Dan Lanning was hired to be the anti-Lincoln Riley and the upgraded Mario Cristobal. Even more than either of those, he was hired to be the bright, promising, driven, innovative coach he worked 15 years to become.
Two roads diverged in the Pac-12 woods, late in the season in 2021. On November 28th on the trail end of a disastrous 4-8 season, USC hired Riley to be their 30th head coach. Just a little more than a week later after a nightmare-on-repeat 38-10 loss to Utah in the PAC-12 Championship Game, Cristobal announced he was leaving Oregon after four seasons, making him the third straight short-term savior at The House That Uncle Phil Built.
Both moves were a shock to the football system. Riley abruptly left the Oklahoma Sooners to take the Trojan job. In Norman he'd established himself as a brilliant offensive mind and a renowned mentor of quarterbacks, compiling a 55-10 record while guiding Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray to the Heisman Trophy, Jalen Hurts to the NFL. Freshman quarterback Caleb Williams followed him to Heritage Hall.
At Oregon Cristobal established himself as a top-notch recruiter whose on-field results didn't always completely measure up. He posted a 35-13 record despite signing the sixth, seven, 11th and 13th ranked recruiting classes in the nation, a haul that yielded one conference championship, one Rose Bowl win, one #5 finish in 2019. Cristobal marked his term at the University of Swoosh with thrilling accomplishments accompanied by head-scratching pratfalls: In 2021 the Ducks dumped #3 Ohio State in Columbus 35-28 as C.J. Verdell rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Yet three weeks later Cristobal's squad fell 31-24 in overtime at Stanford, stubbing its toe before 31,610 fans against a team that was going nowhere, one of four games The Cardinal would win all year. On November 20th the shockingly listless Ducks got blasted 38-7 in Utah. Two weeks later the Utes manhandled them again in the PAC-12 Championship Game.
Cristobal racked up star power but faltered badly in certain games. His 2019 team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the opener against Bo Nix and Auburn, then turned in a listless and flat performance on the road in November against Arizona State. The two losses kept them out of the college football playoff despite having a first-round draft pick at quarterback {Justin Herbert,} a Unanimous 2020 All-American at Edge Rusher (Kayvon Thibodeaux) and an Outland Trophy winner at left tackle in Noah Sewell.
For both Cristobal and Riley the Achilles' Heel has been defense. Riley is 0-3 in bowl games with a Heisman winner at quarterback, 1-4 overall. In 2022 HIS team lost to Utah twice.
While defensive coordinator at Georgia Dan Lanning assembled one of the most formidable defenses in modern college football history. The national champion Bulldogs allowed just 10.2 points per game, stifling opponents in an era of high octane offenses. They gave up only 4.15 yards per play, demolishing and disrupting everything offenses were trying to do, playing like a pack of crazed dogs as they razed the SEC. In a 14-1 season they racked up 49 sacks and 101 tackles for loss.
Lanning's Georgia squad held Michigan to 11 points in the college football semifinal, offensive juggernaut Alabama to 18 in the championship. At year's end, they would have eight players selected in the NFL draft, a record five in the first round. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis won the Outland Trophy, linebacker Nakobe Dean the Butkus Award.
Oregon's 2023 defense isn't up to that level yet, but they're getting closer. Here's the talent the 37-year-old coach has added to the defensive roster:
{You can follow the link to a profile of each player}
6-6, 268 former 5-star Edge Rusher from South Carolina, 60 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2022
6-5, 265, 5-star Edge Rush from Mater Dei High School, 47 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble and three pass deflections in 2022
6-4, 236, 4-star inside linebacker from the University of Iowa, 53 tackles and an interception in 2021
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