Nick Saban believes the controversy surrounding Dan Lanning and his viral pregame speech in the lead-up to Oregon handing Colorado its first defeat of the season highlights Lanning’s inexperience with media.
Saban, a 50-year coaching veteran, understands the impassioned rallying cry Lanning was trying to give his Oregon players. But Saban believes it should have stayed private.
“There’s a sacred time where a coach, the players, things that get said in the locker room,” Saban explained on The Pat McAfee Show. “And I know the media wants to have access to all these things because it makes it interesting for the fans. And I appreciate that. I understand that.”
"There's a sacred time where you should be able to say things to your team … that's not for everybody else to know."
Nick Saban thinks Dan Lanning's viral pregame speech may have been good for Oregon players to hear, but not for "everyone else to hear." pic.twitter.com/P5z6w4nMxq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2023
The speech from Lanning characterized the Buffaloes as playing “for clicks” whereas Oregon is playing “to win.” The pregame locker room moment was captured by ESPN cameras and aired on the broadcast. Undisputed host Skip Bayless and others called out Lanning’s words as racially-biased and disrespectful to Colorado and head coach Deion Sanders.
Neither side between ESPN and Oregon football has clarified whether approval was given by Oregon to air the speech.
Saban said it’s up to Lanning to know the time and place for motivation of that kind.
More from Saban:
“There’s still a sacred time where you should be able to talk to your team and say things to your team to motivate your team that maybe they’re not disrespectful toward the other team, but it’s not for somebody else to know.
“I understand what Dan Lanning was trying to say, and it’s probably good for his team to hear in some ways. But it probably wasn’t good for everyone else to hear.
And that’s always the argument. Where does the access (end), where do you draw the line and say, ‘OK there’s got to be some time when you can talk to your team and say what you have to say, and it’s really not for everyone else to hear.'”
While Saban is critical, he is also being sympathetic to Lanning. Saban acknowledged his personal style differs from Lanning’s, but said he understands going there ahead of a big matchup. Lanning simply misjudged how it might land.
Given an opportunity to reverse course this week, Lanning rejected Bayless’ criticism and praised Sanders.
While we don’t know for sure whether Oregon football greenlit the speech for ESPN, the Ducks posted a video recap on social media with similar messaging.
Here’s hoping Saban is right and the 37-year-old Lanning can learn from this news cycle. The Ducks got the W, but faced unneeded scrutiny all week as a result.
