Oregon hires Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning as head coach

The Oregon Ducks football players were informed Saturday that Dan Lanning will be the team's new head coach, according to John Canzano of The Oregonian.

Lanning, 35, has been a fast-rising star in the college football coaching ranks after taking over as the defensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs in 2019. During his tenure, the Bulldogs defense has ascended into a dominant unit that allowed a nation-best 9.5 points per game in 2021.

Oregon is set to appear in the Alamo Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners after finishing the season with a 10-3 record. The Ducks were well-positioned to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, but they suffered two blowout losses to Utah in the last three weeks of the season and slid to No. 14 in the CFB Playoff rankings.

Shortly after the second loss to Utah, which came in the Pac-12 Championship, coach Mario Cristobal left to become the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. Oregon reportedly showed interest in UCLA's Chip Kelly, Cal's Justin Wilcox and BYU's Kalani Sitake before hiring Lanning.

Oregon has won conference titles in six of the last 13 seasons and has earned two trips to the national championship, four trips to the Rose Bowl and two trips to the Fiesta Bowl during that span.