Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning turned a large number of heads earlier this week when he popped up in Houston, Texas, for the College Football Playoff national championship game.
While he wasn’t coaching in the game, Lanning accepted an invite from ESPN to join the broadcast crew and help preview the game. He knew well what type of challenges the Washington Huskies presented, and had an idea of what the Michigan Wolverines needed to do to stop them.
Lanning also explained in an interview with Oregon radio host John Canzano this week that it offered a great recruiting tool for the Ducks, allowing them to stay in the spotlight even when not playing on the biggest stage.
“That’s usually a night in college football where everyone is talking about the two teams on TV,” Lanning said on “The Bald Faced Truth.” “But we felt like it was an opportunity for there to be another team that they’re talking about.”
Getting to sit down with Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Chris Fowler and Pat McAfee was not the highlight of Lanning’s night, though. He told Canzano on Thursday that it was a trio of others he met during the game that really stole the show.
“I got to meet Michael Jordan. Like, I got to touch him,” Lanning said. “He touched me on the shoulder, I haven’t washed my shoulder yet. I’ve Facetimed with him a couple of times, but I got to (meet) him, Derek Jeter, Travis Scott. Come on man, that’s a moment where you pinch yourself, like ‘What’s this dude from Richmond, Missouri, doing hanging out in a suite with Michael Jordan, Travis Scott, and Derek Jeter?'”
Lanning said that, while had had met Travis Scott before when the rapper and fashion designer was in Eugene for the 2022 World Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field, he left this meeting with a picture of himself and No. 23 to put into his collection of memorabilia.
Canzano also did a great job of asking a very notable question: What do you learn from being in the presence of superstars like this, if anything at all?
“I think by just watching them; I don’t think you have to be standing next to them to do so,” Lanning said. “Like, if I were able to sit down and say ‘Hey, let’s take two hours,’ then I would be the guy with a notebook out writing down a million things. But that hasn’t been my experience yet. There’s no doubt that there is a ton to learn from those guys. The thing that sticks out to you about guys like Jeter and Jordan is just like, they’re ultimate competitors. It doesn’t matter what the game is, these guys play to win, they work so hard at their craft to be the greatest, and that’s the part that separates them.”
We’ve seen Lanning bring an icon like Phil Knight to football practices before, obviously, but might this mean we get to see some people like Jordan, Jeter, or Scott in Eugene to talk with the team? I wouldn’t put it past him.
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