Dan Lanning leads staff at No. 1 Oregon bolstered by former high school football coaches

Oregon is No. 1 heading into the College Football Playoff and several members of head coach Dan Lanning's staff have roots in the high school game.

Oregon's offensive coordinators Will Stein and Junior Adams along with defensive line coach Tony Tuioti all coached at the prep level.

Lanning is one of three head coaches in the 12-team playoff that have experience in high school. 

Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State coached at Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) from 2007-13 and Rhett Lashlee of SMU was the quarterbacks coach at Springdale (Ark.) under Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Lashee stepped away from coaching in 2007 and 2008 but helped quarterbacks at Har-Ber (Springdale, Ark.) before rejoining Malzahn at Auburn.

Prior to coming to Eugene, Lanning was part of the coaching staff for national championship teams at Georgia and Alabama. But he got his start at Park Hill South (Riverside, Mo.) from 2008-10 coaching special teams, defensive backs and wide receivers. A teacher at the school, the Panthers went 9-12 in his first two years there before improving to 9-4 in 2010. He joined the college ranks in 2011. Lanning played tight end and linebacker at Richmond (Mo.). Stein spent two years coaching Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) in 2018 and 2019 as offensive coordinator, assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. In 2018, he coached four-star quarterback Hudson Card and New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson as the Cavaliers reached the Class 6A Division 1 semifinals both seasons. In high school, he was a quarterback at Trinity (Louisville, Ky.), leading the Shamrocks to three state titles.

Adams became a co-offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2022, Lanning's first season in Eugene. He started his journey as wide receivers coach at Prosser (Wash.) under head coach Tom Moore, the father of prolific quarterback Kellen Moore. As a player, he ran for 63 touchdowns at Amador Valley (Pleasanton, Calif.).

Tuioti is the only coach on the Ducks staff to be a high school head coach. He took over a Kalaheo (Kailua, Hawaii) program in 2003 that was winless the year before. He improved the program, going 7-9 in his two years there. In 2007, he coached at Silverado (Las Vegas, Nev.) as defensive coordinator. The Skyhawks went 10-1 that season, reaching the second round of the playoffs.

College Football Playoff coordinators with high school coaching ties

Tom Allen, Indiana — defensive coordinator
Temple Heights Christian (Tampa, Fla.), defensive coordinator, 1992-93 and head coach 1994
Armwood (Seffner, Fla.), defensive coordinator, 1995-96
Marion (Ind.), defensive coordinator, 1997
Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.), defensive coordinator, 1998-2003 and head coach 2004-06

Mickey Conn, Clemson — co-defensive coordinator
South Gwinnett (Snellville, Ga.), assistant coach, 1998-99
Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), head coach, 2000-15

Kyle Flood, Texas — offensive coordinator
St. Francis Prep (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.), line coach, 1993-94

Al Golden, Notre Dame — defensive coordinator
Red Bank Catholic (Red Bank, N.J.), offensive coordinator, 1993

Rickey Hunley Jr., SMU — co-defensive coordinator
Roosevelt (Des Moines, Iowa), assistant coach, 2004-06
Grandview (Grandview, Mo.), assistant coach, 2010-11

Dirk Koetter, Boise State — offensive coordinator
Highland (Pocatello, Idaho), head coach, 1983-84

Johnny Nansen, Texas — co-defensive coordinator
Cabrillo (Long Beach, Calif.), defensive coordinator, 1998

Garrett Riley, Clemson — offensive coordinator
Roosevelt (Lubbock, Texas), quarterbacks coach, 2011

Ja-Juan Seider, Penn State — co-offensive coordinator
Glades Central (Belle Glade, Fla.), running backs coach, 2001-02
Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, Fla.), offensive coordinator, 2003-05
Lake Worth (Fla.), quarterbacks coach 2006-07

Scott Symons, SMU — co-defensive coordinator
St. Dominic (O'Fallon, Mo.), assistant coach, 2007

Brian Ward, Arizona State — defensive coordinator
Union (Tulsa, Okla.), defensive coordinator, 2006