Kirby Smart’s Coaching Tree Continues to Build
Oregon's decision to hire Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning further extends Kirby Smart's coaching tree just six years into his job as head coach of his alma meter.
Lanning is just the fourth former Georgia assistant coach promoted to a power-five head coaching job and the second defensive coordinator to take a head coaching job after leaving Smart and Athens.
The first coach was Lanning's predecessor at defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. Tucker joined Smart in 2016 as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach, leaving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and legendary head coach Nick Saban.
Tucker presided over three Georgia defenses that finished top-20 in total defense, helping Georgia to a 32-9 record in his time in Athens.
A year after Tucker left, Georgia lost another original staff member from the Kirby Smart era, offensive line coach Sam Pittman. Pittman left Athens for the head coaching job at Arkansas, the school where Georgia lured him away from in 2016.
Pittman was just the first non-coordinator in the Smart coaching tree to take a head coaching job following a stint in Athens. Pittman would be joined a season later in that category by Shane Beamer. Beamer, the now head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the special teams' coordinator and tight ends coach for Georgia.
Beamer left Georgia after the 2017 season for Norman, Oklahoma, to serve in the same role with the Sooners for three seasons before taking the job in Columbia, South Carolina.
With Lanning being the fourth former coaching staff member to take a head coaching job, Smart's quote in his statement released Saturday evening rings true "Opportunities like this are a testament to a successful program. "
Georgia is just weeks away from making its second ever playoff appearance in the semifinal versus No. 2 Michigan.
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