How Mariano Rivera, ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and Martha and the Vandellas explain Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks
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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
“DO PEOPLE THINK Oregon and think tough?”
An animated Dan Lanning stands in the front of the Oregon team room asking his entire team the rhetorical question. It’s the eighth week of the season and a 7-1 Ducks team is headed to Salt Lake City where it’ll face a Utah team that’s won 30 straight games at home and whose “national narrative,” as Lanning puts it, is one of being tough to beat.
“What’s the narrative on us?” Lanning continues. “Flashy.”
Oregon, with its Nike partnership, history of teams with offensive firepower and equally bold uniforms, has come to represent a certain kind of football, a certain kind of program, over the years. Whether you want to define it as flashy or otherwise, it’s no secret that effective marketing combined with success has turned the Ducks into a national brand. What that brand is exactly depends on who you ask.
“People don’t think you’re tough?” Lanning asks.
All you have to do is watch Lanning speak — sometimes yell — to realize he cuts against that very grain. And all you have to do is watch Oregon these past two seasons to realize that very same approach Lanning embodies has permeated throughout the program.
“He’s developed a culture of toughness,” offensive coordinator Will Stein told ESPN. “I mean his program’s built on toughness, mental and physical.”
It’s not that Lanning eschews flash, confidence or even, at times, arrogance, in place for the traditional idea of a buttoned-up college coach. In fact, the 37-year-old appears to embrace those outward displays of emotion and pride more than most. Just take a look at the speech he gave (and presumably allowed to be aired) during the Ducks’ commanding win over Colorado, where he said Oregon was a team “rooted in substance, not flash.” Since then, Oregon has arguably showcased both while backing it up with results.
Or how he gives the outside world glimpses, even if curated, of his coaching style and approach through cinematic recaps Oregon’s video department releases following every game this season.
Lanning stepped into the job in December 2021 and proceeded to give Oregon a new identity as it heads to the Big Ten next season by utilizing an approach that has resonated throughout the program.
“He’s a players’ coach,” wide receiver Tez Johnson said, referring to Lanning’s ethos to give players a voice, even in-game decision-making. “He’s the best coach in the country and anybody can come and argue with it, but he’s the best.”
Lanning isn’t without his young coaching mistakes, but two seasons in, he has Oregon playing like one of the best teams in the country, is a win over Washington away from a Pac-12 title and has a likely shot at the College Football Playoff.
“He’s got a relentless consistency,” quarterback Bo Nix said of Lanning. “I don’t think he has ever had a day where he’s been complacent.”
MARIANO RIVERA. “Top Gun: Maverick.” Martha and the Vandellas.
What do those three things have in common?
The answer is nothing. But somehow, all three have found their way into being a part of Oregon’s season thanks to Lanning.
Lanning, his players and fellow coaches say, is someone who lives and breathes football, while also constantly wanting to tether parts of the game to his real-life interests. A movie and music buff, it’s no surprise some of those pop cultural references make their way into team meetings and motivational material.
As their final regular-season cinematic recap showed last week, the theme was putting an emphasis on closing out games and seasons — something the Ducks did not do last season in Lanning’s first year.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses in Eugene for Lanning. His first game in Oregon colors was a 49-3 blowout at the hands of his former team. Later on that season, he found himself having to answer questions about his late-game management and decision-making multiple times, especially after a 3-point loss to Washington and a fourth-quarter letdown to their rival, Oregon State.
This year, there’s been a clear evolution despite some remaining growing pains. After a failed attempt at a fourth-and-3 near midfield with two minutes left against Washington, Oregon, which was up by 4 points at the time, eventually lost by 3, and Lanning took the blame.
“This game’s 100% on me,” Lanning said. “I don’t think you guys have to look anywhere else but me.”
Still, Lanning has done his best to use any failures to his team’s advantage and is likely going to do so again ahead of a rematch with the Huskies. In the lead-up to its rivalry game against the Beavers this season, the TVs around the team’s practice facility played last year’s fourth quarter against OSU — where Oregon allowed 21 points to cough up an 18-point lead — on a loop. In the eventual recap of the week on YouTube, shots showed images of billboards Oregon State had put up all season declaring it “Won in the Trenches” — images that were then printed out by Oregon and taped all over the team’s facility.
“They don’t have respect for you,” Lanning said. “We played three quarters last year. It’s time to play four quarters.”
Closing, then, was what Lanning wanted to harp on. So, of course, he brought up Rivera. He explained his prolific ability to deliver in high-stakes situations and secure wins late in games. That was his job; now it was Oregon’s job to ensure it wouldn’t repeat last year’s letdown to Oregon State and close out its season with a win.
But the comparison didn’t stop there. Lanning showed a video of Rivera walking out to “Enter Sandman” — the longtime Yankees closer’s patented walkout song — and said the Ducks would have their own closer’s song too: “Nowhere to Run” by Martha and the Vandellas.
“‘Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,'” Lanning said. “In the fourth quarter, when you hear this, you’ll know what time it is,”
Sure enough, with Oregon up 24-7 on OSU last Friday night heading into the fourth quarter and on its way to a 31-7 win, the Autzen Stadium speakers began to blare a now-familiar tune.
Nowhere to run to, baby (nowhere to run, nowhere to hide)
Nowhere to hide (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Got nowhere to run to, baby (nowhere to run, nowhere to hide)
Nowhere to hide (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Somehow, through pop-culture references and his own version of coach-speak, Lanning comes off less like the older guy trying to remain cool and more like the younger coach who believes being the most authentic version of himself will make him the best possible leader.
“He’s still got that young personality and still enjoys other things outside of football,” Nix said. “I think sometimes we see head coaches as strictly football, but he’s still a young coach in this profession and he still enjoys other things outside of football and X’s O’s. He’s knowledgeable about a bunch of things that us players are knowledgeable about, so he can kind of connect with us that way.”
Take the unofficial slogan of this Ducks team, for example, which has made its way onto T-shirts that Lanning has worn multiple times.
“FEBU”
There’s some debate among Oregon fans as to what the “F” exactly stands for, but the rest stands for “Everybody But Us.” You can connect the dots.
STEIN’S NEWBORN SON was not yet a full month old when the former co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UTSA, got a call from Lanning.
“Do you want to be a Duck?”
Stein didn’t think twice. This was an opportunity he didn’t want to pass up.
Once Stein arrived in Eugene, it didn’t take long for him to see what kind of program Lanning was building. The word that came to mind, one that Lanning and Oregon players mention repeatedly when asked what has made this team succeed, is “connected.”
“I’ve never seen a more connected team,” Lanning said after the win over Oregon State. “I’ve never been around a team that is anxious to grow and learn even from wins. Talk about being a tough team and there are moments last year when I felt like these guys needed to bang at practice and we probably weren’t as excited to bang at practice. Now I put them in spiders one day and they ask why we aren’t in shoulder pads, and I think that speaks to their toughness.”
And whether it’s through his motivational speeches or how he’s established a curriculum of offseason “get real” sessions that push players to discuss topics and goals outside of football, everyone from Nix to Stein to wide receiver Troy Franklin credit Lanning for establishing said connection.
“Dan’s an innovator,” Stein said. “He’s got a lot of swag and a lot of confidence and it’s due to his preparation.”
Lanning’s self-assuredness has always been part of his coaching journey. His own backstory includes a 13-hour drive from Missouri, where he was a high school special teams/defensive backs/wide receivers coach, to Pittsburgh just to create an opportunity for himself. He had heard about a potential opening at Pitt and, though he hadn’t heard back despite sending countless emails to the staff, Lanning decided to make sure he had every chance to secure what was eventually a defensive quality control position by going the extra mile. Or the extra 710 miles.
Since then, Lanning has held every position from graduate assistant to recruiting coordinator to defensive backs coach, linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Power 5 programs like Alabama, Georgia, Memphis and Arizona State. It’s all prepared him for the job he’s doing now, which Stein aptly describes as the CEO of the program.
“The way that he oversees the entire program and that he has his hands on everything when it comes to facilities, when it comes to NIL, when it comes to offense, defense, special teams, I mean, he’s involved in every little detail,” Stein said. “But he also empowers all of us coaches to be innovative and to step outside the box and to keep growing and he encourages that, so he’s been really easy to work for.”
It goes beyond bulletin board material or catchy slogans. Lanning’s approach runs throughout his staff, which leans heavily on younger individuals, too. Both of Lanning’s top assistants are in their 30s and no coach on staff is older than 50.
Perhaps it’s his age, or his experience having had many jobs in the sport, but Lanning appears to be keenly aware of where, when and how he needs help as a head coach. Coming from Georgia, where his focus was defense, there were questions about how the Ducks’ offense would take shape under his tenure. In the Pac-12, with its talented quarterbacks and high-scoring offenses, a strong offensive system and a prolific quarterback are prerequisites to succeed. So, Lanning first brought then-Florida State offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham and his former quarterback at Auburn Nix on board. Under Lanning, the two reignited Nix’s career, then Stein continued the work once Dillingham left to be the head coach at Arizona State. The Oregon offense hasn’t missed a beat; it’s the top-ranked unit in the nation.
For as much as Oregon’s brand has been about offense in the past, it has not been a one-dimensional team. In fact, according to ESPN’s SP+ rankings, only Georgia, Michigan and Florida State have a combined offense-defense ranking that’s better than the Ducks.
Yet despite the dominant wins as of late and the impressive numbers across the board, Washington still looms. Lanning is 0-2 against the Huskies so far, with both results separated by only a field goal. One more loss and it’ll start to feel like Kalen DeBoer’s team is the first-time head coach’s kryptonite. And, as Stein and Nix will emphasize, Lanning hates losing.
“He’s one of the more competitive human beings I’ve ever been around in my entire life,” Stein said. “I’ve golfed with Dan multiple times. He might not be the best, but he wants to win. You play cornhole with him, shoot basketball, whatever it is. He’s a guy that wants to win.”
Whether or not Oregon overcomes its Washington hump and advances into the College Football Playoff, Lanning is determined to continue building — using everything in his power to combine toughness with plenty of flash and confidence, as Oregon transitions to the Big Ten not wanting to give up any of its success and momentum in the process.
But for now, the future can wait. Said Lanning last Friday, “We still have some unfinished business.”
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David Schoenfield
Relief pitchers tend to be a need for teams around MLB’s trade deadline as contenders gear up to make an October run — and 2025 was no different. The New York Yankees added a trio of relievers in David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Camilo Doval from the San Francisco Giants and Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies to help a bullpen that had posted a 4.89 ERA over the previous two months.
The three relievers debuted last Friday — and delivered a disaster of “Cutthroat Island” proportions against the Miami Marlins. The Yankees were up 6-0 early and then 9-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning — in which the Marlins scored six runs — and New York eventually lost 13-12. The newcomers combined to allow nine runs, with Doval blowing the save when he allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth (with the help of an error from Jose Caballero, also a trade deadline acquisition).
The Yankees weren’t the only team to load up on relievers. The New York Mets traded for Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. The Detroit Tigers acquired Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero and Paul Sewald. The Chicago Cubs picked up Andrew Kittredge, Taylor Rogers and swingman Michael Soroka. And, of course, there were the blockbuster deals for two of the best closers in the game with the Philadelphia Phillies acquiring Jhoan Duran (as well as signing free agent David Robertson) and the San Diego Padres trading for Mason Miller.
The question then: How much does loading up on relievers at the deadline help? Relievers, after all, can be extremely volatile. They might pitch just 20 innings the rest of the regular season, and it only takes a couple of bad outings in high-leverage moments — see Bird’s initial results with the Yankees — to nullify a bunch of good outings.
These moves are not just about getting to the postseason, but also winning once you’re there, as bullpens are used more often in the playoffs than in the regular season. Over the past four postseasons, relievers accounted for 50% of all innings. Last year, it was nearly 52%, compared with 41.2% in the regular season. The Los Angeles Dodgers, with an injury-riddled rotation last year, relied heavily on their bullpen, the relievers accounting for 58% of the team’s playoff innings en route to a World Series title. And every team would love to replicate what the Houston Astros did in winning the World Series in 2022 when their bullpen dominated the postseason with a 0.83 ERA.
We went back to 2018 to see how teams that loaded up on relievers, as the Yankees and Mets did, or added an elite closer, as the Phillies and Padres did, have performed. Have such moves paid off? Let’s find out.
2024 Padres
Added: Tanner Scott, Jason Adam, Bryan Hoeing
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.07 | After July 31: 3.19
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 59-51 (.537) | After July 31: 34-18 (.654)
The Padres acquired Scott, the player every club wanted, plus Adam, maybe the second-best reliever to change teams. They had already started to surge, winning nine of 10 games through July 31, and then 10 of 12 immediately after the deadline, going from a crowded wild-card race to comfortably leading the pack with a much-improved bullpen the rest of the season. Though the Dodgers still won the NL West, the teams met in the NLDS, and the Padres took the series lead only to get shut out in the final two games, making it clear that a great bullpen won’t matter if you can’t score runs.
2024 Mets
Added: Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Huascar Brazoban
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.05 | After July 31: 3.99
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 57-51 (.528) | After July 31: 32-22 (.593)
Like the Padres, the Mets played better the final two months after the deadline — although it wasn’t really because of the bullpen additions. Maton was the only one of the three to make an impact, posting a 2.51 ERA in 31 appearances. He hit the wall in the postseason, however, and though the Mets reached the NL Championship Series, the bullpen had a 5.56 ERA in the playoffs, including 6.75 in the NLCS.
Additions: Aroldis Chapman, Chris Stratton
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.83 | After July 31: 4.67
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 60-46 (.566) | After July 31: 26-23 (.531)
There isn’t really a team that qualifies as “loading up” on relievers in 2023, but let’s use the Rangers to illustrate a point. They had a bad bullpen through July (27th in the majors in ERA) and a bad bullpen after July (23rd). Their closer for most of the year had been Will Smith, but Jose Leclerc was closing by October. Chapman had six holds in the playoffs, but the reliever who closed out the World Series was Josh Sborz, who had a 5.50 ERA in the regular season. He got hot at the right time, however, and allowed just one run in 12 postseason innings. Certainly, getting more good relievers improves your odds of success, but any bullpen can get hot for a month.
2022 Padres
Addition: Josh Hader
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 3.94 | After July 31: 3.47
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 57-46 (.554) | After July 31: 31-27 (.534)
The Padres acquired Hader and Juan Soto at the deadline, but they weren’t any better the rest of the way (actually, considering the deadline that year was Aug. 2, the Padres were just 31-30 with both Hader and Soto). Hader had a 7.31 ERA in 19 appearances with the Padres, blowing two of his nine save chances and losing another game. They beat the Mets and Dodgers in the playoffs to reach the NLCS but lost to the Phillies in five games. The Padres led 3-2 in the eighth inning of Game 5 when Bryce Harper hit the series-winning two-run home run — off Robert Suarez. Hader pitched only one inning in the series.
2021 Astros
Additions: Kendall Graveman, Phil Maton, Yimi Garcia, Rafael Montero
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.08 | After July 31: 3.89
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 64-41 (.610) | After July 31: 31-26 (.544)
Graveman was the big acquisition, as he had an 0.82 ERA with the Seattle Mariners. He wasn’t as good with Houston (3.13 ERA), although he had a strong postseason with two runs in 11 innings as the Astros reached the World Series (losing to the Braves in six games). The offense was the main reason for the World Series loss, twice getting shut out — in part due to a mediocre Atlanta bullpen getting hot at the right time, similar to the Rangers two years later.
Additions: Adam Cimber, Trevor Richards, Brad Hand, Joakim Soria
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.01 | After July 31: 4.21
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 53-48 (.525) | After July 31: 38-23 (.623)
The Blue Jays played much better after the deadline, but Cimber was the only impact acquisition, posting a 1.69 ERA in 39 appearances. Hand went 0-2 with a 7.27 ERA in 11 games and was put on waivers, and Soria pitched in just 10 games, allowing seven runs in eight innings. Though the Blue Jays won 12 out of 13 to begin September, they ended up missing the playoffs by one win — going 3-9 in extra-inning games along the way.
Additions: Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Chris Martin
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.14 | After July 31: 4.26
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 64-45 (.587) | After July 31: 33-22 (.600)
The Braves picked up three pretty good relievers here. Greene had 1.18 ERA with the Tigers and was an All-Star. Melancon had a 3.50 ERA with the Giants, and Martin had a 3.08 ERA with the Rangers (those were solid ERAs in 2019 — the year of the juiced ball). Greene saw his ERA climb to over 4.00 with the Braves, while Melancon took over as the closer and went 11-for-11 in save chances. The Braves lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the NLDS, with Melancon allowing four runs in the ninth inning to lose Game 1 and Greene blowing a lead in the eighth inning of Game 4 (with starter Julio Teheran getting the loss in the 10th inning).
2019 Cubs
Additions: Craig Kimbrel, Derek Holland, David Phelps, Brad Wieck
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 4.17 | After July 31: 3.65
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 57-50 (.533) | After July 31: 27-28 (.491)
Kimbrel was a late free agent signing, but we’ll include him as he made his season debut in late June. He wasn’t good, going 0-4 with a 6.53 ERA, and the Cubs collapsed late in September with a nine-game losing streak and missed the playoffs. That was mostly due to the offense, but Kimbrel lost two games down the stretch while Phelps and Wieck each lost one.
Additions: Daniel Hudson, Fernando Rodney, Hunter Strickland, Roenis Elias
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 5.96 | After July 31: 5.11
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 57-51 (.528) | After July 31: 36-18 (.667)
This barely qualifies as loading up, as Strickland and Elias were low-impact acquisitions while Rodney was signed as a free agent after the A’s released him. Indeed, in retrospect, it’s hard to believe the Nationals didn’t do more to fortify a bullpen that had the worst ERA in the majors as of July 31 and wasn’t much better the rest of the way. It didn’t matter though. Hudson pitched great (3-0, 1.44 ERA, six saves) and was the only reliable reliever along with Sean Doolittle, but manager Dave Martinez used starters Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin at various times in relief in the postseason, and the Nationals won the World Series — with Hudson closing it out.
2018 Astros
Additions: Roberto Osuna, Ryan Pressly
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 3.18 | After July 31: 2.77
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 68-41 (.624) | After July 31: 35-18 (.660)
The Astros had the third-best bullpen ERA at the trade deadline but made two deals anyway. Osuna was a controversial acquisition because he was just finishing a 75-game suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. Ken Giles and Hector Rondon shared closer duties, but Giles (who went to Toronto in the Osuna deal) had struggled the previous postseason and Rondon was a little shaky. Osuna became the closer, and Pressly posted an 0.77 ERA the rest of the way. The Astros won 103 games but lost to the 108-win Red Sox in the ALCS.
Additions: Brad Ziegler, Jake Diekman, Matt Andriese
Bullpen ERA: Through July 31: 3.03 | After July 31: 4.63
Team W-L record: Through July 31: 60-49 (.550) | After July 31: 22-31 (.415)
The Diamondbacks led the NL West by a half-game over the Dodgers and Rockies on July 31 — thanks in part to owning the second-best bullpen ERA in the majors. Leading the way were Andrew Chafin (1.67 ERA), T.J. McFarland (1.72), Yoshihisa Hirano (2.33), Archie Bradley (3.02) and closer Brad Boxberger (3.49, 25 saves). Perhaps sensing this group was over its head, the Diamondbacks added help — but the bullpen collapsed anyway. Ziegler, Diekman and Andriese went 1-5 with a 6.55 ERA, while the others all saw their ERAs rise. Arizona finished 82-80 and missed the playoffs.
So, are there any takeaways?
Bottom line: Bullpens are forever unpredictable, which means anything can happen over the next two months for the teams that hoped to make upgrades. Bullpens are even more unpredictable in October, when the limited number of games and extra days off means any pen can get hot — see Atlanta in 2021 and Texas in 2023 — and even great relievers can have a couple of bad games that might cost a team a playoff series. And if your offense doesn’t score runs, your top relievers won’t get to close out leads anyway.
It’s all about improving your odds, adding depth and giving your manager more options (and not wearing down your best relievers down the stretch).
The Padres already had the lowest bullpen ERA in the majors this season before adding Miller and seem like a club that could pull off a 2022 Astros-like run to a World Series title (a team that had the best bullpen in the regular season). The Mets added a strong group of setup men in front of ace closer Edwin Diaz, turning a potential weakness into what looks like a strength. The Tigers’ pen ranks 19th in ERA and 28th in strikeout rate. We’ll see if their additions can make an impact. The Phillies might finally have the lights-out closer they’ve needed in Duran, and maybe he can close out playoff games, which Craig Kimbrel and Jeff Hoffman failed to do the past two postseasons. The Milwaukee Brewers didn’t make any significant additions and rank just in the middle of the pack in bullpen ERA, but their high-leverage relievers — Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Nick Mears, Aaron Ashby — have been excellent. We’ll see if that’s enough.
And the Yankees? The bullpen looks good on paper — and, hey, it could get hot at the right time in the playoffs. If the Yankees even get in.
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Andrea Adelson
BATON ROUGE, La. — Doug Nussmeier rarely gets days like this one anymore, hanging around a college football field, watching his sons Garrett and Colton soft toss the ball to each other. Garrett has been at LSU, trying to lead the Tigers on a title run. Colton has been in Texas, where he has developed into an ESPN Junior 300 prospect as one of the top quarterbacks in the country, with offers from LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and many others.
Doug has been in the NFL as an assistant coach, living apart from his family the past two years so Colton could finish out his high school career.
But on this day in June, they are all together at the LSU elite summer camp. Doug Nussmeier smiles big. He decided to leave the Philadelphia Eagles and take the offensive coordinator job with the Saints earlier this year. Now, all he needs to do to visit his older son is hop in his car and drive for an hour or so.
The family calls this a “full circle moment.”
Doug started his NFL career as a quarterback with the Saints in New Orleans. He met his wife, Christi, in New Orleans. He won a Super Bowl in the Superdome. Christi, a Louisiana native, instilled a love for her home state in her kids, a love that not only led Garrett to LSU but kept him there for five years. Now here they are, Doug, Garrett and Colton, all back in Louisiana on a swampy hot summer day.
Doug stands off to the side, watching, not coaching. Though he played quarterback, he never put pressure on his sons to play the position. But they wanted to be just like him. His No. 13 jersey and all.
“He was my idol growing up,” Garrett says. “He’s the most influential person in my career.”
Through backyard drills and days spent breaking down tape, through 12 moves to follow Doug on his coaching journey, Garrett soaked up knowledge, learned how to deal with change as a constant, spent time on different campuses, in different stadiums — every moment leading to the one he faces now in his fifth and final season with the Tigers. His mother inspired his love for LSU and his dad inspired his obsession with the quarterback position.
They both led him here, to the biggest year of his life.
CHRISTI NUSSMEIER WOULD have been perfectly happy if her sons hadn’t become quarterbacks. But looking back, it does seem like they were always on the path to running an offense. When Christi says her sons were born with a football in their hands, she means it almost literally. After Garrett was born in 2002, she chose a Sports Illustrated-themed birth announcement. In the photo, Garrett snuggles a football.
Garrett’s earliest football memories start at age 6, when he asked his dad to throw with him in their backyard in Seattle. The warmup Doug showed him is the one Garrett still uses before every practice and game, focusing on flexibility first before moving into segments that isolate different parts of the throwing motion.
At every college stop they made, Garrett observed the quarterbacks: Drew Stanton at Michigan State, Jake Locker at Washington, A.J. McCarron at Alabama. Garrett saw the way each player led his team not only in games but at practices. He watched the way they interacted with their teammates. He sometimes sat in the room with them to break down tape.
“I was subconsciously just learning things without actually knowing what I was learning,” Garrett says. “As I got older, I started to realize, ‘Hey, OK, that’s what they were doing.'”
From there, Garrett steadily improved and kept his eyes focused on getting a college scholarship, then eventually playing in the NFL. Garrett was smaller for a quarterback at 6-foot-1, and his parents had no idea where he might end up. But they encouraged him to keep pushing forward, and Doug provided feedback whenever Garrett asked.
“I was hoping that as he started to grow into his middle school years, maybe he’ll be good enough to be a starter on his high school team. And then if he’s that, well, then maybe that opens the door for him to have the opportunity to play at a small school or someplace,” Doug says.
Doug had taken an assistant coaching job with the Cowboys in 2018, so the Nussmeiers moved to the Dallas area, where Garrett would play high school football. Christi remembers one moment early in Garrett’s high school career that changed everything.
“Garrett made some moves, and I just remember my face going, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and I looked at Doug. We both looked at each other,” Christi says. “We knew Garrett was talented, and we knew he was special, but I asked Doug, ‘That’s not normal, is it?’ And Doug said, ‘No.'”
Adds Doug: “He wasn’t the biggest guy, but all of a sudden, some schools started coming to see him.”
Ole Miss was the first to invite him to a football camp, then LSU invited him to campus, too. LSU held a special place in his heart. Garrett was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Christi grew up.
Christi was determined to give her three children — including daughter, Ashlynn, also an LSU student — a place they could call home, considering all the moving they did. They may have changed addresses every few years, but they would always return to Lake Charles for the holidays and summers. Christi cooked specialties from home and played zydeco music. When people asked the kids where they were from, they would answer, “Louisiana.”
“Lake Charles was the only place that was constant my life,” Garrett says. “When you only live somewhere at the longest three years, you’re just spinning around, and so Louisiana was just always my home. When I came on my first visit here, I just knew this is where I want to be.”
Garrett loved then-coach Ed Orgeron, but he really wanted to play for then-offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger. He committed in 2020 as a junior. Ensminger announced his retirement later that year, but Garrett signed in 2021 anyway, as an ESPN 300 prospect and one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.
Garrett played in four games and ultimately redshirted, but midway through that freshman season, LSU announced Orgeron would not return for 2022. For months, Garrett felt uncertainty about his future and the future of the program.
Enter Brian Kelly.
ON JAN. 7, 2013, Garrett Nussmeier and Brian Kelly shared a football field for the first time. Doug was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama when the Crimson Tide played Kelly and Notre Dame in the BCS national championship game in South Florida.
Garrett, who was 10 at the time, remembers falling asleep at halftime with Alabama up 28-0. But he also remembers heading down to the field after the 42-14 victory, throwing confetti and holding the championship trophy. During a quarterback meeting their first year together, Garrett decided to have some fun. He turned to Kelly and asked, “Remember that national championship?” They had a good laugh.
But the transition to playing under Kelly wasn’t so easy.
Nussmeier thought that after his first year at LSU, he was going to be the guy at quarterback. But Kelly went into the transfer portal and brought in Jayden Daniels, who ultimately won the starting job in 2022.
“Things were a little rocky at first,” Garrett Nussmeier admits. “But as time has gone on, my relationship with Coach Kelly has just grown.”
Nussmeier had opportunities to leave through the transfer portal, especially after serving as the backup to Daniels in 2022 and 2023. But he knew what it was like to leave a place, having done it so much growing up. He knew how hard it was to start over, make new friends, go through proving himself all over again.
He watched his dad preach patience throughout his own coaching career. Maybe more than anything, Garrett felt an unwavering loyalty to the state of Louisiana and desperately wanted to bring a championship to the place he calls home.
“I just didn’t feel like my time here was done,” Nussmeier says.
“He came in built for an old-school mentality of ‘I’m going to stick it out. I’m going to work my tail off and get that opportunity,'” Kelly says. “He saw some things that we were doing in developing Jayden and getting him to be a better version of himself. He grew up loving LSU. If you add all of those things up, it wasn’t about just throwing some money at him. It had to be more than that. He is a guy that loves transformational relationships instead of transactional.”
Garrett finally got his opportunity to start last season, opening with a 300-yard passing day in a last-second loss to USC. LSU rolled to a 6-1 start, but the next three games proved to be the most humbling stretch of his career. The Tigers dropped all three — to Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida — as Nussmeier struggled to play consistently and avoid mistakes. In those three losses, he threw for five combined touchdowns and five interceptions, lost two fumbles and took 11 sacks, including a whopping seven against the Gators.
“There was a part of me that was doing too much and trying to be perfect instead of just playing football,” Nussmeier says. “There was a lot of overthinking, a lot of trying to make things happen when I didn’t need to. That was one of the biggest learning moments for me in my career.”
Indeed, both Kelly and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan say Nussmeier had to go through those moments to learn and grow. Kelly called the losses a “low point” in decision-making and managing the game.
“A lot of playing quarterback is developing some calluses, and he was able to develop some calluses, and he knows what the fire feels like,” Sloan says.
At 6-4, with a once promising season on the verge of disaster, LSU hosted Vanderbilt at home in late November. “That was a big moment for me,” Nussmeier says.
Before the game, he took a deep breath and told himself to forget about being perfect. LSU won its final three games, including a 44-31 victory over Baylor in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl. Nussmeier threw for 313 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, a game Kelly described as his best of the season.
“He didn’t take the big play as being the only play,” Kelly says. “He started to figure out that zero was OK. Once he felt that zero is OK, and I don’t have to make a play each and every down, the offense played very well.”
Doug would watch nearly every game alone in a hotel room as he prepared his own game plans for the Eagles. Sometimes he would watch on TV, sometimes on an iPad. He made sure never to overstep or question the coaching Nussmeier was getting from Kelly and Sloan.
“They have a plan, and they are working diligently to improve the things that need to be improved and strengthen the things that need to be strengthened,” Doug says.
LSU ended the season 9-4. Nussmeier had already announced he would be back for a fifth and final season. He asked his dad to handle his NIL negotiations.
WHEN BAUER SHARP came to LSU on his official visit, he went to dinner with Nussmeier and linebacker Whit Weeks. Nussmeier, Sharp says, was instrumental in helping him decide to transfer from Oklahoma to LSU.
Indeed, Nussmeier took an active role in helping LSU revamp its roster through the portal, understanding that both he and the program had championship aspirations for 2025. In addition to Sharp, LSU signed two top five wide receivers (Barion Brown and Nic Anderson) and revamped a defense that has struggled at times.
The presence of a veteran quarterback, going into his second year as a starter, proved to be a huge selling point, too.
“With him being in the offense for four years, that played a huge part in it, and just to see what type of leadership he had, and to connect with him, that was so inviting,” Sharp says. “It was so encouraging. I loved what I saw.”
Nussmeier is the rare quarterback who has stayed put. Of the Top 20 quarterbacks who signed in 2021, 14 ended up transferring. Seven are playing their fifth seasons in 2025. Of those seven, only Nussmeier and Behren Morton at Texas Tech are still playing for the teams with which they originally signed. To Garrett, the decision to play one more year was not complicated.
“When you look at the statistics of quarterbacks getting drafted high, a lot of them were fifth years,” Garrett says. “That experience matters for my position. So I think there’s a lot of value in staying.”
Kelly points to stats, too, and the way his quarterbacks play better in their final season as his starter. Daniels is the perfect example. In Year 1 under Kelly, Daniels threw for 2,913 yards and 17 touchdowns. In Year 2, Daniels threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns, en route to winning the Heisman Trophy.
“I really believe experience at that position is the most important thing,” Kelly says. “Wherever I’ve been, your last year is your best year, so the expectations are that the same will occur for Garrett.”
Indeed, early Heisman odds have Nussmeier second, right behind Texas quarterback Arch Manning. Nussmeier also is ranked as one of the top quarterback prospects for the NFL draft next season. (ESPN’s Matt Miller has him going No. 11 .)
“I definitely think he’s capable of winning a Heisman, but that trophy is based off a season,” Sloan says. “He has the talent, and we have the people around him. I just know this. He’s who we would want to be a quarterback at LSU. If we got to draft, we’d pick Garrett Nussmeier.”
Nussmeier worked this offseason to put himself in position to win a title, dropping a few pounds, adding muscle mass and working with private speed coaches in Dallas. Sloan says Nussmeier is in the best shape of his life, and that will allow him to help more in the run game. Managing the pocket, speeding up the process at the line of scrimmage and his footwork also have been a huge point of emphasis this offseason.
“When his feet are on time, and staying what I call tight and he’s not having big movements, he’s extremely accurate, and especially more and more accurate down the field,” Sloan says.
He also took more ownership of the team.
“He’s a whole different person, the way he carries himself, the way he speaks to others,” running back Caden Durham said. “We see his energy in the morning, 7 o’clock for workouts. Everybody is like, ‘We’re going to go as hard as you and even harder,’ just because he’s the leader. He’s the head honcho. This offense runs through him. So let’s go.”
Nothing about what is ahead will come as a shock. Walking into SEC stadiums with his dad prepared him for big crowds, big moments. Memories often trickle back. The first time taking the field at Baton Rouge in 2020, closing his eyes, remembering what it felt like to be inside a roaring, sold-out Death Valley. When he walked onto the field at Auburn in 2022, he turned to Sloan and Daniels, pointed to the sideline near the away team tunnel and said, “That’s where I was crying when the Kick Six happened,” remembering back to the 2013 Iron Bowl when his dad was an Alabama assistant.
The Nussmeiers call all of these moments “God winks,” each one intertwined, interconnected, preparing Garrett for the moment he has waited on since he first threw a football in the backyard with his dad.
Now with Doug just a drive away in Louisiana, the place Garrett loves more than anything, they are closer than they have been since they lived under one roof in Dallas. Christi will be able to make her way to LSU and Saints home games. Ashlynn will be there. Colton may make a trip or two depending on his schedule.
There is, of course, one way for this full circle moment to be complete: hoisting a championship trophy.
“I’ve always wanted this pressure. I’ve always wanted this expectation. I’ve always wanted people to talk about me the way that they are and have this expectation,” Nussmeier said. “It’s definitely a dream come true.
“But it’s not finished yet.”
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