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Oregon

Dan Lanning 'expected to be top target' to replace Nick Saban at Alabama

Jarrid Denneyby:Jarrid Denney•01/10/24•

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© Craig Strobeck-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Saban, one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football, is officially retiring.

News of the longtime Alabama coach’s decision to call it quits sent seismic shockwaves through the sports landscape on Thursday, and now all eyes turn on Tuscaloosa as the nation waits to find out who will be the next Crimson Tide head coach.

According to at least one credible report, Oregon’s Dan Lanning is the front-runner to replace Saban.

Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported that Lanning is “expected to be the top target” to replace Saban.

Lanning recently wrapped up his second season at Oregon with a Fiesta Bowl win over Liberty on New Year’s Day to cap off a 12-2 finish to the 2023 campaign.

Last July, Lanning inked a contract extension with UO that raised his annual salary from $4.7 million to $7 million and escalated his buyout to $20 million.

The extension runs through Jan. 31, 2029.

Lanning served as a graduate assistant under Saban at Alabama during the 2015 season.

In November, several reports emerged linking Lanning to the head coaching job at Texas A&M after the school parted ways with Jimbo Fisher.

Lanning was asked about those reports during a press conference in Eugene and steadfastly denied the reports while reaffirming his commitment to Oregon.

“We talk about outside noise a lot in our program, I guess the reality here is No. 1, my name and our program would never be a topic of conversation for another school if we didn’t have something here that everybody else wanted. The reason we have something here that everybody else wants, that’s because of what our players, our coaches, the support that exist here at Oregon have created. I think I’ve been really, really clear here since Day 1, everything I want exists right here. I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance that I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here; there’s a lot that I want to accomplish here at Oregon. My No. 1 priority is being elite here at Oregon and we have the resources, the tools — anybody that can’t understand why you would want to be here at this place does not understand exactly what exists here.

“Like what I’ve said before, with a 13-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old, to be able to raise your family in a community like this, to be able to compete for championships and have the ability to get the resources you need. A lot of coaches hang onto these moments and they don’t do anything or don’t say anything, No. 1 because they don’t want egg on their face when they decide to do something else, No. 2 because they’re concerned about things that I’m not concerned about, like getting a better contract. I’m taken care of extremely well here at Oregon. I have the resources I need here at Oregon to be really, really successful. I’m not motivated by that. I’m motivated by winning. I’m motivated by being elite here. Our players deserve my complete focus. Our fans deserve the best product on the field. It’s outside noise; it didn’t before, it doesn’t matter now. I’ll continue to say it until I’m blue in the face, I’m going to be here at Oregon. That hasn’t changed. That won’t change.”

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