Dan Lanning knows from experience what it takes to work your way up the college football coaching ladder. Before becoming the Oregon head coach, Lanning started off as an assistant at the high school level in 2008 looking for any opportunity he could find.
He drove 13 hours from Kansas City to Pittsburgh after hearing about an opening on the Panthers’ staff. He had to wait until the next day to speak with anyone as the coaching staff was not there when he arrived. When he finally got ahold of somebody, he was offered a graduate assistant position that paid only $800 a month.
Lanning happily accepted despite the meager pay and got to work trying to prove himself. That included sometimes acting as more of an intern that an assistant coach, picking up laundry and grabbing coffee for some of the other coaches.
The coach later served as a GA for both Arizona State and Alabama, the latter of which provided him numerous connections that helped him land a job as linebackers coach at Memphis. Now speaking on his experience from back then, Lanning had advice for young coaches who, like he was then, are trying to break into the field.
“I think every coach has aspirations of being the offensive coordinator or the defensive coordinator or the head coach,” he said on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “The reality is, you’ve gotta go find all the jobs that nobody wants to do and become the best at them. Like making a call sheet and making yourself to when this guys leaves he’s like, ‘hey, how do I open this file?’
“I remember going to Men’s Warehouse to pick up coaches’ socks. It certainly wasn’t what I wanted to do at the time, but if that gave me favor for an opportunity with that coach to be one of his guys that he trusted, you do whatever it is.”
Dan Lanning would stay two years at Memphis before Kirby Smart, whom he worked with at Alabama, brought him on the staff at Georgia in 2018. He was promoted to defensive coordinator the following year and helped lead the Bulldogs to a national championship in 2021 behind the No. 1 defense in the country.
That success enabled Lanning to earn the chance to lead his own team as he took over at Oregon in 2022. The Ducks have won double digit games in both of his seasons thus far, including winning the Fiesta Bowl this past season.
It took a lot of time and work for Lanning to get to this point, and he knows it never would have happened if not for his willingness to do whatever it takes. That’s why he’s advising those who hope to follow a similar path to not take any opportunity, no matter how small, for granted.
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