College football: 5 head coaches who could be the next Nick Saban

4. Dan Lanning, Oregon

One of the coaches who was mentioned among the candidates for the Alabama job when Nick Saban retired was Dan Lanning and I honestly thought it would have been a perfect fit.

The Alabama job requires a coach who can recruit at a high level and who has a history of success on the field. Lanning might not have had the adequate experience necessary, but I have no doubts that he would have had plenty of success in Tuscaloosa judging by his short time in Oregon. He's been killing it in Eugene and that won't stop any time soon.

Heck, if Kalen DeBoer doesn't work out there, I can see Lanning being the top option to replace him.

Lanning is one of the youngest coaches in college football at just 37 years old and he already has a 22-5 record at a major program in his first job as a head coach. Obviously it wouldn't quite be the same path that Nick Saban took as he started out at Toledo and then Michigan State before going to LSU and then the NFL and then Alabama but it's still impressive to see how quickly he's risen in the ranks.

The third-year Oregon coach has all the tools necessary to become one of the best the sport has to offer and if he's already winning big this early in his coaching career, I can only assume that's going to get better.

Lanning truly has the potential to be a top 2-3 coach in the sport for decades.