Oregon HC Dan Lanning once opened up about his toughest job interview that involved Nick Saban

In a clip from Oct. 11, 2023, Dan Lanning reflected on a job interview he once had with Nick Saban. The Oregon Ducks coach was a graduate assistant under Saban for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2015 season. He spoke with Adam Breneman about his conversation with the now-retired coach for the job.

Lanning shared that the former Alabama coach surprised him by asking him about his philosophy on punt.

"I was interviewing with coach Saban. I never in my wildest dreams anticipated him asking me my philosophy on punt and what I would thought," Lanning said (Timestamp: 0:04). "I was interviewing for a GA, and he's asking me my philosophy on punt and what you know, what I thought the right approach was on punt."

He added that he had given an answer to Saban but was still unsure if it was something that the former Alabama coach wanted to hear.

"At this point, they were still running like the NFL style of spread punt, and I kind of talked a little bit about shield punt as far as having more guys," Lanning added.

Breneman asked if that was what the Oregon coach told Saban. Lanning confirmed he did and that he appreciated the unexpected question.

"I had an answer," Lanning said (Timestamp: 0:30). "I don't know if it was the answer he was looking for, but I had an answer, but that was just. You know, I always appreciated interviewing with guys like Nick and Kirby (Smart) and knowing that you weren't going to have the answers to the test when you go in for this."

Dan Lanning shares why Nick Saban's style of job interviewing is what he enjoys the most

Dan Lanning has worked with several teams, including the Memphis Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs. He shared that throughout the job interviews he did in his career, he appreciated how Nick Saban handled his questioning.

The Oregon coach believes the ability to talk about plays and his philosophy on college football is more enjoyable than a PowerPoint presentation about his work history.

"You're not going to pull up a PowerPoint slide and say, 'Hey, let me tell you about my family, and then here's my work, and here's what I did here,'" Lanning said (Timestamp: 0:44). "It was no, it's you, it's the whiteboard, it's the film, and just go talk, and so those were the interviews I always enjoyed."

He has settled into being Oregon's coach for the foreseeable future. Lanning will enter his fourth year with the team for the 2025 season.