Dan Lanning Is Really Good At This

Nick Saban surprised a lot of people by retiring yesterday. It didn’t take much time at all for the coaching carousel hamster wheel to get going and Oregon’s Dan Lanning jumped right up to the top of the list as the possible next coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. There were even reports and rumors of him being in Tuscaloosa crossing Ts and dotting Is, which ultimately turned out to be wrong. Because he will not be replacing Saban and taking on a nearly impossible gig. He’s actually quite comfortable and happy in Eugene as the Ducks head into their Big Ten era.

Don’t believe it? How about a sleek 61-second video proving his commitment to the program? Would that do the job. Because it exists.

This guy is really smart. He saw he could leverage the moment to make his team better and snapped into action to take a swing. It doesn’t seem like a hot take at all to say the Oregon job is better than the Alabama job right now. Someone has to assume the clipboard from the greatest to ever do it but they will be greeted with impossible expectations and the shortest of leashes. Whomever gets to patrol the sidelines could conceivably continue the success yet it’s far more likely that it’ll be the person who replaces the person who replaces Saban who will be able to breathe enough to win big.

That won’t be Lanning.