Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning turned a lot of heads earlier this week when he appeared in Houston, Texas for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Without being a game coach, Lanning accepted ESPN’s invitation to join the broadcast crew and help preview games because he had a good idea of what challenges the Washington Huskies might pose and what to expect in the upcoming games. . The Michigan Wolverines will need to make a move to stop them. Lanning also explained in an interview with Oregon radio host John Canzano this week that he provides the Ducks with a great recruiting tool that allows them to stay in the spotlight even when they’re not playing on the biggest stage. Down.
“It’s usually a night in college football where everyone is talking about both teams on TV,” Lanning said on “The Bald Truth.” “But we felt like this was an opportunity to get them talking about another team.”
Sitting with Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Chris Fowler and Pat McAfee wasn’t the highlight of Lanning’s night, though. On Thursday, he told Canzano that three other people he faced during the game really stole the show.
“I got to see Michael Jordan. Like, I got to touch him,” Lanning said. “He touched my shoulder, and I hadn’t washed my shoulder yet. I Facetimed him a few times, but I still saw him, Derek Jeter, Travis Scott. Come on, man, that’s when you pinch yourself, Like ‘What is this guy from Richmond, Missouri, hanging out in a suite with Michael Jordan, Travis Scott and Derek Jeter doing?'”
Lanning went on to say that while he had met Travis Scott before, when the rapper and fashion designer competed at the 2022 World Track and Field Championships at Eugene Hayward Field, he left the meeting with Downloaded a photo of myself and the No. 23 jersey. Enter his collection of memorabilia.
Canzano also does a great job raising a very noteworthy question: What, if anything, can you learn from being in the presence of a superstar like this?
“I think just watching them, I don’t think you have to be next to them to do that,” Lanning said. “Like, if I could sit down and say, ‘Hey, let’s spend two hours,’ then I’d be that person with a notebook and write down a million things. But that’s not my experience yet. Nothing There’s a lot to be learned from these guys, no doubt. The thing that stands out about guys like Jeter and Jordan is that they are the ultimate competitors. No matter what the game is, these guys play to win, and they Working hard to be the greatest, that’s what makes them different.”
Obviously, we’ve seen Lanning bring idols like Phil Knight to football practices before, but does that mean we could see the likes of Jordan, Jeter, or Scott in Eugene with the ball? Team chat? I’m not leaving it behind him.