5 takeaways from the Oregon Ducks’ hiring of Dan Lanning as head coach

Defense and recruiting. That’s what Dan Lanning brings to Oregon. What else did we learn from this hiring though?

After an incredibly wild week of rumors and false speculations, the Oregon Ducks coaching search has come to an end.

On Saturday afternoon, the Ducks reportedly came to an agreement with former Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning to become the new head coach at Oregon. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said that Lanning will in fact coach in the Orange Bowl, when the Bulldogs will play the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff on December 30th.

For many Duck fans, this announcement of Lanning as the head coach may come as a bit of a surprise. Over the past several days, a number of names were thrown out as potential candidates, and the 35-year-old defensive stalwart was not often mentioned. Nonetheless, it is an exciting hire for Oregon fans who hope to see the recruiting stay at a similar level as when Mario Cristobal was around, as well as a potential uptick in defensive dominance.

We have already covered who Lanning is, and what he brings to the table, but now we want to take a deeper dive at what we learned from this hire, and the Oregon coaching search in general. Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the hiring:

Oregon names former Georgia WR as interim coach

The Oregon Ducks have named former Georgia Bulldogs interim coach and player Bryan McClendon as their interim coach

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The Oregon Ducks have named former Georgia Bulldogs interim coach and player Bryan McClendon as their interim coach. McClendon previously worked as the assistant/wide receivers coach at South Carolina before taking the wide receivers coach job in Eugene in 2020.

McClendon is filing in for former Oregon coach Mario Cristobal, who took the job at Miami. Oregon is playing the Oklahoma Sooners, who also have an interim coach, Bob Stoops, in the Alamo Bowl.

McClendon joined the South Carolina Gamecocks for the 2016 season. He became their offensive coordinator in 2018, but the Gamecocks struggled mightily over those two seasons going 11-14. He coached NFL standout Deebo Samuel during his time with South Carolina.

Georgia fans may remember McClendon from this key touchdown catch against Georgia Tech in 2005:

Nov. 26, 2005: Atlanta: Georgia Bulldogs split end Bryan McClendon makes a touchdown catch against Georgia Tech. Georgia won 14-7.  USA TODAY Sports Copyright (c) Christopher Gooley

McClendon won 44 games and two SEC Championships during his time in Athens as a player. He returned to Georgia as a graduate assistant coach in 2007-2008. He served as running backs coach from 2009 to 2014 (he coached both Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb) before becoming recruiting coordinator.

Sept. 18, 2010; Athens; Georgia Bulldogs running backs coach Bryan McClendon. Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports

McClendon served as Georgia’s interim coach in the 2016 Tax Slayer Bowl. Georgia won the game 24-17 over Penn State.

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