Off the Radar Candidate - Dan Lanning

leodisflowers

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Feb 25, 2011
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I know he is a youngster again, but seems to be a big time recruiter and also currently guides an elite D. Could be a guy you wouldn't have to pay as much right away if that is the route you wanted to go and surround him with veteran assistants.
 

antirowboat

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Jan 30, 2021
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I'd be for it. P5 head coach or p5 coordinator is the smartest move to make.

Should have learned the importance of recruiting daily, unlike giving up on high school recruiting like Frost.
 

antirowboat

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The arguement some will make is that he has no head coaching experience and other things. Go through the top 15 in the AP Poll right now and where did the head coaches come from?

UGA - DC from P5
Cincy - fired from P5 school
Alabama - former P5 natty coach and NFL
Oklahoma - P5 coordinator
MI State - p5 school
Ohio State - p5 coordinator
Oregon - former fired p5 head coach
Notre Dame - G5 head coach
MI - former NFL and P5 head coach
Ole Miss - P5 coordiantor
Baylor - P5 coordinator
Ok St - p5 coordinator

You should get the point. The chances of hiring a G5 head coach and becoming a winning program is the worst risk to take. The smartest move is to take a P5 head caoch that wins or a P5 coordinator from a winning P5 program.

Dan Lanning fits that P5 coordinator hire of a winning program. Some some will hire him as a head coach sooner than latter and I wouldn't mind Nebraska being the school to do it.
 
Nov 5, 2018
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I’m jaded from hiring Bo Pelini and that not working out.

5 Years of Power 5 Head coaching experience (and success) should be a minimum requirement imo
 

BHeinDaHuskers

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Lanning will be a head coach somewhere next year. He is the top assistant in line to be a P5 HC.
 

SuperBigFan

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Jun 10, 2021
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Not going to lie but hiring this guy would sort of give me an erection and I am not even sure why.
 

Headcard

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I’m jaded from hiring Bo Pelini and that not working out.

5 Years of Power 5 Head coaching experience (and success) should be a minimum requirement imo

I'm just not sure I agree. Smart, Jimbo, Day, Lincoln Riley, Bob Stoops. Lots of guys went from Coordinators to winning big at big time programs. And while Pelini didn't win big, he was more successful than the NFL HC coach before him or the P5 HC after him.
 

Headcard

Heisman
Feb 2, 2005
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I know he is a youngster again, but seems to be a big time recruiter and also currently guides an elite D. Could be a guy you wouldn't have to pay as much right away if that is the route you wanted to go and surround him with veteran assistants.

He's also from Kansas City, which is a plus. He's been around a great program as they built it up, he's a great recruiter, he runs the best defense in CFB, he has midwest roots. I'm a big fan.
 
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Nov 5, 2018
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I'm just not sure I agree. Smart, Jimbo, Day, Lincoln Riley, Bob Stoops. Lots of guys went from Coordinators to winning big at big time programs. And while Pelini didn't win big, he was more successful than the NFL HC coach before him or the P5 HC after him.
Most College coaches are more successful than Mike Reilly . He’s not a good coach.

We will have 5 out of 6 losing seasons after this year. We need to get to a bowl game next year imo. The safe choice is to get a coach who has P5 head coaching experience with success - Tom Herman, Gus Mahlzahn, Bill O’Brien, etc.

Up and coming coordinators are just more risky because they have never been the CEO of a team making sure all facets of the team are running at a high level. Without question, they work but it is more of a risk.

Our situation reminds me of golf. We could take a chance on this putt for Eagle, if we miss the Eagle, then we are probably looking at Bogie or Par (Up and coming coordinator). Or we could play it safer and 2 put our way to birdie, with less down side (experienced HC).
 

Headcard

Heisman
Feb 2, 2005
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Kind of hard not to be in Georgia

True. They do recruit great, but that has really went to a new level under Kirby Smart.

Kirby Smart classes: #1, #5, #1, #1, #1, , #3
Pre-Smart classes: #9, #6, #7, #12, #12, #5
 

WHCSC

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Off the radar? He's literally mentioned for every HC opening.
 

antirowboat

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How so? He was co-defensive coordinator under Meyer, won a natty, and left for the Cincy job. He wasn't fired. Just admit you were wrong. Just once. It's not that hard.
was given the interim tag for one season, had a bad record, and was pushed back down in responsibility. didn't get the job. Technically "fired" from the head coaching role.. He didn't get the Cincy job until 6 years later.
 

itseasyas1-2-3

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was given the interim tag for one season, had a bad record, and was pushed back down in responsibility. didn't get the job. Technically "fired" from the head coaching role.. He didn't get the Cincy job until 6 years later.
No way. No way. No way. He wasn't fired.

Specifically, not technically, you're full of crap.
 
Oct 12, 2016
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I know he is a youngster again, but seems to be a big time recruiter and also currently guides an elite D. Could be a guy you wouldn't have to pay as much right away if that is the route you wanted to go and surround him with veteran assistants.
The key would be his agreement and attitude / philosophy on hiring assistants. Will he be loyal to a fault? Will he agree to hire serious top coordinators that the AD will pay $1.5 mill and hold them accountable?
 

HuskerAlum92

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Jan 8, 2007
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How so? He was co-defensive coordinator under Meyer, won a natty, and left for the Cincy job. He wasn't fired. Just admit you were wrong. Just once. It's not that hard.
Fickel was named interim head coach when Tressel was fired. After the season, he was not retained as full time head coach. That’s pretty much the same thing as being fired. If the timing of the Tressel thing had been different, he would have been let go at the same time as Tressel and we would call that a firing.
 

mgbreeze

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Fickel was named interim head coach when Tressel was fired. After the season, he was not retained as full time head coach. That’s pretty much the same thing as being fired. If the timing of the Tressel thing had been different, he would have been let go at the same time as Tressel and we would call that a firing.
If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. He wasn't fired. Period.
 

HuskerAlum92

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If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. He wasn't fired. Period.
I guess I didn’t realize that when he was relieved of Head Coach duties that he went back to the same role as before. So, I agree that Fickel wasn’t fired. Simply not getting promoted from interim to full time is not the same as being fired.
 

mgbreeze

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was given the interim tag for one season, had a bad record, and was pushed back down in responsibility. didn't get the job. Technically "fired" from the head coaching role.. He didn't get the Cincy job until 6 years later.
Since you want to be technical, as an "interim" he was never officially the head coach so he couldn't be "technically fired from the head coaching role." By your logic (an oxymoron, I know) he was never a head coach prior to Cincy.
 

HuskerAlum92

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In that case, he was fired. When his interim tag was removed, Bo was unemployed. When Fickel’s interim tag was removed, he went back to exact same role as before being named interim.

But Bo wasn’t fired as a Head Coach in 2003. He was fired for being the DC on a coaching staff that was being replaced. He wasn’t the reason that happened, he was just collateral damage.
 

9and4_rivals188421

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I’m jaded from hiring Bo Pelini and that not working out.

5 Years of Power 5 Head coaching experience (and success) should be a minimum requirement imo
That's an easy thing to suss out in the interview process. Give the prospective coach a scenario to respond to: You're at the team hotel, preparing the team for its biggest game in almost a decade. What do you do?
A. Go through the morning in a business-like manner, relaying the importance of the game to the team through your stoic, focused actions.
B. Give a rousing speech to the team, reminding them of the legacy of greatness that they can inherit with a victory.
C. Call a random social-media active fan to the basement and scream at him from two inches away.
 

99_BoothBalloons

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I’m jaded from hiring Bo Pelini and that not working out.

5 Years of Power 5 Head coaching experience (and success) should be a minimum requirement imo
Solich: in house promotion
Callahan: NFL HC
Bo: coordinator
Riley: years of P5 HC experience
Frost: G5 HC experience

We’ve tried it all. No reason to be more concerned about Bo than the others, especially since he was the most successful of the group.
 
Nov 5, 2018
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Solich: in house promotion
Callahan: NFL HC
Bo: coordinator
Riley: years of P5 HC experience
Frost: G5 HC experience

We’ve tried it all. No reason to be more concerned about Bo than the others, especially since he was the most successful of the group.
I disagree with you on this. We did not hire a P5 head coach with proven success. Mike Reilly was a mediocre coach his entire career and he was a mediocre coach here.

I think if we hire a Mahlzahn, Herman, O’Brien we can expect to get back to the 8-9 win mark. Question is, can they also have a 10+ win season every 3-4 years with a shot at the Big Ten Title
 

HUSKERFAN66

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I know he is a youngster again, but seems to be a big time recruiter and also currently guides an elite D. Could be a guy you wouldn't have to pay as much right away if that is the route you wanted to go and surround him with veteran assistants.
Is he better than what we got?? I had to......
 

antirowboat

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I think "but anyone could do it at UGA" is wrong. You still have to develop the recruits, put them into position for success, call the right plays, put together the right gameplan for how you will defend the other team, etc.

You can't just bring in 11 5-stars and tell them to go out and play. Doesn't work that way.

Lanning is obviously a good coach with how fast he is rising through the coaching ranks.

I would be happy if he got the Nebraska job. I bet we would recruit better too.
 

99_BoothBalloons

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I disagree with you on this. We did not hire a P5 head coach with proven success. Mike Reilly was a mediocre coach his entire career and he was a mediocre coach here.

I think if we hire a Mahlzahn, Herman, O’Brien we can expect to get back to the 8-9 win mark. Question is, can they also have a 10+ win season every 3-4 years with a shot at the Big Ten Title
Mahlzahn could arguably qualify.

What did Herman do to be considered better than mediocre? And O’Brien? He overachieved with bad QBs early on in Houston, but eventually he was exposed as a horrible game manager and kind of became a laughing stock.
 
Nov 5, 2018
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Mahlzahn could arguably qualify.

What did Herman do to be considered better than mediocre? And O’Brien? He overachieved with bad QBs early on in Houston, but eventually he was exposed as a horrible game manager and kind of became a laughing stock.
Mike Reilly is the standard of mediocre - he has been head coach for 17 seasons in college football, 9 of them he had winning records and 8 of them he had losing records.

Tom Herman has been a head coach for six seasons, he had 6 winning seasons and 0 losing seasons.

Bill O’Brien had two seasons at Penn State with two winning records. I’d also point out that in his first 6 seasons in the NFL, he had a winning record 5 times. This is not easy to do, look up Urban Meyer and Nick Saban in the NFL.

My point is this, Mike Reilly has as many losing seasons as winning seasons. It’s unfair to group Herman and OBrien in with him because neither has had a losing season in college football. Winners win, losers lose.

Not saying either one would get us into the top 10 quickly, I am saying they would get us back to annual winning records though
 

steinek11

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I think "but anyone could do it at UGA" is wrong. You still have to develop the recruits, put them into position for success, call the right plays, put together the right gameplan for how you will defend the other team, etc.

You can't just bring in 11 5-stars and tell them to go out and play. Doesn't work that way.

Lanning is obviously a good coach with how fast he is rising through the coaching ranks.

I would be happy if he got the Nebraska job. I bet we would recruit better too.
And many of Nick saban's assistants have also gone on to become head coaches and flamed out. No guarantees.
 

WHCSC

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Mike Reilly was a mediocre coach his entire career
 

IM4NUAlways_

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May 31, 2005
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Well he has the best players in the country currently. Can he get them to Nebraska is a big question. If we were going to excel on one side or the other I would take defense first in the Big 10.
 

Headcard

Heisman
Feb 2, 2005
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Mike Reilly is the standard of mediocre - he has been head coach for 17 seasons in college football, 9 of them he had winning records and 8 of them he had losing records.

Tom Herman has been a head coach for six seasons, he had 6 winning seasons and 0 losing seasons.

Bill O’Brien had two seasons at Penn State with two winning records. I’d also point out that in his first 6 seasons in the NFL, he had a winning record 5 times. This is not easy to do, look up Urban Meyer and Nick Saban in the NFL.

My point is this, Mike Reilly has as many losing seasons as winning seasons. It’s unfair to group Herman and OBrien in with him because neither has had a losing season in college football. Winners win, losers lose.

Not saying either one would get us into the top 10 quickly, I am saying they would get us back to annual winning records though

Herman was 54-22 as a HC. 6 winning seasons (5-0 in Bowl Hames), 4 Top-25 seasons, 2 Top 10 seasons and 2 Top 5 recruiting classes. Pretty solid resume to me.