DAN LANNING | DEFENSIVE ASSISTANT |
Dan Lanning was named an assistant coach at the University of Georgia in January, 2018, after serving one year as inside linebacker coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Memphis.
Lanning joined the Memphis staff in 2016 after spending the 2015 season at Alabama as a graduate assistant coach with the outside linebackers. Prior to Alabama, Lanning held positions at Pittsburgh (2011), Arizona State (2012-13) and Sam Houston State (2014).
At Alabama, Lanning was a member of the coaching staff that guided the Crimson Tide to the 2015 College Football Playoff (CFP) national title. Alabama defeated Clemson 45-40 in the CFP championship game in Glendale, Ariz. The Crimson Tide posted a 14-1 record and won the Southeastern Conference crown with a 29-15 victory over Florida in the league championship game.
Lanning worked with a Crimson Tide defense that ranked top-10 nationally in five statistical categories: total defense (3rd), rushing defense (1st), passing efficiency defense (8th), scoring defense (3rd) and third down conversion defense (7th).
Prior to his one season in Tuscaloosa, Lanning spent the 2014 campaign at Sam Houston State, where he helped guide the Bearkats to an 11-5 record, the Southland Conference crown (7-1 SLC record) and a Football Championship Series (FCS) playoffs appearance. Sam Houston State, playing in its fourth-straight FCS playoffs, advanced to the semifinal round before falling to eventual national champion North Dakota State.
At Sam Houston State, Lanning coached the defensive backs and served as the program’s co-recruiting coordinator, with a special recruiting emphasis on Houston, south Texas and the Lone Star State’s Golden Triangle area. In 2014, Lanning coached a secondary that returned only one starter from the Bearkats 2013 FCS playoffs squad, but quickly molded the inexperienced group into a cohesive unit that played a key role in the team’s SLC championship run. Lanning mentored three Bearkats defensive backs that earned All-Southland Conference honors, including Trenier Orr who also was named an All-American.
Lanning spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons on head coach Todd Graham’s staff at Arizona. He began his Sun Devils career as a graduate assistant in 2012, before moving to the on-campus recruiting coordinator/defensive assistant in 2013.
In 2012, Lanning’s graduate assistant post had him working with the Sun Devils’ outside linebackers and nickelbacks. He helped develop an Arizona State defense that ranked top-five nationally in four statistical categories: TFL (1st), sacks (2nd), pass defense (3rd) and passes intercepted (4th). The Sun Devils posted an 8-5 record and defeated Navy 62-38 in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif.
The following season (2013), Lanning moved to his on-campus recruiting coordinator/defensive assistant position and helped lead Arizona State to a 10-4 record, the Pac-12 South crown and a National University Holiday Bowl appearance. The Sun Devils were ranked in the national polls nine weeks in 2013, including the final seven weeks. Arizona State climbed as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press (AP) poll, the program’s highest ranking since the 1996 campaign.
Lanning, who served as the lead recruiter in Kansas and the Mississippi junior colleges, helped Arizona State land a top-20 recruiting class. On the field, he helped develop a defense that ranked top-10 nationally in turnovers gained (5th), passes intercepted (3rd) and penalties against (6th) in 2013.
Lanning began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate defensive assistant on the Panthers staff. In his role, Lanning served as the assistant defensive backs coach and as a lead recruiter for several states in the Northeast.
In 2011, the Pittsburgh defense ranked nationally in sacks (3rd), TFL (12th) and rushing defense (21st). The Panthers went 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the BIG EAST Conference and earned a BBVA Compass Bowl berth. Following the 2011 regular season, Lanning moved into the role as defensive backs coach prior to and during the team’s bowl appearance in Birmingham, Ala. Lanning’s promotion came as a result of Graham leaving to take over the Arizona State program prior to the Panthers’ bowl game. In the spring of 2012, Lanning moved again to defensive quality control, assisting with the linebackers and working with the defensive coordinator in all aspects of the defense's preparation.
Lanning began molding his defensive philosophy with his coaching start at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo., from 2008-10. In his three seasons there, he served as an assistant football coach with a special emphasis on special teams, defensive backs and wide receivers.
A Richmond, Mo., native, Lanning played linebacker at William Jewell College, located in Liberty, Mo. He earned two Bachelor of Science degrees in physical education and secondary education in 2008. Two years later, Lanning completed coursework for his master’s degree in secondary administration from William Woods University in Fulton, Mo.
Lanning and his wife, Sauphia, have three sons: Caden, Kniles and Titan.