Oregon football coach Dan Lanning halted the rumor mill connecting him to high-paying vacancies on Monday in far more certain terms than most in his position.
“I think I’ve been really, really clear here since Day 1. I’m not going anywhere,” Lanning said Monday night at his weekly press briefing. “There’s zero chance that I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here.
“There’s a lot I want to accomplish here at Oregon. My No. 1 priority is being elite here at Oregon. We have the resources, the tools — anybody that can’t understand why you would want to be here at this place doesn’t understand exactly what exists here.”
Lanning was rumored to be the top target of Texas A&M, which is on the hook for more than $75 million to buy out the remaining contract of coach Jimbo Fisher.
He was also mentioned for Mississippi State, which fired coach Zach Arnett on Monday.
“I’ll continue to say it until I’m blue in the face. I want to be here at Oregon. That hasn’t changed, that won’t change,” Lanning said.
Currently No. 6 in the CFP rankings, Oregon is 9-1 and will find out with the latest release of the playoff pecking order on Tuesday just how much work it has left to be in position to be playing in January. That matter is more likely to be decided in the Pac-12 Conference championship game against Washington if the Ducks take care of remaining games: at Arizona State this week and then vs. Oregon State in the annual day-after-Thanksgiving rivalry game.
In the meantime, other high-profile jobs are likely to become available and Lanning’s name might be mentioned. He repeated that the appeal isn’t there to entice him to depart Eugene.
“I’m taken care of extremely well here at Oregon,” he said. “I have the resources I need here at Oregon to be really, really successful. I’m not motivated by that. I’m motivated by winning. I’m motivated by being elite here. Our players deserve my complete focus. Our fans deserve the best product on the field.”
–Field Level Media