Who is Dan Lanning's wife, Sauphia? What we know about Oregon head coach's better half

After an impressive 2022 season, Dan Lanning has continued to impress in his second season as Oregon's head coach. The Ducks have won all their three games of the season so far and are set for a crucial conference matchup against Colorado in the coming weekend.

Lanning's wife, Sauphia Lanning, has always supported him. The two got married in 2009 after dating for a couple of years. The couple's marriage, which has spanned for almost over a decade, has given them three children: Caden, Kniles and Titan.

Lanning had a tattoo of his wife inked on his ribs earlier this year. The tattoo has the names of his sons as well as various symbols that represent the colleges he has worked in.

Where did Dan Lanning meet Sauphia Vorngsam?

Dan Lanning met Sauphia Vorngsam at Outback Steakhouse in Liberty, Missouri, in 2005. Dan was working as a server at the restaurant, while Sauphia was a student at the Northwest Missouri State University.

During his first press conference as the head coach of Oregon, Lanning explained how he met Sauphia and how she has been his strength and support through the years:

“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. And next thing you know, we’re sitting here in Oregon. But I love you, I admire your strength and I thank you.”

Sauphia Lanning was diagnosed with cancer

Sauphia Lanning was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2016. The doctors had discovered a tumor the size of a golf ball in her leg. This is a rare and aggressive type of bone cancer that impacts less than 20,000 individuals in the United States annually.

Lanning recalled the event, which happened when he was in Memphis, which reshaped his life completely and made him look at things differently from then on. Before the 2022 college football season, he had said,

"Once I got to Memphis, my wife was diagnosed with cancer, and it really reshaped my entire ‘why’. Now, I want to be a guy that helps people. We are not here just to have championship football players, we are here to create championship fathers, championship husbands."

Battling cancer, Sauphia had to undergo regular chemotherapy treatments. Her husband prioritized his family's well-being, sometimes missing football meetings and practices to be by her side. In 2017, she was declared cancer-free.