Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and Oregon coach Dan Lanning used to share a sideline. Now, they are sharing shots at one another.
Last Tuesday at the SEC Media Days, Smart joked he wished he had some of the NIL money that Lanning and the Ducks have received from Phil Knight and Nike.
“I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Phil Knight and his wonderful wife, Penny,” Smart said on July 16 at SEC Media Days. “I wish I could get some of that NIL money that he’s sharing with Dan Lanning, but that’s another note.”
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Lanning, who spoke at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, joined the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN and responded to his former boss. Lanning served as the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Georgia from 2019-21 before starting at Oregon in 2022. He has a 22-5 record in his first two seasons.
“I think it’s impressive that guys like Kirby have been signing the number one class in the nation without any NIL money this entire time,” Lanning joked on the show. “Obviously, coach Smart took a little shot at us. But if you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better have great support. We have that. … It’s our alignment with our entire university that makes our recruiting work.”
Oregon currently has the No. 5 recruiting class in the country, according to 247 Sports Composite Rankings, two spots behind Smart and Georgia. Both teams have two five-star recruits currently committed. The Bulldogs have 21 total commits and an average grade of 93.01, while the Ducks have 17 commits, and their 93.93 average recruit score is second only to Alabama.
The Bulldogs had the top recruiting class thrice since Smart was hired by the Bulldogs in 2015, including the top class in 2023. They have been consistently ranked in the top five for recruiting classes since 2017. Meanwhile, Oregon has had the No. 9 (2022) and No. 3 recruiting (2023) recruiting classes under Lanning.
Georgia defeated Oregon 49-3 in the 2022 season opener on Sept. 3, 2023 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The notion that Oregon has “unlimited NIL money” with Knight’s backing has been a consistent rumor during this recruiting cycle. However, Lanning and Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens have disputed this claim.
“The reality is, find a top-10 team in college football right now that doesn’t have great support,” Lanning said to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. “Do we have a lot more than everybody else? I think that’d be an exaggeration or we’d never lose. Everyone else right now is focused on our ice cream cone, and if I’m busy looking at theirs, that means mine’s melting.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Dan Lanning responds to Kirby Smart’s NIL comments at Big 10 Media Days
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