Dan Lanning: 'I got my doctorate in football' at Alabama under Nick Saban

Dan Lanning isn’t afraid to give credit where credit is due. In an interview with Joel Klatt, the Oregon head coach raved about his time under former Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

“The G.O.A.T. just retired. The best ever do it,” Lanning said. “The level of consistency, the way he operated day in and day out — I can’t say I was surprised to see him step away just because of what the game has become and what he did for so long, but I’m grateful that I got to learn from him for a little bit.”

Lanning spent his first two seasons coaching at the collegiate level as a graduate assistant. Then, in 2013, he was promoted to recruiting coordinator at Arizona State. Only two years later, Lanning accepted an offer to be the defensive backs coach at Sam Houston State.

Then, an opportunity to be a graduate assistant at Alabama presented itself to Lanning. Despite the lackluster job title, Lanning accepted the offer.

“It was a step backward financially. But, for me, I always tell everybody when I went to Alabama, that’s when I got my doctorate in football,” Lanning said. “Coming in, I thought I knew a lot and I realized how much I didn’t know. Whether it’s running an organization, schematically, the work ethic required — it was a great step for me in my career to be around some phenomenal coaches on that staff.

“You had Kirby Smart, Mario Cristobal, Mel Tucker, Billy Napier, Lane Kiffin — all those guys obviously went on to be head coaches and then learning from Nick every single day was great for me.”

Dan Lanning learned from the best

In Lanning’s lone season with Alabama, the Crimson Tide defeated Clemson 45–40 in the national championship. While Lanning wasn’t around the prestigious program for long, Saban obviously had a surplus of knowledge to offer.

After taking over the reins in 2007, Saban led the Crimson Tide to six national championships, including three titles in the College Football Playoff era.

Saban won 201 games at Alabama — tied with Vince Dooley (Georgia) for the second-most wins at a single school in SEC history. Saban only trails Bear Bryant, who won 232 games in his 25 seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Lanning has lots of work to do to follow in the footsteps of Saban. In the 2023 campaign, Lanning led Oregon to a 12-2 overall record and an 8-1 mark in conference play. In the upcoming season, Lanning will aim to lead the Ducks to new heights during the program’s debut in the Big Ten.