Was Dan Lanning in Tuscaloosa? Alabama coaching candidate was home watching Bourne movie

On Wednesday night, hours after Nick Saban stunned much of the college football world by retiring from Alabama, multiple reports emerged stating that Oregon coach Dan Lanning had interviewed in Tuscaloosa for the recently vacated position.

The development was news to many — including Lanning himself.

In an appearance Thursday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Lanning confirmed that he was not in Tuscaloosa, but was rather back home in Oregon. He had just started watching a movie from the Bourne franchise with his 13-year-old son, Caden.

REQUIRED READING: Nick Saban to ESPN: 'Last season was difficult for me from a health standpoint'

“My phone’s blowing up and it’s like, ‘Dad, it says you’re in Tuscaloosa right now,’” Lanning said. “I was like, ‘We’re watching Jason Bourne. Focus on the movie.’ I put my phone on do not disturb. It interrupted what we were in on last night.”

For a moment, the inaccurate reports set off a panic within Lanning’s orbit, including from some in the Oregon program.

“We’ve got great players we’re looking to sign,” Lanning said. “All that became a distraction for sure. You’ve got players on the team reaching out. They know where I’m at, 10 toes down.”

The Tuscaloosa News had reported Thursday morning that Lanning had not been in Tuscaloosa for an interview. As lists outlining potential Saban replacements were crafted Wednesday, Lanning’s name was a natural inclusion.

He has excelled in his two seasons as Oregon’s coaching, going 22-5 in that time, and has strong SEC bona fides after a serving as Georgia’s defensive coordinator from 2019-21. In two of those three seasons, the Bulldogs finished with the top scoring defense in the FBS.

There was, of course, also a connection to Alabama, where Lanning worked as a defensive graduate assistant during the 2015 season. It gave him not only experience with the Crimson Tide, but a tie to Saban.

REQUIRED READING: What we know about Alabama football coaching search: Latest on Dan Lanning

In the interview with McAfee and his co-hosts, Lanning recalled the first time he was ever in contact with Saban. The seven-time national champion called Lanning, then a defensive backs coach at Sam Houston State, from an unknown number, which Lanning ignored. He described that snap decision as “the greatest thing I ever did,” because Lanning saved the voicemail from Saban, which remains on his phone to this day.

In Lanning’s one season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama won its fourth national championship under Saban and Lanning worked on a star-studded staff in which he “felt like I got my doctorate in college football.”

“That was the most influential year of my career,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Dan Lanning says he did not interview for Alabama head coaching job