Dan Lanning’s SEC Moment Comes Full Circle In A Way Nobody Saw Coming

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning's comments that took a subtle shot at SEC scheduling have come full circle in a hilarious way. Despite Lanning losing both coordinators to other head coaching jobs after the playoff, the Ducks coach has kept a great attitude and received a special surprise in the mail.

Oregon Ducks dan lanning sec comment scheduling college football playoff rank bracket Chattanooga State shirt coordinators will stein tosh lupoi | oregon ducks on si darby winter

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning’s comments that took a subtle shot at SEC scheduling have now come full circle in a hilarious way. Even after losing both of his coordinators to head coaching jobs, Lanning appears to have kept an upbeat attitude and embraced the chaos.

This week, that positivity paid off when he received an unexpected surprise in the mail for a perfectly timed nod to the SEC jab that instantly went viral among fans.

Oregon Ducks dan lanning sec comment scheduling college football playoff rank bracket Chattanooga State shirt coordinators will stein tosh lupoi | oregon ducks on si darby winter

Dan Lanning’s SEC Moment Comes Full Circle

The College Football Playoff committee certainly has a lot of factors to weigh when ranking the top teams in the bracket. After beating then- No. 15 USC, Lanning was asked about what should stand out to the playoff committee about Oregon and he did not shy away from highlighting Oregon's ranked opponents.

“I think proof's in the pudding. Play a good team. We beat them. All we can do next week is try to do the same thing. And this conference is a really good conference. It's competitive. We didn't play Chattanooga State today like some other places. We competed. So, that being said, it's tough playing nine conference games. It's tough playing in this league. And we got to take advantage of playing a good team today and attacking that.”

The comment got the attention of Chattanooga State, who sent Lanning some swag in the mail. Lanning could have just let it slide and not brought any attention to it but instead wore the shirt and posed for a photo.

Lanning is proving he’s a good sport by proudly wearing a Chattanooga State shirt below.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning showing he’s a good sport by wearing a Chatt State shirt the school sent him. Couple of weeks ago after the Ducks beat USC, Lanning said “We didn’t play Chattanooga State today.”Basically a shot at the SEC, who were playing a lot of cupcakes that week pic.twitter.com/p7W1xWko2G

— Rick Nyman (@RickNymanSport) December 2, 2025

“Well, we just played a really good team. We'd be in a lot of times. We play really good teams that become unranked all of a sudden. That's not our fault, right? Maybe it is our fault, but all we're worried about is playing the teams that we play and doing the job that we need to do. And we did that job today, right?” Lanning said.

Oregon beat Penn State in double overtime in September when the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 3 in the nation, still had their starting quarterback and head coach James Franklin.

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The Oregon Ducks are ranked No. 5 heading into the final College Football Playoff bracket to be released on Sunday after the conference championship games have been played.

Oregon has two wins over teams in the latest CFP top 25, with victories over No. 16 USC and No. 23 Iowa. The Big Ten has three top-five teams and six schools in the top 25 with No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Indiana and No. 18 Michigan also included. 

Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions | Oregon Ducks on SI's Jake Bunn

Despite offensive coordinator Will Stein (Kentucky) and Tosh Lupoi (Cal) both taking head coaching jobs, both will coach the Ducks through the playoff. It's a huge silver lining for Oregon as the Ducks have dominated offensively and defensively this season. The Ducks are one of only three teams (Indiana, Texas Tech) in the top 15 for scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense and total defense.

As it stands, the Ducks will host a first-round CFP game at Autzen Stadium on Dec. 19 or 20 unless they move up into the top four and receive a first-round bye. In that case, Oregon would likely play on Jan. 1 at the Orange Bowl.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks the field before the game as the Oregon Ducks take on the Washington Huskies on Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ducks' ultimate goal of a National Championship is still in reach. After Oregon beat Washington in Seattle in the Big Ten regular season finale, Lanning addressed the Ducks clinching a spot in the playoff for a second consecutive season.

"I'm going to enjoy the moment here for a little bit, probably through the rest of the night, and then start worrying about what our prep plans moving forward," Lanning said after beating Washington. "Our team's banged up. It'll be big for us to get healthy. I think everybody at this point in the season is dealing with that, but there are only 12 teams in the nation that get to keep playing. I mean, some others can play, but in the real one, and we get an opportunity to go do that. So I'm excited about that."