As we reach the final few weeks of the college football season, coaches that have done exceedingly well will always have to stand in front of microphones and have their answers prepared for the impeding rumors that are sure to come up about other jobs.
At a place like Oregon, fans have been through this before.
Before hiring Dan Lanning, their previous two head coaches had deep roots in the state of Florida and in both cases programs from The Sunshine State came calling.
Willie Taggart had long talked about how Florida State was his dream job, and when Jimbo Fisher put his Christmas Tree out by the road for trash pickup so he could get ready for a move to Texas A&M for the richest fully guaranteed deal in college football history, it was clear that that Taggart was going to have an opportunity in Tallahassee.
After one 7-5 season in Eugene, Taggart flew south to lead the Seminoles.
To replace Taggart, Oregon elevated Mario Cristobal. While Mario stuck around in Eugene a bit longer, and went 35-13 from 2017-21, when his alma mater Miami made a coaching change, Mario also opted to take his talents south.
Like every other situation, both those aforementioned coaches had the opportunity to address their candidacy for those other jobs with the media while leading the Ducks.
While hindsight is always 20/20, what they chose not to say spoke volumes, and is also why Dan Lanning's comments from last night when asked about the Texas A&M job and speculation that he may be a candidate there are so interesting.
Someone on social media dug up the comments made by both Taggart and Cristobal in years past, and then added Dan Lanning's comments from last night and the contrast could not be more clear.
"A lot of coaches hang on to these moments and they don't do anything, or they don't say anything, one, because they don't want egg on their face when they decide to do something else. Two, they're concerned about things that I'm not concerned about like getting a better contract," Lanning shared last night.
The Ducks current leader likely wasn't intentionally pointing out his two predecessors, but man this video really highlights both approaches.
"I think I've been really, really clear since day one, everything I want exists right here," Lanning shared. "I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance I would be coaching somewhere else."
This is a great video showcasing the different approaches by three different head coaches of the same program. Two packed their bags and left, and the most current one just offered the strongest case for staying with his current job that I can think of any coach the last several years has given.
“They all say the same thing”
— nathan (@pnwnd) November 14, 2023
Spot the difference ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xEKyZqS7X7