University Of Oregon Hires Dan Lanning As New Football Coach

EUGENE, OR —University of Oregon announced the hiring of Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as its new football head coach on Saturday. Lanning, 35, replaces Mario Cristobal, who left for the University of Miami on Monday.

Georgia has the nation's No. 1 defense this season, and their head coach Kirby Smart said Lanning would remain with the No. 3 ranked Bulldogs during the postseason. Georgia (12-1) will play No. 2 Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl and on Dec. 31.

If the Bulldogs win that game, they would play in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 10.

Then it's on to Eugene, where Lanning will hope to return the Ducks to the College Football Playoffs in the coming years. Oregon's only appearance in college football's "Final Four" came in 2014-15, the first season of the College Football Playoff format, when the Ducks fell to Ohio State in the title game.

"We are staged for success and I look forward to building on the strong foundation that currently exists in Eugene," Lanning said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "Our goal is to win championships and develop our players both on and off the field. "

Lanning has been the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator since 2019, a year after arriving in Athens, Georgia.

The Missouri native played college football at Division II William Jewell University in Liberty, Missouri.

Lanning then started his coaching career at a high school outside Kansas City, before going to Pittsburgh and Arizona State as a graduate assistant. His first full-time job in Division I was with Arizona State, he spent a year with Sam Houston State in 2014 and was a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2015

"Dan is an outstanding, high-energy football coach who will provide a world-class experience for our football student-athletes," said Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, according to the Associated Press. "He is a tremendous recruiter and developer of talent, and we will continue to compete for championships while providing an environment where our football student-athletes can develop to their fullest potential in the classroom, on the football field and as people."