College Football’s Dan Lanning Demonstrated How To Defeat Deion Sanders At His Own Game

September 24, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / Sport News

Dan Lanning, the head coach of Oregon, refrained from initiating. He shied away from conflict. He didn’t personalize it.

Lanning hasn’t said a single thing in the past six days that might be misconstrued or used as fodder by Colorado, which is precisely what the Buffaloes’ prior three opponents couldn’t do.

Most amazingly, he carried out all of this while being aware that his squad was the best. Instead, Lanning pumped himself up for a big Super Saiyan transformation on Saturday. He also gave the media a playbook to use against Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, in addition to leading the Ducks to a 42-6 victory.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with Deion for who he is. Although I’d wager my money that there will soon be enough of those coming from other parts of the internet, this is not that sort of site. Lanning narrowly avoided caving to Sanders’ media savvy and instead found a means to advance both his own cause and Sanders’.

If seeing college coaches and players have fun, promote a strong sense of self-worth, and engage in some theatrics isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other uninteresting teams to watch.

Lanning demonstrated how interesting the Ducks are. Real-time viewing was fantastic. He was motivating his squad before the game by suggesting that Oregon plays for victories while Colorado plays for clicks.

He was already ahead by two scores when he called a fake punt to a defensive lineman close to his own goal line. While leading 35-0, he came back on ESPN for a halftime interview where he discussed the need to play better.

If Sanders had the chance to speak, you may have expected him to say something along those lines. Nothing about Deion or Colorado is monotonous, and it appears that this includes how they lose these days.

Other programmers’ coaches are aware of what is going on at Boulder. They witness Sanders transforming a college brand very immediately.

They observe Colorado’s enormous TV viewership and celebrity fan base. So coaches are aware that taking on the Buffaloes these days offers more than just the possibility to win; it also offers the chance to steal the show.

It is difficult to contest that Lanning was doing that on Saturday through his words and actions. He made the television broadcast into a three-hour reminder that Oregon merits their attention as well since he is aware of how many prospects were turning in to see Colorado.

Lanning had to keep his mouth shut the whole week for any of this to succeed. Let Colorado handle all the strain and attention.

Simply reserve all ammunition for Saturday. Release all the trash talk you’ve been holding back until then and only then.

Few college coaches, if any, will be able to outwit Sanders during the workweek or even on a pregame show. He simply does this way too well and for far too long. But once the game begins, none of it remains relevant.

The Buffaloes will still play a significant role this season despite Saturday’s defeat. Even with rated opponents like USC, UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, and Washington State left on the Buffaloes’ schedule, they will continue to be an attraction each and every week.

The plan is straightforward: Remain silent until your team’s play gets the opportunity to speak first. This will prevent those programmers from falling victim to Deion’s magnetism the way Lanning did.