UGA DC Dan Lanning indicates he's turned down Texas opening

UGA football coach Kirby Smart has avoided seeing a change in one of his coordinators for a third straight year. At least for now,

Defensive coordinator Dan Lanning signaled in a tweet Friday night that he's staying with the Bulldogs. That came hours after his name emerged as a favorite for the same role at Texas, according to a report by CBSSports.com on Friday.

He tweeted "#LetsRunItBack" like players who decided to return to Georgia.

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The Longhorns new coach is Steve Sarkisian, who helped lead Alabama to the national championship.

Lanning, 34, has been on the Bulldogs staff for three years, the last two as defensive coordinator when he replaced Mel Tucker who left to be a head coach at Colorado before the Sugar Bowl in the 2018 season.

He previously coached at Memphis and the Missouri native's coaching stops include at Alabama, Arizona State and Pittsburgh.

“People coach their entire career dreaming of coaching at a place like Georgia and that was certainly the case for me,” Lanning said before this past season. “Getting the opportunity just to be here with the staff that we have and the players that we have it’s just really unique and I certainly don’t take that for granted.”

Inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann, who holds the title co-defensive coordinator, would be in line to replace Lanning down the road if he departed. Schumman’s name has been connected to the LSU defensive coordinator opening by the USA Today Network.

Former South Carolina coach Will Muschamp also has been linked to defensive coordinator openings and is close to Smart. His son Jackson is a walk-on quarterback at Georgia.

Offensive coordinator Todd Monken was hired last offseason, replacing James Coley who served in the role for one season after Jim Chaney left for Tennessee after the 2018 season.

Lanning makes $1.25 million annually in a contract that runs through 2022.

The Bulldogs led the nation in scoring defense and were No. 3 in total defense in 2019 and slipped to a tie for No. 16 and No. 12 in 2020 in those 

Lanning, Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom and Mississippi State defensive coordianator Zach Arnett interviewed this week at Texas, according to CBS.