Dan Lanning explains why Oregon was the right fit for him

The Oregon Ducks have officially introduced Dan Lanning as the team’s new football head coach. Lanning comes to Oregon after serving as Georgia’s defensive coordinator since 2019.

At his introductory press conference on Monday, Lanning went in-depth on what made Oregon the right fit for him.

“Why Oregon? First most, the Oregon players,” Lanning said. “There is a team here that I feel really strong about. There’s an alignment here that I feel really strong about. The resources, the support from administration, the fact that this place is a perennial winner. Eugene and this community, its fan base and a place that I can say I’m going to be proud to raise my family. A place that takes tremendous pride in their program. Those things all matter to me.”

Lanning is looking to build sustained success as Oregon’s new head coach. He isn’t interested in one-hit wonders.

“I want to be really clear. My job here is to build a winner,” Lanning said. “And this is not going to be a one-hit wonder. We have to build the right way. It takes every single one of us. This program is staged to compete and to win championships. We won’t shy from expectations and our goal is to compete for national championships here. But I won’t sit here and spend all my time talking about national championships. We’re going to be methodical in our approach.

“We’re going to focus on the process, we’re going to compete to a standard every day. The Oregon standard. We will build on the foundation that has already been established here and we’ll create those championship teams. But just as important as creating championship teams, we’re going to create championship fathers. We’re going to create championship husbands, we’re going to create championship men that the University of Oregon and our alumni fan base can be proud of.”

Lanning brings plenty of assistant coaching experience to Oregon

While he has never been a head coach in college football, Lanning has spent his career learning under some of the greatest minds the sport currently knows. Lanning has worked under coaches such as Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, which has helped shape him into the coach he is looking to become with Oregon.

“I like to speak to quality of experience,” Lanning said. “I don’t think there’s very many coaches that can sit up here and speak to the quality of experience of working for guys like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Mike Norvell. Like I said, I’m a lifelong learner. Both my parents were teachers. My approach in coaching is, ‘If you’re not learning, you’re not getting better.’ I pour into that every single day. I believe if I’m not getting better, I’m getting worse.”

Lanning will still serve as Georgia’s defensive coordinator in the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Michigan. When he begins at Oregon, Lanning will become the third new head coach in the Pac-12, joining Washington’s Kalen DeBoer and Washington State’s Jake Dickert.