabama’s football coach, the question that had bounced around for years about who would replace him came with a frequent answer — Dan Lanning.

Lanning, 37, has experienced a meteoric rise in the college football coaching ranks, punctuated by a two-year tenure as Oregon’s coach in which he has elevated an already strong Ducks program with two double digit-win seasons and a pair of top-15 finishes.

Between his early success and stops as an assistant coach at some of the biggest programs in college football, Lanning has established himself as one of the most promising coaches in the sport — which, for a job as prestigious as Alabama, made him a prime candidate.

UPDATE: Oregon football’s Dan Lanning shuts down rumors linking him to Alabama’s top job after Nick Saban retires

On Thursday, though, barely 12 hours after news of Saban’s retirement broke, Lanning put any of that speculation to rest by confirming that he would remain at Oregon.

Here’s what you need to know about Lanning’s decision and what factors were at play in it:

Why Dan Lanning is staying at Oregon

Lanning announced his decision to stay at Oregon in a video he posted Thursday morning on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

At the start of the 61-second clip, he is shown addressing his team at the Ducks’ facility:

“Everybody’s got goals and aspirations,” Lanning says to his players. “You know how you get those? You be the best where you’re at. That’s how you reach goals and aspirations. That’s how great things happen. It’s not about worrying about the next thing. It’s about worrying about what’s right in front of you, six inches right in front of your face.”

After his speech, an audio clip of him from last season expressing his happiness at Oregon…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/dan-lanning-staying-oregon-why-183422702.html

Author : The Register-Guard

Publish date : 2024-01-11 18:34:22

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