The amazing rise of Dan Lanning now has another chapter.
According to Seth Emerson of The Athletic, Lanning, who was a Missouri high school coach before he drove through the night for a support job at Pittsburgh, is being promoted to Georgia's defensive coordinator role.
Lanning, Georgia's outside linebackers coach, was reportedly under consideration with inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann, but it appears Kirby Smart has decided to give the nod to Lanning. (Though Schumann will add a co-coordinator title, according to Emerson.)
Smart chose Lanning to serve as Georgia's interim coordinator for the Bulldogs' Sugar Bowl loss to Texas after previous coordinator Mel Tucker left to become the head coach at Colorado.
Both Lanning and Schumann netted significant raises, along with the six other returning Georgia assistants. However, the overall assistant salary pool will go down from 2018 to '19 after losing Tucker (who made $1.5 million in 2018) and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney ($950,000).
In addition to Lanning and Schumann, Pittman was promoted to associate head coach, McGee to running game coordinator and Hankton to passing game coordinator, according to Emerson.
Georgia went 11-3 with an SEC East championship in 2018, Smart's third season in Athens.