Texas Tech's coach shares admiration for Lanning's coaching style and journey from high school assistant to leading a team that "plays like their hair is on fire."
EUGENE — Joey McGuire has only faced Dan Lanning once before, but the Texas Tech coach is a “huge fan” of Oregon’s coach.
McGuire first expressed his appreciation for Lanning and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein while discussing the College Football Playoff rankings during an in-house interview last month.
“I listen to a lot of stuff that he does,” McGuire said. “I love what he does. I think he does it right. He’s a great coach. He’s great for college football. I love to see how his guys compete; they play with an edge. He’s a defensive guy; he’s got an edge to him.”
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McGuire was a high school coach in Texas for more than 20 years before getting into the college ranks as an assistant at Baylor in 2017.
Lanning began his career as a high school assistant and the story of his overnight drive to Pittsburgh in the hopes of landing a graduate assistant opportunity is well traveled. McGuire knows the tale from Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich, whose brother, Spencer, is Oregon’s assistant offensive line coach. Spencer Leftwich, their father, was Pitt’s offensive line coach in 2011 when Lanning showed up unannounced hoping then-defensive coordinator Keith Patterson had a job opening for him.
“That shows the passion he has for the game,” McGuire said. “I think he does it the right way. You can just tell by the way his players play for him, they play with an edge and they play with such great effort. That comes from him and his coaching staff.”
Their common ground as former high school coaches, combined with Oregon’s 38-30 win at Texas Tech in 2023, gives Lanning respect for McGuire as well. Lanning said McGuire “deserves a ton of credit” for creating a culture and building a playoff-caliber roster with the Red Raiders.
“I always have an appreciation for a guy that’s worked his way up through the ranks and obviously has a storied career as a high school football coach,” Lanning said. “I think you’ve always seen a guy that coaches with unbelievable passion. We’ve got to compete against each other before, but I think the players take on the temperament of you as a coach and he’s a guy that brings the juice. You see that with his team; his team plays like that — they play like their hair is on fire."
No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) vs. No. 5 Oregon (12-1)
- When: Thursday, January 1
- Time: 9 a.m. PT
- Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
Read the original article on oregonlive.com.
Category: General Sports
