Behind the Scenes: The Hiring of Dan Lanning

[Duck 1972]

Great article on ESPN "Behind-the-Scenes Battle Over Oregon's Football Future, and Why Dan Lanning Won by Kyle Bonagura and Adam Rittenberg of ESPN"  Very helpful and detailed analysis.

 

[McDuck]

Very good article.  Thank you.

[WiseKwacker]

Yes, loved reading the details of the Lanning capture. While I was initially a big Wilcox supporter during the search process, it was always with the proviso that there needs to be assurances from him that he has a plan to hire a coaching staff that can recruit as effectively as Taggart's and Cristobal's staffs did. Clearly, Mullins had that same thing in mind, tried it, and probably offended/irritated Wilcox, who ultimately rebuffed an offer. My reaction: whew, we dodged a bullet there.

 

My lukewarm excitement about Lanning, frankly, was because I'd never heard of the guy. Now, with each passing day, and each time I hear him talk, my admiration for Rob Mullins grows. I think Lanning--even acknowledging that he's never been a head guy before--is going to elevate OBD beyond what Taggart or Cristobal would have EVER achieved as head coaches.  Hell, I wanna grab a helmet and go kick some butt for THIS guy.  Oops...gotta go...time to take my daily battery of pills and vitamins.  

Edited February 21, 2022 by WiseKwacker

[Jon Joseph]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:09 AM, Duck 1972 said:

Great article on ESPN by Kyle Bonagura and Adam Wittenberg "Behind the scenes battle over OR FB future, and why Dan Lanning won."  Very helpful and detailed analysis.

I read this. Great take, thanks for highlighting a very interesting read. 

 

Now, if Dan can come through like the assistant coach Arizona hired from Gonzaga to coach its basketball team? In the committee's 1st release of its top 16, Zona is on the 1 line.

[Jon Joseph]

On 2/21/2022 at 11:41 AM, WiseKwacker said:

Yes, loved reading the details of the Lanning capture. While I was initially a big Wilcox supporter during the search process, it was always with the proviso that there needs to be assurances from him that he has a plan to hire a coaching staff that can recruit as effectively as Taggart's and Cristobal's staffs did. Clearly, Mullins had that same thing in mind, tried it, and probably offended/irritated Wilcox, who ultimately rebuffed an offer. My reaction: whew, we dodged a bullet there.

 

My lukewarm excitement about Lanning, frankly, was because I'd never heard of the guy. Now, with each passing day, and each time I hear him talk, my admiration for Rob Mullins grows. I think Lanning--even acknowledging that he's never been a head guy before--is going to elevate OBD beyond what Taggart or Cristobal would have EVER achieved as head coaches.  Hell, I wanna grab a helmet and go kick some butt for THIS guy.  Oops...gotta go...time to take my daily battery of pills and vitamins.  

The referenced article deals with the reasons Wilcox turned down the job. Wilcox was not pleased with the conditions that went with the offer. I wonder if the offer to Wilcox was made simply to satisfy alums and was conditioned so Wilcox would decline? Lanning popped up pretty darn fast after Justin turned the gig down.

[WiseKwacker]

On 2/21/2022 at 1:04 PM, Jon Joseph said:

Now, if Dan can come through like the assistant coach Arizona hired from Gonzaga to coach its basketball team?

Yeah, 'Zona sure knows how to do basketball; football, not so much. I don't have any buddies who are Wildcat basketball fans, so I don't know what the chatter was when Tommy Lloyd was hired. I imagine, though, that there were some eyebrows raised at replacing a (formerly) big-name coach in Sean Miller with a longtime assistant coach at a small (albeit successful) basketball school.  And, none of the PAC-12 media people saw this Wildcat team success coming, either.

[30Duck]

On 2/21/2022 at 1:15 PM, WiseKwacker said:

  And, none of the PAC-12 media people saw this Wildcat team success coming, either.

It wasn't just the Pac-12 media. Arizona was unranked before the season started. So far Arizona and Gonzaga are my best teams in the country. 

[WiseKwacker]

On 2/21/2022 at 1:08 PM, Jon Joseph said:

I wonder if the offer to Wilcox was made simply to satisfy alums and was conditioned so Wilcox would decline?

I doubt it, but I don't think we'll ever know the answer to that one. From my perspective, that theory is kind of in the realm of "conspiracy theories." They're interesting to speculate about, but seldom true. I think the stakes were too high to take a gamble that you'd present an offer to someone so outrageous that you'd force them to turn it down.

 

I've tossed out (what I thought was) a ridiculous idea to a group before, basically as an attempt at humor, only to have a couple of group members respond, "Hey, great idea! Let's do that."  Yikes!  You just never know...

[Charles Fischer]

That was an outstanding article, but frankly....it makes me MORE concerned about the former players meddling with the program.  Donate big money and THEN talk, (And I doubt they do much more than talk) but in the meantime....the schmuck who has been a small donor and season ticket-holder for 35 years should have more input, IMHO.

 

You know...the people who actually pay the bills now and when the former players were at Oregon.  We hire Mullens to make the decisions, NOT former players who have gone 0-2 in the last two years with the majority of Oregon fans.

[Dr Hilarius]

let’s not forget that it was DL who reached out to Mullens. DL wasn’t on RM’s radar.

 

So while we can’t attribute _that_ much brilliance to RM, we can recognize (thanks to this new info re Wilcox’s conditions) that RM did have an uncompromising vision. 

 

and my guess is that the reason DL is such a good fit is bc he shared that same vision. 

 

 

[Southern Duck]

On 2/21/2022 at 1:08 PM, Jon Joseph said:

The referenced article deals with the reasons Wilcox turned down the job. Wilcox was not pleased with the conditions that went with the offer. I wonder if the offer to Wilcox was made simply to satisfy alums and was conditioned so Wilcox would decline? Lanning popped up pretty darn fast after Justin turned the gig down.

This exactly!  

 

Mullens I think wrote up a clever contract to make certain boosters and alumni happy offering tradition,  knowing that what was in that contract, Wilcox or Chip could never do.  Both Chip and Wilcox should be thanking Oregon HUGE for driving their own school contract negotiation stock way up too.  Both got new extensions just thinking about the Oregon job. 

 

Devils in the details......  so to speak and Rob mastered the loop holes therein, is my thinking. 

 

 

I'd also say this,  if you think we kept Florence, Tucker, Iuli while picking up James and acquiring  Nix, Taimani and Gonzales in the portal if we hired Wilcox, well I don't know what to tell you!  There's also no way Wilcox or Chip would have brought the kind of staff Lanning did either.  It should be duly noted that we out recruited Cal and UCLA with a brand new staff,  a wrecked recruiting class and 4 weeks to correct it.  The other coaches suggested for Oregon's job didn't even finish top 50, with years of prep time.  That's very telling to me as to where our recruiting might have be headed without Lanning. 

 

Lanning was a super smart hire and Mullens earned his keep with this one. 

[Charles Fischer]

On 2/21/2022 at 2:59 PM, Southern Duck said:

It should be duly noted that we out recruited Cal and UCLA with a brand new staff,  a wrecked recruiting class and 4 weeks to correct it.  The other coaches suggested for Oregon's job didn't even finish top 50, with years of prep time.

Boy is this true!  Whew!

[Duck 1972]

Nothing about Phil. From what I remember he was a big part of the recruiting process.

[1Ducker1]

Nice to see the Ducks get some space on ESPN

[Grandpa Duck]

As to recruiting rankings, Oregon does have some attractions to recruits and transfers that are separate from the coaches that neither Cal nor UCLA posses, like facilities, winning tradition and existing players who have a chance of major success.  It is just as possible as Mullen brilliance that Wilcox’ spouse said: “You want to leave our beautiful home and kids’ wonderful schools for where?  Not in my lifetime!”

[Guest Axel]

On 2/21/2022 at 2:59 PM, Southern Duck said:

if you think we kept Florence, Tucker, Iuli while picking up James and acquiring Nix, Taimani and Gonzales in the portal if we hired Wilcox, well I don't know what to tell you!  There's also no way Wilcox or Chip would have brought the kind of staff Lanning did either.

I totally agree with this analysis. When Mario Cristobal blew town for Miami, my initial hope was that the Ducks would bring back Chip Kelly. However, now I am ecstatic that Kelly is still at UCLA. I am equally ecstatic (Joey Harrington's wishes to the contrary) that Justin Wilcox is still at Cal.

 

I am greatly appreciative of Kelly's run at Oregon. The 2010 season, in which I was able to attend 11 games with family members, was a magical, unforgettable season. But Kelly has seemingly lost his mojo. There is no way that he could have accomplished what Dan Lanning has in such short order. Lanning has already hit home runs in assembling a dynamic staff and signing top recruits.

 

The Wilcox family name will always be held in high regard at Oregon, but Justin, in my opinion, is just a middling coach and he would not have been able to lead the Ducks to national dominance. 

 

A coach with Lanning's drive, abilities, and resume' could have landed a head-coaching job with many elite football programs. How did Oregon get so fortunate? I believe that Lanning tells us in one sentence, quoted from the ESPN article: "I wouldn't have come to Oregon if there wasn't a really clear vision of how they are attacking the name, image, likeness territory."

 

In short, Lanning considers Oregon’s brand to be one of the best in the nation. That’s essentially an outsider’s opinion—an East Coast opinion—and it bodes well for the Ducks going forward. Already, Lanning is successfully leveraging and selling the importance of the brand in his dealings with the media, potential new staffers, and recruits.

 

 

 

[Grandpa Duck]

For Chip's system to work well he must have players who are in great physical condition.  They need that so they can play at the pace the system requires.  He got that willingness from the players to get in super physical shape at Oregon.  He also got buy in at the Eagles, for one year.  Then it waned.  Hard to get pros making the money they do to work that hard year-round.  And UCLA guys, not likely.