In the wake of the report that 72-year-old Alabama head coach Nick Saban is retiring, which shocked the college football world on Wednesday afternoon, there's already one name being mentioned as a candidate to replace Saban.
Oregon's Dan Lanning was reported by Action Network's Brett McMurphy as the expected "top target" for Alabama to pursue. Lanning, as ESPN's Pete Thamel pointed out, has a $20 million buyout with the Ducks.
Alabama?s Nick Saban is retiring, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st reported by@ClowESPN. Oregon?s Dan Lanning expected to be top target to replace Saban, source told @ActionNetworkHQ
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 10, 2024
Buyouts for potential Alabama head coach candidates
Dan Lanning -- $20 million
Kalen DeBoer -- $12 million
Dabo Swinney -- $7.5 million
James Franklin -- $6 million
Mike Norvell -- $4 million— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 10, 2024
Thamel also reported a few other names as targets for Alabama, including Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Washington's Kalen DeBoer, Penn State's James Franklin, Florida State's Mike Norvell and Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman.
With no likely internal replacements at Alabama, here?s a quick projected target list. Dan Lanning, Kalen DeBoer, Dabo Swinney, James Franklin, Mike Norvell and Marcus Freeman. All come with complications and big buyouts, as it?s difficult to move entrenched coaches. https://t.co/0K2NWk8CtL
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 10, 2024
Lanning has put together back-to-back 10-win seasons at Oregon since taking over before the 2022 season. He's 22-5 over those two seasons and, with quarterback Bo Nix leading the way, came up a game short of making the College Football Playoff this season. The Ducks finished 12-2.
The 37-year-old coach was a graduate assistant at Alabama under Saban in 2015. He also spent time in the SEC as Georgia's outside linebackers coach in 2018 and Georgia's defensive coordinator from 2019-21.
Lanning has been linked to other job openings, including Texas A&M this season, when his response was pretty clear that he was staying at Oregon.
When Dan Lanning was linked to the Texas A&M job back in November, this was his response.
Gonna be really interesting to see if that still holds true if/when Alabama comes calling. https://t.co/Xjki8CXL0t pic.twitter.com/PfvCFFsbVI
— Jarrid Denney (@jarrid_denney) January 10, 2024
Still, Alabama is not just any other school. The Crimson Tide job figures to be one of the most attractive in the sport, if not because of a roster that returns its starting quarterback in Jalen Milroe, who just took Alabama to the CFP, where it lost in overtime to eventual national champion Michigan.
Buckle up, this ride is about to wild.
