Oregon, Dan Lanning pursue national title in shadow of Alabama and Georgia expectations

He arrived with the blueprint and the coaching chops. Insert plan, change a program.

Three seasons later, his team is down 34 points in the second quarter as the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

“It’s not about getting knocked down,” says Oregon coach Dan Lanning, “It’s about what you do next.”

So here we are, and the road to becoming Alabama and Georgia has reached nearly every milestone, every point of the process that leads to the development of a championship program. Except the one defining result.

Winning the whole damn thing.

“Ultimately you have to be great teams to beat teams at the end of the year,” Lanning said.

Great teams don’t give up late fourth quarter leads in the last month of the season, two that cost Oregon a chance to play in the College Football Playoff in 2022, and one in 2023.

Great teams don’t get overwhelmed as the No. 1 seed in the CFP in 2024, a redemption moment for the previous two failures that hit flat — and has now become the motivation for 2025.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning watches his team’s game against Michigan at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.

This all or nothing, of course, is the problem. Not because the Ducks haven’t won big under Lanning, but because Oregon isn’t Alabama or Georgia.

And Lanning – all of 38 years old and in his first head coaching job – isn’t Nick Saban or Kirby Smart. But like it or not, he’s tied at the hip to two of the greatest coaches in the modern era of college football.

Saban built the Alabama dynasty, and Smart was his top lieutenant for eight seasons (winning four national titles). Smart eventually built the best team in college football at Georgia, and won a national title with Lanning as his top lieutenant.

So the natural progression in the land of unrealistic expectations is Lanning taking…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/oregon-dan-lanning-pursue-national-110246933.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-26 11:02:00

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