“Everybody wants to be able to be like an unbelievable dad and an unbelievable husband. And you want that, but you also want to elevate. You want to move up.” Taking your program and revamping your recruitment class to consistently land in the top 10 nationally is no easy feat. Neither is hopping into the driver’s seat and taking the Ducks to a 13-win Cinderella story in your 3rd season. Remember, it took Kirby Smart and Ryan Day six long, grinding seasons to finally taste that Natty glory. But Dan Lanning? This man nearly pulled off The Dream in just three. That’s not just impressive—it’s borderline mythical.

But to pretend that all this success just landed in Eugene without its share of sweat, sacrifice, and sleepless nights? That’d be the biggest lie in the playbook. Behind the sharp suits and sharp calls is a man juggling more than just playbooks—a father of three and a husband who knew from the very start that this ride doesn’t come with brakes. “I don’t think there’ll ever be a balance. That’s just not the reality,” Lanning admitted during a one-on-one with ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

“To be great in this profession, you have to work extremely hard. It takes a lot of time, but I do think you can be intentional, you know?” From a modest $325,000 salary to nearly $11 million at Oregon, it sounds like a dream. But once you start digging past the headlines, you start to see the cracks behind the crown.

Think back to his days at Pitt—driving 13 hours just to plead for a coaching opportunity, then grinding through that year trying to make his mark. That wasn’t just Lanning paying his dues; it was his whole family paying the price. “What I realize now is a lot of that was really selfish,” Lanning confessed during his appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys. Those weren’t glamorous moments—missing time with family never is. But in this profession, the path to the top doesn’t come without making a few brutal sacrifices along the way.

And truth be told, if it weren’t for those tough decisions, Oregon might not be sitting at the top of the B1G food chain today. Through it all, Sophia Lanning never lost faith. From scraping by on just $1,200 a month in Alabama, raising three young kids while Dan chased his coaching dream, to now standing by one of the highest-paid head coaches in Division I football—it’s been a journey built on belief, grit, and love.

And while the scoreboard tells one story, the real win is everything it took to get there… Now, what comes next? Good question. Well, the answer is: Just Dan Lanning making sure he shows up with the “intention” of being the best father out there.

Dan Lanning is ready for some Flag Football

“One thing that I know, you also have been celebrating, uh, your son. If I’m not mistaken, he won a flag football championship this past week?” McElroy pointed out. Is this fate’s twisted game of landing Titan on the Ducks? While it hasn’t been “big media news” yet, Titan Lanning got signed up for flag football, and the boy even managed to win. “It’s a sign of growth, right? They got a good team. They’re really well coached, uh, I enjoy going and watching them play and getting to be a dad,” Lanning added.

And well, that isn’t all. We managed to scour the web and find an IG post from The Register-Guard, where Lanning can be seen confessing that he is going to give Titan some practice sessions during fall camp. “Titan likes football, and he said, ‘Can I come to work?’. I said absolutely,” Dan mentioned.

This makes us circle back to the initial point Dan had mentioned during his conversation with Greg. At the end of the day, if you want to be a successful coach, you have to make a ton of sacrifices. However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t put in the effort to take time out for your kids or wife. Fair play, Dan—you have been nothing but amazing, and we are sure Oregon fans and your family would agree.