Smart Talks Lanning's Double Duty

Dan Lanning is continuing to finish out his duties as defensive coordinator for Georgia as the Bulldogs prepare for a national championship run.

The University of Oregon is moving onto a new era in their football program after the Ducks under former Georgia interim head coach Bryan McClendon took charge of the Ducks in the loss to Oklahoma 47-32 in the Alamo Bowl. 

Current Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is the new Oregon head coach after being announced as the replacement for Mario Cristobal. Cristobal, the Miami Hurricanes alum, finished his time as Oregon head coach 35-13 after four seasons in Eugene, winning two PAC-12 championships in the process. Cristobal left Oregon to take the head coaching job, replacing Manny Diaz at Miami.

Lanning has yet to take over full-time as a head coach, as he is still committed to fulfilling his pre-season goals with Georgia in the College Football Playoffs. However, much of the talk has surrounded how Lanning will transition from his current coordinating role to his new head coaching job over the last two weeks. 

Smart spoke about Lanning on Thursday morning and how the new head coach is balancing the double duties of his job so far between Athens and Eugene. 

"We spoke when he took the Oregon job and spoke about it at length. It was quite some time now, quite some time ago now. That's not a major concern for me. It's something that I did as a coach and many coaches have done. We talked about it." Smart added, "There's not a 24/7 continuum on being just the coordinator. There's guys that have other things on their mind, and he delegates his time. I trust Dan. He's done a tremendous job here. Number one, he's a great recruiter. He's loyal to Georgia; he's loyal to these players that he recruited."

Lanning's continual loyalty and commitment to his players is what endears him as a favorite of the fanbase that's watched him grow on the sidelines in Athens ever since he joined the staff in 2018. 

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