Former Alabama Coach Nick Saban Wanted to Hire Oregon Ducks Coach Dan Lanning

Coach Nick Saban appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and spoke highly about Oregon Ducks Coach Dan Lanning who coached under him at Alabama.

Dec 31, 2023; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban at the Rose Bowl coaches press conference at the Sheraton Grand. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Former Alabama Coach Nick Saban joined the Pat McAfee show to talk college football and reminisce on past stories ahead of his College Gameday debut as an official co-host. During a section of the interview, Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning became the subject of one of the questions.

“Dan Lanning is a really good coach and I actually wanted to hire him,” Saban said.

Lanning was a graduate assistant for the 2015 Alabama Crimson Tide team that went on to win the national championship game. Lanning was an up-and-comer on a staff I believe is the greatest college football coaching staff ever assembled. 

"Dan Lanning is a really good coach and I actually wanted to hire him" ~ Nick Saban#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/vr3YcLvWor

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 23, 2024

The list of coaches on that team included Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Mario Cristobal, Billy Napier, Tosh Lupoi, Bo Davis, Scott Cochran, Mel Tucker, and a host of other notable names. Two of the graduate assistants on the team were young Dan Lanning and now Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann.

The fact that of all those names Nick Saban wanted to hire Lanning for an official on-field coaching role speaks volumes about how much he believed in Lanning’s coaching abilities and long-term projection as a coach at the major level. Saban also went on to detail his philosophy about keeping younger guys like Lanning on his staff.

“My theory about having all these young guys on my staffs and develop them was to get them a job at Memphis State and then be able to re-hire them,” Saban said.

Sep 3, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart greets Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning midfield before the Chick-fil-A kickoff game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The plan didn’t go as Saban envisioned because of the success they’d built at Alabama. Four of the position coaches went on to become head coaches and hired the likes of Lanning and Schumann before Saban could enact his master plan. 

Nine years later, Dan Lanning is not only a head coach but holds a 22-5 overall record, a 15-3 conference record, and two bowl victories in two seasons as a head coach at the University of Oregon. That Saban guy might know something about football after all. 

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