Dan Lanning coaching both Georgia and Oregon in their bowls?
I just saw a tweet from Angelique with a quote from Georgia DC Dan Lanning who is now Oregon head coach Dan Lanning. She was asked if he's coaching in the Orange Bowl, and she said he was coaching both teams in their respective bowls. Has this ever happened before?
December 27th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Call him "Double Duty" Dan Lanning.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Good ole double D!
December 27th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
... Reminds me of a girl I dated in high school.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
December 27th, 2021 at 3:34 PM ^
Reminds me of all the girls I date. Gotta have them.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
Hopefully we can call him “Double Loss” Dan Lanning.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
I'm sure Lanning has given truckloads of speeches imploring complete focus and 100% commitment. Doubt there was ever a caveat exempting himself.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
just like (checks notes) just about every coach that ever flipped jobs.
not arguing - the hypocrisy is just always infuriating.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:29 PM ^
You said “duty”
December 27th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
I don’t know how he can possibly coach both. Oregon has to have an interim staff handling bowl prep.
I’d love to see him try, if for no other reason than to just divide up his time and responsibilities and devote less time to Michigan, but I can’t possibly believe he’s coaching both of these games. Why would Georgia even have let him do it in the first place? I have to believe Kirby Smart would’ve shut that down really fast.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
This tweet essentially just confirms he's coaching against Michigan, which I figured was going to be the case the minute Oregon hired him. Not that he's coaching in the CFP and in Oregon's bowl game. Unless I'm drastically missing something, which I'd never put it past myself to do.
I wouldn't doubt that he's handling some recruiting for Oregon right now, building his staff, maybe even plans to attend their bowl game as a spectator and try to build camaraderie with the guys who will be on the team next season, but to me it seems crazy that he would also coach their bowl game. Why would Oregon ask its seniors and draft-eligible players who are heading out to the draft after this to spend several weeks learning a new scheme for just one game?
December 27th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
This ESPN article doesn't explicitly state that he won't be coaching Oregon at the same time but the last paragraph is pretty damning evidence:
" 'Obviously, Coach Lanning hasn't gone on to his new job yet,' Georgia safety Christopher Smith said. 'He's going to try to play out his role with us the best he can and to the best of his abilities and he's been doing a great job with that all year. He's continuing to do so until this thing is over.' "
December 27th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
Yeah that tweet doesn't say anything about him coaching Oregon in their bowl game.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
Her reply to a question in the thread does
December 27th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
No, no it doesn’t
December 27th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
I'd say her reply strongly suggests he's also coaching Oregon, but it's not clear what exactly "coaching" Oregon would involve. Click on the twitter item below to see the full exchange:
December 27th, 2021 at 2:00 PM ^
That's my take. She answers affirmative to the direct question but then says "He'll be juggling both jobs." That could be interpreted in a few ways: that he'll be actively coaching both bowls in some capacity or that he'll be working for both teams at the same time in some capacity, which may or may not include coaching the bowls.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:03 PM ^
I saw the exchange. “Juggling both jobs” doesn’t say/imply he’s coaching their bowl. It says he’s juggling both jobs. Which for his new job, implies he’s setting his staff, evaluating the roster, and reaching out to recruits. He has a job to do with Oregon that doesn’t involve coaching their bowl game. He’s juggling those duties while finishing the season with Georgia.
Oregon HAS an interim coach. He’s coaching their bowl game. He’s prepping their team. You can hear from him here: https://www.si.com/college/oregon/football/watch-bryan-mcclendon-gives-team-updates-ahead-of-trip-to-san-antonio
Lanning is preparing his staff and recruiting for when he takes over after Georgia’s season. Which is what literally EVERY coach does when they take a job. It’s quite rare for a coach to take a job and coach their bowl game to begin with. Let alone attempt to coach two teams at once. You’re reaching to connect dots that aren’t there.
December 27th, 2021 at 5:12 PM ^
This here is the correct answer. To further support this, from ESPN:
Lanning said the time difference has allowed him to focus on Georgia's CFP preparations early in the day, then on building a coaching staff, recruiting class and roster at Oregon at night.
"I'm really excited about what we're putting together there," Lanning said. "The good thing [with] the West Coast being three hours behind us, it has given us the opportunity to really focus on Georgia early on during the day, and then later at night we're able to get a lot of things accomplished with our team there at Oregon and the staff as we're piecing that together."
December 27th, 2021 at 2:12 PM ^
Her reply more insinuates that he's working with the Oregon staff and likely helping with game planning to some degree but I'd be surprised if he's actually on the sideline for that game. Maybe he does but her response doesn't really go to that point. I know they talk about the time difference but it would almost coaching malpractice to try to focus on 2 different opponents with 2 different teams at the same time because you're not going to be able to do your best with either given the cognitive load.
December 27th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
It’s pretty simple if he is just a Madden coach for Oregon. Let the O and D coordinators call all the plays since they are familiar with the playbooks. Be responsible for timeouts, deciding to go for it on 4th down, etc.
December 27th, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
No way he's flying to Texas for a game 2 days before his semifinal.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
What could go wrong?
-DJ Durkin
December 27th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
The Vegas ticker just moved us to 5.5.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:58 AM ^
The Bovada line is still +7.5 but the payout is now lower at -115 and it used to be -110. So the money is trending to Michigan ATS right now. I think the line is going to make a pretty severe correction over the next four days down to +5.5 or possibly lower.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
so she asked if he's coaching in the orange, then told us he was?
December 27th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
See the above tweet. Someone asked her this and she said yes.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:24 PM ^
Yeah but there is nothing mentioned about coaching Oregon in their game. So I think the answer to the question in the OP is "no."
December 27th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
No, she said he’s juggling both jobs. Not that he’s coaching Oregon’s bowl game. Meaning for Oregon, he’s forming his staff, hitting the recruiting trail, things of that nature. Nowhere did it say he’s coaching their bowl game.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
Yeah, and it doesn't say he's giving each job equal time. "Juggling both jobs" could mean making a few calls/texts/emails for Oregon in his free time but spending the bulk of his time and concentration on Georgia, which is what I suspect he's doing.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:03 PM ^
From a logic standpoint, coaching both teams in bowls makes little sense. But that tweet could be taken in a few different ways. "Juggling both" is vague and could refer to any number of things. She never explicitly says what role he'll be playing for either team, except it's clear from the quote that he will be coaching Georgia in some capacity.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:15 PM ^
Except it’s pretty clear to just about everyone. He can’t afford to sit here and focus strictly on Georgia. He HAS to get a staff together to recruit. He HAS to contact recruits himself. He HAS to evaluate the roster to see what he has to work with. He’s not risking a potential national championship to coach Oregon in a meaningless bowl game. He’s also not going to sit idly by and ignore his duties at Oregon. He took the job December 11th. He’s not going to do nothing for 3-4 weeks. The bowl game is not his responsibility. Setting his program up the way he wants it moving forward, is.
This isn’t as deep or as complicated as you’re making it out to be. He’s doing what has to be done with the Oregon job and seeing the season through with Georgia. She doesn’t really need to explicitly say what his role is for either team because it’s common knowledge, this happens with basically every coaching change. Interim coach sees the bowl game through, new coach pieces together his staff.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:58 PM ^
My focus wasn't on his new role at Oregon and how involved he'd be in their bowl; it was about her tweet which quoted him discussing Georgia bowl prep and saying he'd be involved with both teams. Guys staying on with their old teams after they've taken jobs with new teams isn't all that common. Maybe in extenuating circumstances like a bowl playoff, and only if the coach left on good terms but it's still not common and not ideal. And my posts have all been pretty simple and straightforward. I was merely wondering about a tweet that isn't all that explicit. You, yourself, said you read into it because you don't think it needs to be explicit and that "......it's pretty clear to just about everyone." It wasn't clear to me.
December 27th, 2021 at 3:49 PM ^
You literally said in the OP: “she said he was coaching both teams in their respective bowls.”
Which is what caused me to read into what she said, which is what caused me to note that she in fact did NOT say that, and to explain what she meant, because it’s common knowledge that every coach does this when they take a new job. Whether they finish the year with the team they’re on or not, it’s EXTREMELY rare to take over for the bowl. But EVERY coach who accepts a job IMMEDIATELY gets started hiring his staff and recruiting. Which is what “juggling both jobs” is obviously referring to here.
I’m aware it wasn’t clear to you. Which is why multiple people have explained it to you. But it is common knowledge that new coaches do this at every job and it’s not implying that he’s coaching both teams.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
Not sure that contracts would make this possible
December 27th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
Impressive. I only plan on watching 1 of those games let alone coach in both
December 27th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
A team looking a month back and a week ahead at the same time, plus a DC with one foot in Oregon (does that mean his second foot is "out the door"?) will lead to much distraction.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
I don’t think he’s coaching the Oregon game, just building his staff and recruiting. Does seem like he’s putting a lot of time into the Oregon prep for next season though.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32945983/new-oregon-ducks-head-coach-dan-lanning-call-plays-georgia-bulldogs-defense-cfp-semifinal
December 27th, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
When Friday rolls along, both teams will be ready to play. I don't think it helps to have so much distraction for the prep (COVID, coaching changes, etc.), but the better team will prevail. We will all have to wait until the very end of this year to find out which team that is.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
Some questions as to this. Chengelis says he's "he’s juggling both jobs. With time change he’s spending the evening hours working on Oregon." Not sure that does mean he'll be coaching Oregon. Could be he's just evaluating their personnel and getting a jump on recruiting for '22, '23 and beyond. A second post states he's just coaching UGA's linebackers now.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
It seems crazy and impossible on a lot of fronts. I'm surprised Georgia is letting him stay on to do this in any capacity.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
Their alternative is losing their defensive coordinator a couple weeks before one of the biggest games in school history. I'm not surprised they're letting him.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
National title is on the line. That has to be the only reason. If Georgia was playing in an NY6 or lesser bowl, Lanning would've already cleared out his office in Athens and I'm sure he would've had Smart's blessing to do so.
There is some precedent to this as well. Smart accepted the Georgia job after Richt was fired at the end of the 2015 season. Smart came to Athens, did his introductory press conference, and then pretty much flew right back to Tuscaloosa to start prepping the Bama defense for the CFP. I'm sure he was recruiting for Georgia on the side, but he was still doing all the defensive game planning and preparations for Alabama's title win that year. When the season was over, he went straight back to Athens.
If Smart had told Lanning to just pack up and leave while they still had national title aspirations to play for, it would've been incredibly hypocritical and downright foolish. If you have any belief that Lanning being on your staff is the difference between winning a national title or not, you do whatever you can to make sure he stays until the end of the season.
December 27th, 2021 at 2:04 PM ^
Oregon's WR coach Bryan McClendon is the Ducks' interim head coach and will be coaching the team in the Alamo Bowl.
December 27th, 2021 at 12:28 PM ^
I'm surprised either school is ok with this. From Georgia's end, you've got a DC who has his time split at best and maybe putting in a half assed effort at worst. From Oregon's end, I'd think you'd either want him to jump right in or just let the interim staff handle it. Why start off a new regime with a half assed bowl prep? Lanning isn't going to be able to implement anything in a few weeks
December 27th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
Wouldn't the NCAA have something to say about it also?
December 27th, 2021 at 11:44 AM ^
Juggling both jobs, doesnt mean actively coaching Oregon. I'm sure hes doing admin, recruiting and other things to make the transition.
December 27th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
It would appear that he is just recruiting and doing legwork for Oregon. And besides, it’s already been documented that he will not be the play caller for Georgia in the Orange Bowl anyway.