Oregon Coach Dan Lanning Doesn’t Regret Harsh Words About Colorado Program

The Ducks coach criticized the Buffaloes decision to leave the Pac-12 over the summer.

At Pac-12 media day in July, Oregon coach Dan Lanning downplayed Colorado’s decision to leave the conference to go back to the Big 12, arguing that the Buffaloes have not been impactful in the Pac-12.

“I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference and I don’t remember,” Lanning told reporters, just days before Oregon’s upcoming departure to the Big Ten was announced. “Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything.”

Ahead of Oregon’s matchup against Deion Sanders and Colorado in Eugene on Saturday, Lanning stood by what he said originally.

“I don’t regret anything I’ve said for this program,” he said. “At the end of the day, I wasn’t talking about Deion’s team, I was talking about the past and the future for our team. But if that serves as material for them, great. I don’t think it’s going to have any bearing on the game or the success of the game.”

On Monday Dan Lanning was asked if he regretted the comments he made back in August about previous Colorado teams.

Here's his response: pic.twitter.com/RP7G2Ms4zf

— Max Torres (@mtorressports) September 19, 2023

As part of Colorado’s 3–0 start to the season, Sanders has been able to channel motivation from personal experiences or comments from the opposing teams. Even if Lanning didn’t mean to criticize this group of Colorado players, Sanders may still use his comments to try and motivate his team. 

Since 2011, when Colorado moved from the Big 12 to the Pac-12, the Buffaloes football team has had just one winning season and only played in one Pac-12 championship game. In that same span, Oregon has just one losing season and played in five championship games, winning the conference four times.