Ever since Dan Lanning took over the head coaching role at Oregon in 2022, he's been a quickly-rising star in the college football coaching world.
Lanning, not yet 40 years old, took on his first-ever head coaching job with the Ducks after time at Georgia, Memphis and more schools. Along his coaching journey, Lanning has had his family's support, from his three children to his wife, Sauphia.
In 2016, the Lanning family faced a challenge when Sauphia was diagnosed with cancer — which she went on to then beat, a journey her husband has helped share in the years since.
Here's what to know about Sauphia Lanning's 2016 cancer diagnosis.
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Sauphia Lanning cancer diagnosis
Dan and Sauphia Lanning have been married since 2009 after meeting in 2005, when Dan was playing college football at Missouri, per People. They both worked at the same restaurant.
“She’s done so many important things for our family to show her support, and it’s crazy to think that our journey together started about 16 years ago at Outback Steakhouse. I was a server and she was a to-go girl," Lanning said at at a 2021 press conference, per People. "And next thing you know, we’re sitting here at Oregon. But I love you, I admire your strength and I thank you."
The Lannings went on to have three sons together: Caden, Kniles and Titan.
In 2016, Sauphia Lanning was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
"May of 2016, I started to feel a little bit of discomfort in my knee. It just progressively got worse to the point it was unbearable," she told ESPN in 2024. "I really was just kind of in shock, and it was a scary thing even just telling my husband."
Dan Lanning also told ESPN in 2024 that he kept "trying to envision what my life and our kids' [lives looked] like without Sauphia and just knew that wasn't an option for us."
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What is osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcoma is a kind of cancer that begins in the cells that form bones, per Mayo Clinic. The condition most often happens in teenagers and young adults, and it can start in any bone. Most often, osteosarcoma happens in the long bones in the legs or arms.
Initial symptoms of osteosarcoma include bone or joint pain, pain related to a bone that breaks for no clear reason, or swelling near a bone. Per Mayo Clinic, it isn't clear what causes osteosarcoma, but it happens when bone cells develop changes in their DNA.
According to Cleveland Clinic, around 7 in 10 people survive if osteosarcoma doesn’t spread to other parts of their bodies. Causes may include rapid bone growth, exposure to radiation, genetic factors or bone infarction.
SN AWARDS: 2025 All-America team | Player of the Year | Coach of the Year
How Sauphia Lanning beat cancer
Sauphia Lanning has been cancer-free since 2017, when she underwent her last cancer treatment.
“I’m not a big ‘let’s come celebrate me’ type of person … I [wanted] everybody to be there and come witness what their love and their blessings and all their prayers [had achieved]," she told the Commercial Appeal in 2017. "For me it signifies God’s love for us and what the power of prayer is, what everybody’s love can do for us. It’s just amazing.”
Lanning underwent three months of chemotherapy to help shrink her tumor before surgery. After Sauphia's tumor was successfully removed, with an internal prosthetic replacing the bone she lost, she had six more months of chemotherapy before being declared cancer-free in May of 2017.
"I sat in a wheelchair and [Dan] would push me around the hospital and he would sing to me," Sauphia told ESPN in 2024. "I was so sick. I was skinny, I was bald, and he never looked at me as anything other than Sauphia."
Dan Lanning has opened up about his wife's cancer diagnosis a few times in the years since she's been cancer-free. He appeared in an ESPN "College GameDay" segment in 2024, where he shared insight into his family and Sauphia's 2016 diagnosis.
The Oregon head coach said Sauphia's journey helped him realize "I'm not going to be able to teach players how to be great fathers and husbands if I can't be a great example for them."
"The minute you realize that you're about to lose something a lot more important than football, it changed my focus," Dan Lanning said. "That was a moment that reset my life where family came first."
In 2023, Dan Lanning got a portrait of his wife, Sauphia, tattooed on his ribs that includes the names of their sons, along with a yellow cancer ribbon.
In 2025, Lanning said that his family was celebrating Sauphia being eight years cancer-free.
Also, HUGE congratulations to Sauphia Lanning, who just celebrated EIGHT years cancer free.
— Bri Amaranthus (@BriAmaranthus) May 7, 2025
Sauphia is as kind and strong as they come.#GoDucks https://t.co/SzWVcyafV7 pic.twitter.com/SI7J2r3L2j