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The two west coast college football powerhouses suddenly found themselves without a head coach in December. One was underperforming and had to make the change (USC) while the other was forced to make a change (Oregon) because the head coach left for the beaches of Miami.
Circumstances were different, but both USC and Oregon were in similar boats. When it came time to make a decision on how to go about a course correction, the two schools went about it in very different ways.
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USC went for the so-called sure thing by hiring an experienced coach who has won at the biggest levels college football has to offer in Lincoln Riley.
Oregon went for the successful, but inexperienced, hot-shot defensive coordinator in Dan Lanning who is proving over and over again that he is a master recruiter.
When it comes to recruiting, both Riley and Lanning seem to be on equal footing, although early on, their plans are hardly the same. Where the advantage goes to USC, however, is that Riley has proven himself as an in-game head coach. According to Matt Zemek, the managing editor of USA Today’s Trojans Wire, that advantage is significant.
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“Where Riley separates himself from Lanning, though, is on the field,” Zemek said. “Riley has turned one quarterback after another into an NFL prospect. Player development was abysmal under Clay Helton, but it is and has been superb among offensive skill players for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. USC now gets that Riley bump, and it’s going to be substantial. Riley as a play-caller is also excellent. He has proven how good he is over five full seasons at Oklahoma.”
However, Lanning played a huge part in helping the Georgia Bulldogs win the national championship over Alabama. While he’s shown his prowess as a coordinator, Lanning is an inexperienced head coach who was smart to hire experienced assistants that have been around the block. Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi has college and NFL experience on his resume and associate head coach Adrian Klemm just came from the Pittsburgh Steelers and is a Super Bowl champion as a player.
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But nothing beats in-game experience, and Lanning is about to be thrown in the deep end of the pool as the Ducks open the 2022 season with Georgia of all teams. Everyone will find out if Lanning can swim. USC will definitely be looking on with an interested eye.
“Could Dan Lanning turn out to be a defensive genius on par with Riley? Sure he could, but he hasn’t been a head coach yet,” Zemek said. “Riley has five years of proven results. Lanning will get to change the conventional wisdom here. He will get his chance to alter the calculus on this topic. Right now, though, Riley has a reliable track record, and Lanning is just starting out. That’s not a criticism of Lanning, merely a reflection of where these coaches are in their developmental arcs.”
Lanning will get a chance to skew that developmental arc in Oregon’s favor in about seven months.
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