Dan Lanning Addresses Auburn Rumors: 'The grass isn't always greener'

Lanning said the last thing he'd ever want to do is leave.

Max Torres | Nov 7, 2022

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Rumors circulate all over college football. Some rumors that Oregon fans have been all too familiar with in the past five to seven years are those linking their current head coach to another job.

First it was Willie Taggart and Florida State, and more recently it was Mario Cristobal and Miami. We know how both of those stories ended.

Over the weekend Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning was rumored to have mutual interest in the head coaching vacancy at Auburn after the Tigers fired Bryan Harsin earlier this season.

On Monday, Lanning effectively denied having any such interest in jobs other than Oregon and said he wanted to be in Eugene for the long term.

"First off I wanna say things like this are going to come up when you have team success and when you do your job and things go the way they're supposed to go. That's credit really to our team," Lanning told reporters. "That being said, I think there's a little bit of a problem in society today, with people looking for what's next and where there's an opportunity and the reality is, the grass is not always greener. In fact, the grass is damn green in Eugene, and I want be here in Eugene for as long as Eugene will have me.

"This place has everything that I could possibly ever want, my family could ever want. I've got an 11 year-old that's lived in eight states. The last thing I would ever want to do is leave. So I want to enjoy this opportunity here. It's been a phenomenal place for us.

"And when you talk about things that align, things that match your vision for what you're looking for as a head coach, Oregon checks every box for me. I think history maybe shows that this is a great place to be and not a great place to leave. I want to be here. And hopefully that's the last time I have to really address it. But the reality is, this is a destination not just for me but for elite players and why is it a destination-- because great administration, great fans, great support, and it's a good reason to be here and why we're having success that we're having."

Lanning has Oregon playing some great football, rattling off eight straight wins to make a season-opening loss to Georgia feel like a distant memory. The Ducks aren't perfect by any means, but they're in control of their own destiny when it comes to returning to the Pac-12 championship game.

Next up is a top-25 rivalry showdown against the Washington Huskies in Eugene.

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Published Nov 7, 2022

MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.