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Oregon

'A little hard to wrap your head around'; Dan Lanning Comments on Mid-season Coach Firings

Max Torres Author Profileby: Max Torres12 hours agomtorressports
Dan Lanning
Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning ahead of facing the Wisconsin Badgers. (Photo by: Max Unkrich/ScoopDuckOn3)

Oregon’s Dan Lanning has established himself as one of the premier head coaches in college football. His 42-7 mark at Oregon gives him the most wins by a Duck head coach through his first 49 games.

With that success, which includes the program’s first Big Ten title in 2024, has come opportunity. Lanning’s name is routinely thrown in the conversation for head coaching jobs all around the country.

After openings at Alabama and then Texas A&M have emerged during his tenure in Eugene, schools like LSU, Florida and Penn State each find themselves looking for a new leader during the season.

But Lanning has been adamant throughout his four years in Eugene that he’s happy where he’s at. After all, Nike even printed shirts with his now famous saying, “The grass is damn green in Eugene.”

Lanning met with reporters during Oregon’s bye week media availability on Wednesday and was asked about what he makes of the slew of midseason firings at prominent schools.

He doesn’t understand the rush to pull the plug.

“A little hard to wrap your head around,” Lanning told reporters. “I’m not sure exactly what the hurry’s for, but it’s part of what we all are aware of and what we signed up for in this profession. It’s a tough profession, but it’s a really rewarding profession.”

Oregon’s head coach has never lost his perspective. After getting his start as a coach in Missouri at Park Hill High School, he’s acknowledged and been grateful for the situation he has with the Ducks in Eugene.

“There’s a lot of people that love to do what we get to do,” he added. “And it’s nice to be in a place that has really consistent stability and players that are really focused. But I think that’s just an example of distractions that exist right now in college football that our players and our coaches handle really well.”

Oregon signed Lanning to a six-year contract extension in March, with an average annual salary close to $11 million. He’ll make $10.4 million this year with a chance to make more through incentives.

The contract buyout for Lanning should he chose to leave is $20 million.

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