5 takeaways from the Oregon Ducks’ hiring of Dan Lanning as head coach

After an incredibly wild week of rumors and false speculations, the Oregon Ducks coaching search has come to an end.

On Saturday afternoon, the Ducks reportedly came to an agreement with former Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Dan Lanning to become the new head coach at Oregon. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said that Lanning will in fact coach in the Orange Bowl, when the Bulldogs will play the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff on December 30th.

For many Duck fans, this announcement of Lanning as the head coach may come as a bit of a surprise. Over the past several days, a number of names were thrown out as potential candidates, and the 35-year-old defensive stalwart was not often mentioned. Nonetheless, it is an exciting hire for Oregon fans who hope to see the recruiting stay at a similar level as when Mario Cristobal was around, as well as a potential uptick in defensive dominance.

We have already covered who Lanning is, and what he brings to the table, but now we want to take a deeper dive at what we learned from this hire, and the Oregon coaching search in general. Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the hiring:

Oregon is Interested in the Next Big Thing

It seems telling that Oregon AD Rob Mullen decided to go with a young, 35-year-old coordinator rather than an established veteran in the coaching game, like Chip Kelly. The Ducks have made a habit of hiring from within, and usually opting for a candidate who has prior head coaching experience. Lanning does not.

However, he has risen as one of the top defensive minds in college football over the past couple of seasons, helping the Bulldogs to a trio of incredible seasons on the defensive side of the ball, continually ranked near the top of the nation in run defense, points allowed, and yards allowed. At such a young age, it is easy to believe that the future is in front of him, and Mullens has clearly signalled that he things Lanning will be able to come into his own as a head coach for the Ducks.

Recruiting Prowess was Important

There was a lot of sadness and frustration for Oregon fans when Mario Cristobal announced that he was leaving, but a lot of that stemmed not from the loss of a football coach, but rather an elite recruiter. Cristobal is among the best in the nation when it comes to gathering talent, and we have already seen over the past week how quickly top prospects who were already committed to the Ducks have decided to turn around and reopen their recruitment.

With the hiring of Lanning, Mullens clearly signaled that it is of the utmost importance to get a solid recruiter back in the building. This past year, Lanning was named the nation’s No. 1 recruiter for the 2022 season, according to 247 Sports, and he has helped the Bulldogs pull in recruiting classes that are among the best in the nation. Georgia currently has the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the nation for 2022.

It is unclear whether or not Lanning’s presence will be enough to bring back a load of recruits who departed after Cristobal left, but with such a solid recruiter in the building, Duck fans should be confident that a loss of talent won’t be something they have to worry about in the future. Mario is a great recruiter, but Lanning is right up there on the same level with him.

A Shift in Philosophies

Mario Cristobal was an offensive-minded coach. Willie Taggart was an offensive-minded coach. Mark Helfrich was an offensive-minded coach. Chip Kelly was an offensive-minded coach. Mike Bellotti was an offensive-minded coach.

It hasn’t been since Rich Brooks back in 1994 that the Ducks have had a defensive-minded head coach. Until now.

Let’s be honest, it’s not like Oregon was running into trouble with offensive-minded coaches. The list of names we just put before you found some great success in the Pacific Northwest and put the Ducks on the map as a national program. However, they haven’t quite been able to get over the final hump and bring a championship back to Eugene.

Will it be Dan Lanning that is able to do that? Who knows… but a shift in philosiphies may certainly be the thing to do it.

Needed: A Strong Offensive Coordinator

We’ve made a lot about how good of a defensive coach Lanning is, but his hiring really is only half of the equation. Just because he is in the building now doesn’t mean that the Ducks are going to be a world-beating team that is a shoo-in for the CFP.

They still need an offense.

The offensive coordinator hire just got that much more important. With offensive-minded coaches at the helm in Eugene, it’s been less of a concern to be able to find a brilliant play-caller who can put points on the board. It’s nice, of course, but the head coach usually had a huge say in the decision-making. That might be different now, though.

Bill Belichick has his Josh McDaniels. Nick Saban has had his Lane Kiffin’s, or Steve Sarkesian’s, or Bill O’Brien’s. Who the Ducks now choose to hire as their OC is arguably just as important as the addition of Lanning. Having a dominant defense is great, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you can put points on the board.

The Stepping Stone Job is not a Worry

There has seemingly been a lot of worry among the Oregon fan base this past week about trying to find a coach who wouldn’t choose to skip out on the Ducks after a few seasons, like both Mario Cristobal and Willie Taggart. Fans want Oregon to be viewed as a destination position, rather than a stepping stone job.

Oregon could have hired Chip Kelly or Justin Wilcox if they were truly afraid of that narrative, but the selection of Lanning tells me that it’s not something that Mullens is concerning himself with.

In the case of Cristobal and Taggart, they left for literal dream jobs. While I’m not sure about the real intentions of Taggart, I feel confident in saying that Cristobal wouldn’t have left Oregon for any job other than Miami or Alabama, two schools that are close to his heart. One came open, so he took his opportunity.

There is always the chance that Lanning will build up his resume as a head coach with Oregon and decided to level up a few years down the road. That is simply a risk that you have to deal with nowadays. Nobody is safe. You wouldn’t have thought that Lincoln Riley or Brian Kelly would leave USC and Notre Dame to level up at USC and LSU, but here we are. So it’s almost impossible to hire anyone with the guarantee that they won’t eventually leave.

It’s clear to me that Mullens set out to hire the best coach for the job, while not worrying about what decisions will be made 5-7 years down the road. Trying to get someone who would commit to the Ducks for the rest of their careers is impossible to do.

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