As Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are getting set to play against Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks in the Orange Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, the head coach of the Red Raiders was pretty quick to praise Lanning for his work leading the Ducks.
It’s no secret that McGuire is a fan of what Lanning has done as the head coach in Eugene, Oregon, he’s been making that abundantly clear at various different points all throughout the season. Now, as the two coaches get set to face one another, McGuire was given the opportunity to chat about it during a joint press conference with Lanning ahead of the Orange Bowl.
Texas Tech head coach Joey Mcguire praises Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks as Red Raiders prep for Orange Bowl
“We’re really excited and honored to be here,” McGuire said. “I’m kind of one of those guys who can fanboy really easily over great coaches and I’m a huge fan of Dan [Lanning]. I watch a lot of his stuff that he puts out on social media or anytime there’s a press conference. It’s kind of one of my hobbies. I pay attention to a lot of coaches around the nation, especially guys that are doing it right.”
That feels like a really solid compliment from a coach like McGuire, who has thrived at just about every stop he’s had along the way in his coaching career. It’s also cool to hear about a head coach who is so willing to listen and to try to learn from what other coaches are doing.
“We’re really honored and excited to play in this game and play against such a great team like Oregon,” Texas Tech’s head coach continued. “I think it’s going to be the best game, without a doubt, in these quarterfinals.”
And there’s certainly a possibility of that. Both the Red Raiders and the Ducks have teams that are in the top 10 of both scoring defenses and scoring offenses this year. Both Texas Tech and Oregon have been really impressive throughout the season.
“You’ve got two great teams,” McGuire said. “We were talking earlier, it’s like looking in a mirror. You’ve got great defenses, you’ve got explosive offenses. I think both of our offenses probably produce the most explosive plays in college football this year.”
It’s going to be fascinating to see how this game unfolds and how the Red Raiders and Ducks perform once they face one another.