AP source: Oregon hires Georgia DC Lanning as head coach
Oregon has hired Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as its next head coach, a person involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Oregon completed a deal with Lanning to replace Mario Cristobal, who was hired away by Miami this week, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school had not yet made an official announcement.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution first reported Friday that Oregon would hire Lanning.
The 35-year-old Lanning will be a first-time head coach with Oregon after spending the last four years at Georgia, the previous three leading one of the best defenses in the country.
No. 3 Georgia (12-1) has the top-ranked defense in the country this season and will play No. 2 Michigan in the College Football Playoff at the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31.
Without confirming Lanning was heading to Oregon, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in a statement that Lanning would stay with the team through its playoff run. Inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann and special teams coordinator Will Muschamp will be co-defensive coordinators for Georgia after Lanning moves on.
“We are so happy for Dan and his family,” Smart said. “He and (wife) Sauphia have been an important part of our Bulldog family for the last four years, and we thank them for all they did for Georgia Football and the Athens community.
“Opportunities like this are a testament to a successful program.”
Oregon’s coaching search lasted about four days after Cristobal went home to Miami following four full seasons in Eugene as head coach. The Ducks went 35-13 under Cristobal, reaching the Pac-12 title game each of the last three seasons.
Lanning will be their third head coach since Willie Taggart took the job after the 2016 season. Taggart lasted just one season in Eugene before he returned to his home state to coach Florida State.
Cristobal was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach in 2017.
Now Oregon is going outside the program again, reaching across the country to hire a defensive coordinator as head coach after decades of being led by coaches with offensive backgrounds, starting with Mike Bellotti in the 1990s to Chip Kelly in the 2000s.
Lanning is a Missouri native who played football at Division II William Jewell in Liberty.
He started his coaching career at a high school outside Kansas City before landing bouncing from Pittsburgh to Arizona State as a graduate assistant. His first full-time job in Division I was with Arizona State and he spent a year with FCS Sam Houston State in 2014.
He did a stint as a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2015, and then his career took off. He was hired by Memphis as linebackers coach in 2016, and Smart brought him to Georgia in 2018.
He was promoted to defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2019. The Bulldogs have ranked in the top 10 in yards per play allowed in each of the past three seasons.
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