Dan Lanning said there was never a decision to make when Nick Saban retired and the Alabama job came open; he was staying at Oregon regardless.

Speaking on The Ryen Russillo Podcast recently, Lanning was asked if there was ever a moment where he considered a move. The Oregon head coach was immediately linked to the Alabama job, but just as quickly as he was tied to the school, he made a public statement confirming his decision to remain in Eugene.

“No, the decision was made long before the season started, long before I took this job,” Lanning told Russillo. “Oregon took a chance on me. I truly believe this is a job that we can make the best job in college football. And when you feel that way, then let’s put some blood, sweat, and tears and sweat equity into make that the job you think it can be.”

In his two years with Oregon, the former Georgia assistant has been linked to three different SEC vacancies. He has publicly — and emphatically — denied interest in each instance.

Sometimes coaches will give lukewarm responses to questions about coaching carousel speculation. (Compare Kalen DeBoer’s response to the A&M interest with Lanning’s.) And then you have Lanning’s approach, which prompted Oregon to release officially licensed apparel this week that featured Lanning’s “grass is damn green in Eugene” line.

Alabama moved quickly to land DeBoer from Washington. As the Huskies’ head coach, DeBoer went 3-0 against Lanning and Oregon. The third victory was in the Pac-12 Championship Game and sent UW through to the College Football Playoff.

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Lanning believes Oregon can be a consistent force in the postseason, though he hasn’t gotten there yet. To begin his tenure, Lanning is 22-5 as Oregon’s coach. He has bowl victories in the Holiday Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. But he’s also 1-4 against Washington and Oregon State.

As the Ducks move into the Big Ten next season, they look primed for another strong campaign. If Oregon can win the big games, the Ducks could certainly find themselves in the expanded CFP. DeBoer will look to do the same with a rebuilt Alabama squad, though he’ll almost certainly find himself under much more pressure.