Dan Lanning Appreciation Post
I thought this might be necessary.
The other day, Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher.
And just like that, Oregon fans found themselves in the all-too-familiar position of fighting off the covetous eyes of a southern-adjacent football team salivating over our southern-adjacent Head Coach.
So when Dan stepped up to the podium on Monday night for his weekly presser, we all knew what the first question would be.
And of all the things he could of said, he said the best thing:
“I think I've been really, really clear here since Day One. I'm not going anywhere. There's zero chance I would be coaching somewhere else. I've got unfinished business here.”
Dan also mentioned that some other coaches might shy away from denying the rumors so definitively.
He said they it’s either don’t usually don’t want, “egg on their face when they actually do leave,” or because they want a bigger contract at their current job.
But he made it clear that he is, “well taken care of,” at Oregon.
I know I probably shouldn’t let it make me too confident—Lord knows I’ve been burned before—but it just felt nice to hear a coach address job rumors with something other than:
“I’m here, ain’t I?”
Dan isn’t from Texas, but just like Oregon, A&M has a well-funded athletic department. But other than the lure of the SEC, it would be a lateral gig.
It’s a good job, for sure, but it’s not the one you leave an Oregon for when you’re on the upswing.
After Mario and Willie jumped ship, I’ve had to enforce a strict personal confidence meter of 50/50 on whether or not a coach is going to leave.
Maybe they’ll stay, maybe they’ll leave, I can’t get too attached.
It’s a survival tactic.
But after his little Monday speech, I may have let myself slip into a 51/49 confidence that Dan ain’t taking a private jet to College Station, Texas, any time soon.
I think Ryan Day will love it there after he loses to Michigan again, though.
Aside from the fact that he’s still our coach, I wanted to also appreciate Dan for his choice in motivational films.
In this week’s cinematic recap, we are shown a clip of Dan playing a clip from Top Gun: Maverick, in the team meeting.
He showed the opening scene in which Tom Cruise’s Maverick attempts to reach Mach 10, and then after he’s succeeded, he tries to give, “just a little more.”
Dan was using everyone’s favorite Scientologist as an example for his team to give, “just a little more,” every week, every day, and every play.
I’ve probably gone back and rewatched the cinematic recap on YouTube a half dozen times—almost as many times as I saw Top Gun in theaters—because I just can’t get enough of it.
If anyone has been reading Ditch Rich from the start, you already know that this is an incredible collision of worlds for me.
See one of my all-time favorite blogs:
And I’m the biggest CruiseHead you’ve ever met, so the fact that Dan also feels the need for speed reinforces his fit for the progrum—and more importantly, his fit for me.
This was a quick one, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t dedicate a blog to the moment that Oregon’s Head Coach used the galactic power of Tom Cruise to beat USC.
Oh, and also shot down any rumors of him leaving any time soon.
We’ll talk again on Friday.
Go Ducks.