By Seth Emerson for The Athletic.

In the original article, the portion in parentheses in thought #5 was in bold.

ATHENS, Ga. — Two things can both be true: Dan Lanning is a dynamic young coach who will make an excellent head coach for Oregon, but Georgia will not suffer because of his departure.

That’s the immediate takeaway upon the news that Lanning, Georgia’s defensive coordinator the past three seasons, will become Oregon’s head coach. Kirby Smart announced Saturday that Lanning will stay with the Bulldogs through the College Football Playoff. Some thoughts:

1. Oregon and Georgia open next season against each other in Atlanta. How’s that for a storyline? And Oregon’s current interim head coach through its bowl game is Bryan McClendon, former Georgia player and interim head coach after Smart was hired in 2015.

2 (a). Lanning’s résumé seems a reach for a program like Oregon, and his lack of western ties makes him an odd fit. Four years ago he was a position coach at Memphis, then he spent three years as defensive coordinator for a defensive-minded head coach. He’s also rather untested in the limelight, having done five news conferences in his time. But he came off well in those sessions, and when we talked to him in the locker room after the 2019 SEC championship, when his defense was gashed by LSU and quarterback Joe Burrow, Lanning still handled it like a pro.

2. (b). Oregon was apparently very impressed with how Lanning interviewed, and that’s not surprising: You’re talking about someone who didn’t play major D-I football, didn’t have very good connections to begin his career, but worked tirelessly and quickly up the ladder, talking his way into an interview with then-Memphis coach Mike Norvell, and getting hired by Smart.

3. Smart has had three other assistants become head coaches (Mel Tucker, Sam Pittman and Shane Beamer), two directly off his staff (Tucker and Pittman). All three are off to good starts — which couldn’t have hurt — so it could be Smart has an eye for talent, and also those assistants take things they’ve learned working at Georgia and apply it well elsewhere. Beamer and Pittman have in fact told me exactly that.

4. Georgia should be fine. Not to diminish Lanning but this team went to the national championship game before he was hired, eventually lost three head coaches off that staff and is back in the playoff. When you win this is what happens: people hire your coaches. As long as Smart remains involved with the defense — and he will — it’s hard to see the defense slipping.

5. Smart immediately announced that Lanning will be replaced by both of the logical replacements: Will Muschamp and Glenn Schumann will be co-coordinators. This means Smart has been preparing for this eventuality for a while, and it makes sense: Schumann has been with Smart for about a decade so perhaps no one knows the system as well as he does. And Muschamp also goes way back with Smart, helping get him his first job at Valdosta State. (Lanning stays with the team through the Playoff, but it’s not clear whether his on-field duties diminish so he can put more into Oregon when he’s off the field, or whether he remains the full-fledged coordinator until Georgia’s season is over. It’s probably semantics either way. Lanning at minimum stays with the team to coach the outside linebackers and consult in defensive meetings.)

6. How will a co-coordinator role work? Much more seamlessly than a co-offensive coordinator title, where only one guy can call plays at a time. On defense, you could have Muschamp (like Smart a former Georgia safety) calling plays for the secondary, and Schumann doing so for the front seven. That’s just a guess, but when you look at Georgia’s sideline before defensive plays you see every coach signaling and calling out anyway. And when you have Smart running the show everyone understands who the ultimate arbiter is.

7. Will Lanning take any staff members with him? Almost certainly, because that’s how it works. Tucker took offensive analyst Jay Johnson with him as offensive coordinator to Colorado and then Michigan State. Pittman took special teams coordinator Scott Fountain with him, along with several strength and conditioning staff members. But if Georgia wants to keep someone from leaving for a lateral move, it has the resources to do that. And even when some do leave, again that’s the mark of a successful program: people want to hire away your coaches. That won’t change as long as Georgia keeps winning.

Last edited by WoodburnDuck (12/11/2021 6:36 pm)