Dan Lanning speaks to Mike Norvell's impact on his career

Dan Lanning has worked under a few quality head coaches, namely Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. But the first guy to give Lanning a full-time assistant role at the FBS level was Mike Norvell back with the Memphis Tigers. Lanning coached inside linebackers and was the recruiting coordinator for the program.

Norvell has made a huge impact on Lanning’s career and qualities learned while at Memphis are still with him today. Lanning spoke about what he took from the two’s time together, discussing the intensity he would see in the building on a daily basis.

“Mike has a crazy passion for the game,” Lanning said in an interview with Barstool’s Bussin’ With The Boys. “When it comes to his intensity, you want to see that start at the top. You want a head coach that you know he’s not going to ask you to do anything that he’s not willing to do. He put in the work, he put in the time. He looked at things outside the box, right?… A guy that’s willing to put in everything that they have for us to be successful and willing to adapt and change.”

Lanning spent two seasons at Memphis where the team had a great deal of success under Norvell. A record of 18-8 happened while Lanning was involved, with the latter year being just the second 10-win season in program history. Norvell was clearly doing something right.

Smart saw the potential in Lanning as well, hiring him to be Georgia‘s outside linebacker coach for the 2018 season. One year later, Lanning was promoted to defensive coordinator and it eventually led to him being hired as Oregon‘s head coach.

Years later, Lanning is applying details from his two years at Memphis under Norvell to his own program.

“That’s what I hope people see here,” Lanning said. “I hope you see the details because all the details matter. Especially at this level.”

Norvell has moved onto a bigger job as well, finally getting the train moving in the right direction at Florida State. Both head coaches had opportunities at making the College Football Playoff in 2024 and a matchup between the two was certainly possible.

While it did not occur after the 2023 season, one is certainly down the road. A potential game between the teacher vs. the student, with the roots going back to the 2016 and 2017 season at Memphis.