CORRECTION: Georgia DC Dan Lanning in the Mix, but No OU Coaching Decision Yet

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier Saturday night, SI Sooners inadvertently published a story reporting that Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was being hired as

John E. Hoover | Dec 4, 2021

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier Saturday night, SI Sooners inadvertently published a story reporting that Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was being hired as the next head football coach at the University of Oklahoma. As of 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, Oklahoma has not named its new head coach. SI Sooners regrets the error.

Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is among a handful of candidates believed to be subject of a hiring search as Oklahoma's next head coach.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione hasn't commented on the search and is famously secretive any time he needs to hire a coach.

Earlier in the week, SI Sooners learned from multiple sources that Lanning is one of four or five leading candidates to replace Lincoln Riley, who left unexpectedly last Sunday to take the post at USC.

Lanning, 35, led the nation's top defense this season as the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs finished the regular season undefeated. Georgia was upset Saturday afternoon in Atlanta by No. 3 Alabama.

Published Dec 4, 2021

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.