College Football’s Hottest Coaching Commodity

By Kyle Golik

Prior to my arrival at Big Ten Media Days last week, it went without saying the toughest coach who got the most attention was Oregon’s Dan Lanning . Ever since Lanning’s viral moment prior to Oregon’s matchup of Colorado last season where Lanning motivated his squad with, “They're fighting for clicks, we're fighting for wins” and the ensuing demolition of Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes, his stock has been sky-rocketing.

Everything Lanning does is calculated. Look at how he announced he was staying at Oregon. It was impactful, it sold Lanning to recruits across the nation, and galvanized an Oregon Ducks base that was accustomed to losing coaches as soon as their stock hit a desirable high.

As Lanning walked up to the podium to address the Big Ten media, Lanning reflected on the last time he was at Lucas Oil Stadium. “It's certainly great to be back here in Indianapolis," he said. "The last time I was in this stadium, I got to enjoy a National Championship with some of my former players there at Georgia. It's refreshing to be here. Two and a half years from that moment, it's been so rewarding to be a part of our program at Oregon, and certainly excited about that.”

Lanning was defensive coordinator for Kirby Smart’s 2021 national championship Georgia team. When analysts rank the top head coaches in the country, Lanning is as high as No. 2, trailing only Smart.

Oregon’s marketing team is unrivaled across the country with their various campaigns that leave everyone talking. Even before Lanning could introduce Oregon to the Big Ten, the Oregon marketing department had a giant inflatable duck in the White River. Lanning, as calculated as he always is, jumped at the opportunity saying, “You look out there in the pond, you'll see a big old duck. I hope we get to travel that duck to all our away games this year.”

Following Big Ten Media Days, Oregon hosted their annual “Saturday Night Live,” where they host top recruits and the school’s own Media Days event. Lanning elaborated on preparation transitioning to the Big Ten and the work Oregon still has to do . "A lot of that prep I put on our coaches. A lot of prep is making sure that we're installing the right calls that we need to be able to carry for as we approach some teams that might have a different approach," he explained. "On the same note, really, these next four weeks is about us, and the focus is about us being the best team we can possibly be. You know, on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game, we want to dictate how we play right regardless of the opponent. So that being said, you still have to be able to line up and play some different looks, which we've done a lot of summer scouting report work, some offseason work on what we might need to carry that's different moving forward."

On the recruiting front, “Saturday Night Live” seemed to be a major selling point to many recruits. Current five-star wide receiver and Oregon commit Dakorian Moore (Duncanville, Duncanville, Texas) is working with Ohio State commit and Class of 2026 five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. (Mater Dei, Santa Ana, California). Henry was impressed with the environment for Saturday Night Live at Autzen Stadium, telling On3 , "The environment was great! And for me it’s the coaches and the people here that excites me. It’s different here for sure. They got something special here."

When you begin to canvas the recruiting event with the amount of high-end recruits Oregon hosted, the depth that begins to form is a championship caliber one. Lanning commented on the depth of his current 2024 team during Saturday Night Live. "I think just the depth of our team is a lot different now than when we first got here, and that's always going to happen with transition. I think our player development staff, I think our recruiting staff, our evaluation, and our coaches have all done a really good job of figuring out ways to create competition," he said. "We have a lot more competition on this team. We're bigger, you know, on both sides of the ball. I think that matters. Our guys have done a great job in the weight room with Coach Love and his staff of getting stronger and putting themselves in position and then, more than any of all understanding the expectations we have for them in our program. What does the practice look like? What's the physicality look like? You know, player standards, right? We always talk about player led teams are really important. We have more leadership now on our team than we did when I initially got here."

Lanning’s stock continues to soar with recruits, fans, players, media - essentially the entire universe. He serves as fresh air in a sport that is in limbo of an identity.

When he said at Big Ten Media Days, “Ultimately, what should the Big Ten know about Oregon? We're mighty different, mighty different in a lot of ways,” Lanning showed he is built differently and that unique build is what distinguishes him amongst his peers.