Before Saturday’s game with Oregon, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning will meet, speak to each other briefly, and shake hands before meandering back to their respective part of the field.
Approximately four hours later, they’ll meet to shake hands one more time.
In between, Smart and his former defensive coordinator will do everything they can to make sure their team leaves Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a victory.
“Neither Dan nor I will be worried about each other during the game. It's not about that. He's fighting to do the best job he can for his organization and his players, and I'm doing the same here,” Smart said. “We have mutual respect for each other. Always will, always have, but this is what competition is about. You love to go compete, and it's about our players getting a chance to compete against their players.”
Outside linebacker Nolan Smith was coached by Lanning the previous three years.
But when asked about seeing his former position coach on Saturday, Smith claimed a reunion will not be what’s on his mind.
“I don’t think too much of it. He coached me for three years and he’s an amazing coach,” Smith said. “I know he’s going to have those guys fired up and ready to play Georgia.”
Bulldog center Sedrick Van Pran was asked if he thought operating against Oregon will be similar what the Bulldogs did while practicing against him his previous three years as Georgia’s defensive coordinator.
It’s possible.
“I think to a certain extent, you have to anticipate that Coach Lanning will do what he loves to do and send those pressures and things like that,” Van Pran said. “But at the same time, we should also expect a bit of a mix-up—something that he may have seen that we do from being around us.”
Lanning won’t be the only familiar face on the sideline for Smart.
Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi coached with Smart at Alabama, while Smart and the Bulldogs coached against Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham when he served in the same capacity in 2019 at Auburn. His quarterback? Current Oregon quarterback and Auburn transfer Bo Nix.
“As far as the familiarity of the two systems, you know, there probably is a little overlap there in terms of defense and they're watching our defense and we watch our defense to get ready for them,” Smart said. “They have got coaches on their staff from other places, so we've gone out and looked at the history of their other defensive coach for ideas and things they've done at other places.”
Lanning’s rise through the coaching rank has indeed been a rapid one.
After just one year as Georgia’s outside linebackers coach, he was promoted to co-defensive coordinator along with Glenn Schumann, who holds the same title with Will Muschamp.
Though they will be on opposite sides Saturday, the respect remains.
“He didn't try to be somebody he wasn't. He didn't try to impress people. He just worked and he grinded, and he really did a good job of just doing what you asked him to do,” Smart said. “I always thought he would be successful.”
