Oregon's Dan Lanning Talks Penn State Ahead of Big Ten Title Game

The head coach of the unbeaten Ducks chats about Penn State's offense, recruiting against the Nittany Lions and getting his start at Pitt.

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning signals to his players during warm ups before a game against the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

I n 2011, Oregon coach Dan Lanning's journey to facing Penn State in the Big Ten title game began at, of all places, Pitt. He was a high school coach in Missouri, didn't know anyone in college football and took a chance on a phone call from a contact suggesting an opportunity with the Panthers. Lanning drove 13 hours to Pittsburgh for a cold introduction, was offered a spot as quality control coach for $800 a month and turned that into a career.

"That was the beginning of my coaching journey, and I'm certainly grateful for a family that supported that and a wife who didn't think it was completely crazy," Lanning said Sunday.

Thirteen years later, Lanning is the third-year head coach of the nation's only unbeaten team, which will face Penn State on Saturday in the Big Ten Championship Game. Like his counterpart, Penn State's James Franklin, Lanning played Division II football (at Missouri's William Jewell College) and has coached across multiple conferences, including the SEC and the Big Ten. Yet unlike Franklin, Lanning comes from the defensive side. He was a college linebacker, coached linebackers at Arizona State, Memphis and Georgia and was Georgia's defensive coordinator before Oregon hired him in 2022.

Lanning, 38, has a unique perspective of the Big Ten and Penn State as a first-year coach in the conference. He shared some of that Sunday on a conference call ahead of the Big Ten title game, discussing Penn State's offensive threats, how he studied Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and his appreciation for Penn State's football history while he recruits. Here's a sampling.

On a comp for Penn State this season: I think this team has its own unique identity. They do some different things that we haven’t seen. So far this season, there’s some stuff that’s carryover. But I wouldn’t compare them to anybody that we played so far. Obviously, they play a physical brand of football. I think Coach Franklin does an elite job in all three phases. They are very detailed. I think that shows up. Teams that play great special teams are usually really well-coached. I think these guys play great special teams as well. So I think you see it all show up, for these guys, but I wouldn’t compare them to a team that we’ve played so far this season.

On Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki: I’ve actually followed Andy for a while. One of the things I do here every week is, I watch explosive plays across college football. And you know last year going through film [from Kotelnicki's time at Kansas], Andy’s film always showed it up. So as I watch explosive plays of other teams through college football, you see unique formations pop up. Whether that was his time at Kansas or now his time at Penn State, you see some unique ways to use personality and create tough looks for defenses.

He’s a guy that is able to get the numbers right at the point of attack. He’s a guy that has a lot of smoke and mirrors that make it tough. You have to have great eye discipline. But explosive plays, I think, are one of the biggest things that stand out, as he consistently creates explosive plays in this offensive scheme. It requires guys to do a great job of taking care of their job. A lot of one-on-one tackles have to be made. But the way he utilizes personnel is something that stuck out to me for a long time.

On Penn State tight end Tyler Warren: I haven’t been able to watch a ton of film but I’ve film on him in crossover, and he’s obviously an elite player. It’s a matchup issue. He’s a complete tight end, so I’m excited to hop in and dive into that plan and try to figure out how we can neutralize them. I think they do as good a job of any of utilizing their personnel. I think their scheme is really difficult to plan for offensively, so that’ll be a fun challenge for us and our defensive staff.

On Penn State quarterback Drew Allar: I think composure is certainly one of the things that sticks out, and understanding of their offensive scheme. I think it’s about taking what’s there. But he’s also a guy that’s made some really tight throws in some great windows this year. I think he understands his personnel and his strengths, knows who he wants to get the ball to, but more than anything, just a composed operator that goes out there and can execute a really high level and create explosive.

On Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter: He’s certainly a guy that’s showing physicality and ability to play all over the field. So, somebody we have to be aware of. And I think they have a lot of players on that defense that you have to be aware of where they’re at and we’ll have to do a great job of identifying them.

On recruiting against Penn State: They have a storied history. I think their coaching staff is similar to ours, where they’re relentless in their pursuit of great players. And I think every good coach would tell you that it takes great players to be a good coach. So they do a good job. They do a good job of identifying talent. They have strong roots, certainly in the northeast and the East Coast. But they’re a team like us that can recruit nationally. So you know, when they put a good product on the field, they’re going to go work to recruit some of the best players. And that means we’re going to get in battles at times because we’re going to do the same.”

Penn State meets Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game at 8 p.m. ET Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. CBS will televise.

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