It seemed like Oregon would have a tough time replacing Mario Cristobal after he left for Miami, but they upgraded massively with the 37-year-old Lanning. Lanning spent 2014 on Saban’s staff at Alabama before a quick stint at Memphis on his way to becoming Kirby Smart’s defensive coordinator at Georgia.
Lanning has connections to Saban and his coaching tree and is the hottest name in coaching after a 12-2 year in his second season leading the Ducks. Lanning has two 10-win seasons but is inexperienced running a program and Alabama could be hesitant to hire such an unproven commodity.