It seems like forever since Mario Cristobal resigned as the head football coach at Oregon, doesn’t it?
To be exact, it took the Ducks one week to go from that resignation to the introductory press conference of Dan Lanning. In those seven days, it wasn’t exactly quiet inside the Oregon program.
Athletic director Rob Mullens received a letter from 14 prominent former football players saying they were worried that the Ducks were going away from their roots in order to chase a national championship.
According to reports, Mullens took that letter to heart and offered the job to former Oregon Duck standout and current California head coach Justin Wilcox.
One problem, however. Wilcox said no thanks. So Mullens turned to Lanning. Knowing he wasn’t “in the family,” Lanning attempted to squash the idea of him ignoring Oregon’s past and just focusing on the future right away.
“To our former players, I am a servant to you,” Lanning said on Monday. “Whether I’ve coached you or not, we want you to know that this is a program that you can be proud of, and be part of. This is a place that your involvement is very important to us. We want you back, and one thing, even if you leave home, this place should always feel like home for you.”
Lanning is known as one of the nation’s top recruiters, but his most important recruiting job might come in that one statement. He’s going to need former players such as Joey Harrington and Akili Smith as allies.
Besides himself and whoever else he might hire to be on his staff, Lanning could use former players to sell potential recruits on the Oregon experience and why coming to Eugene would be the correct choice. Lanning can’t speak that experience, but they can.
He also attempted to erase another narrative that surrounded the idea of Lanning leaving Oregon for a bigger and better job since his most recent stop was the defensive coordinator for Georgia. Fans are worried he will use the Ducks as a stepping stone for a possible job in the SEC.
It’s a legitimate concern since the last two head coaches left Eugene to pursue their “dream jobs.” Both Willie Taggert and Mario Cristobal left as soon as those supposed dream jobs opened up.
But as Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend!”
“My situation is unique. If William Jewell College comes calling, I love William Jewell College, but I’m staying at Oregon,” Lanning said. “I’ll stay at Oregon for as long as Oregon will have me. There is no other out there for me. This is one of the premier jobs in the nation. It was going to take a premier job for me to leave the situation I was in.
“I’m thrilled to be here because I know what we can do here. There doesn’t have to be a next step for me because this job can be the final step.”
Those words have to be music to everyone’s ears, including former, current, and future Duck players.
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