Oregon football coach Dan Lanning went viral on Saturday afternoon for a pregame pep talk to his team that included not-so-subtle shots at opposing Colorado coach Deion Sanders.
FS1 personality Skip Bayless didn’t take too kindly to it.
“I’ve tried to tell you guys for two weeks there is a deep-rooted, venomous vengeance that is starting to manifest itself against Deion among white coaches,” Bayless said on Monday.
Lanning heard the criticism from Bayless and responded to it on Monday night.
“I don’t know Skip at all. I’ve never had a conversation with him,” Lanning told reporters. “I’ve watched him enough to know how often he gets it wrong, so that sounds about right. But, ultimately, here’s what I say. We’re playing to win the game. You saw a 15-second clip from a window outside the house of what happens in a locker room. I know our locker room. I’m in the house 100% of the time. I know how our players felt going into that game—and I know what it takes to motivate our players.
“That’s my job, to motivate our players. He has a job. I have a job, too. But inside that house, they felt a certain way. They felt a certain way about a group stomping on the O. They felt a certain way about guys talking to ’em in the pregame. I’m proud of those guys because what they decided to do is talk with their pads. They didn’t want to do anything extra afterwards. They wanted to talk with their pads and they did that on Saturday.”
Here's what Dan Lanning had to say about the outrage about his pregame speech and Skip Bayless pic.twitter.com/kpV3Ex3lPL
— Tsunami (@Tsunami_TS) September 26, 2023
Although Lanning may have used Sanders’s celebrity status against him in the pregame speech, the Oregon coach made it clear he has an immense amount of respect for Sanders and what he has brought to the college game.
“I’m also grateful and can clearly acknowledge that the attention that we got this Saturday, in large part, was due to Deion and what he’s doing to college football,” Lanning said. “If anybody can’t see what he’s done for college football and how he’s bringing excitement to college football, you’re crazy. I said that last week as well. He’s done a lot for the game. He’s building something over there. I think that’s really, really clear. There’s no secret there. But it wouldn’t matter if I was playing my 10-year-old son on the other sideline. I’m gonna do everything I can to win. If I’m playing Bill Belichick, I’m gonna do everything I can to win.”
While No. 9 Oregon heads to Stanford this Saturday as a four-touchdown favorite, Colorado plays host to No. 8 USC and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams in Boulder.
