Many argue that Nick Saban is the best college football coach in the game's history. His resume is quite impressive, including seven national championships, 10 SEC championships, and a record of 292-71-1. So, for him to want you on his staff is an incredible compliment.
The Alabama Crimson Tide legend recently praised one specific coach in the Big Ten and said he wanted him to come to Tuscaloosa — Oregon's Dan Lanning.
"Dan Lanning's a really good coach," Saban said Friday afternoon on the Pat McAfee Show. "He was a GA for us, and I actually wanted to hire him."
"Dan Lanning is a really good coach and I actually wanted to hire him" ~ Nick Saban#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/vr3YcLvWor
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 23, 2024
Lanning joined Kirby Smart and Georgia in 2018, coordinating a stout Bulldog defense that won a national championship during the 2021-2022 season. Funny enough, Smart served several years as a defensive coordinator under Saban at Alabama. So by default, Lanning joins that long list of the Saban coaching tree.
In his two years in Eugene, Lanning has a combined 22-5 record with the Ducks. He fell just short of his first college football playoff appearance as head coach with a loss to Washington in the Pac-12 championship. Nevertheless, he led Oregon to back-to-back 10+ win seasons for the first time since 2014.
This year, the Ducks are among the favorites to win the Big Ten in their first season in the conference. A major part of this is the retention of offensive coordinator Will Stein, who hopes to lead Oklahoma transfer quarterback Dylan Gabriel to a successful season like Bo Nix had last year.
Watching Oregon face off against some of the premier Big Ten programs this season, such as Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin, will certainly be entertaining.