Who Is Dan Lanning's Wife? All About Sauphia Lanning

Dan Lanning has been married to his wife Sauphia Lanning since 2009.

The football coach, who has led the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon since 2022, first met Sauphia in 2005 while he was playing college football at Missouri, and both worked at the same butcher shop. Four years later they got married and since then had three sons: Caden, Kniles and Titan.

Sauphia has supported Dan throughout his coaching career and he has supported her over the years, including when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.

In 2023, Dan honored his wife with a tattoo of her portrait on his chest. The ink also includes their sons’ names, the area code of the greater Kansas City, Missouri area they are both from, a boomerang for the Outback Steakhouse where they first met, and a yellow ribbon for Sauphia’s cancer.

He calls her his “rock,” but who is Dan Lanning’s wife? Here’s everything you need to know about Sauphia Lanning and her relationship with the soccer coach.

Sauphia grew up in Missouri

Dan Lanning and his wife Sauphia pose on the University of Georgia football field.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

Sauphia was born in Kansas City in 1987 and later attended North Kansas City High School. After graduating, she studied for a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations at Northwest Missouri State University from 2005 to 2009, according to her LinkedIn profile.

While studying, Sauphia was involved with KNWT TV, the university’s student TV station, as well as local magazines. She was also a permanent assistant from 2007 to 2009.

Dan and Sauphia first met in 2005

Dan and Sauphia Lanning in Arizona in February 2018.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

Dan and Sauphia met in 2005 at a steakhouse in Liberty, Mo., when he was playing college football at William Jewell College and she was studying at Northwest Missouri State University.

Dan said at the 2021 press conference: “I want to thank my wife Sauphia, my rock. It’s hard for you to understand the sacrifices your family has to deal with in the coaching world. And Sauphia was our head coach at home for so long, and she wore so many hats.

“She has done so many important things for our family to show her support, and it’s crazy to think that our journey together began about 16 years ago at Outback Steakhouse. I was the server and she was the girl to go. And the next thing you know, we’re sitting here in Oregon. But I love you, I admire your strength and I thank you,” he said.

Dan’s childhood friend Logan Minnick recounted Oregonian 2022, “It was pretty clear that when she came from Maryville, she would get there and we wouldn’t see Dan again until she left. That’s when we knew he must be in love.”

Dan and Sauphia got married in 2009

Dan and Sauphia are celebrating Easter 2020.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

Sauphia married Dan on October 17, 2009 in Richmond, Mo. The day before the wedding, the couple went to watch a school football game instead of hosting a rehearsal dinner, po Oregonian.

Dan celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in 2021 with an Instagram post featuring two photos of the couple with their three children. In it, he called Sauphia his “beautiful wife”.

Sauphia has three children with Dan

Dan Lanning and his wife Sauphia with their children Caden, Kniles and Titan on Easter Sunday 2023.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

Dan and Sauphia have three sons together: Caden, Kniles and Titan.

The couple is often photographed with their children and celebrates Dan’s career together. In 2018, Sauphia and her sons surprised Dan by spending another day with him in Georgia.

“My wife and boys surprised me and stayed in Athens for another day, so we ate at our favorite place!” Dan wrote in the post.

Sauphia works in marketing

Dan Lanning, wife Sauphia and their children attend a University of Georgia football game.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

According to Sauphia’s LinkedIn profile, she has been working as a marketing coordinator at H&R Block since 2014. She says her specialties are media planning, photography, marketing communications, marketing strategy and research, advertising campaigns and graphic design.

Before that, from 2009 to 2010, she worked as a teaching assistant in the Park Hill School District in Missouri.

Dan supported Sauphia during her cancer

Dan and Sauphia Lanning enjoy a night out in Memphis, TN in 2016.

Dan Lanning/ Instagram

Sauphija was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in 2016, and was last treated in 2017.

She said Commercial appeal“I’m not a big ‘let’s celebrate me’ kind of person… me [wanted] all to be there and come to witness their love and their blessings and all their prayers [had achieved]. For me, it signifies God’s love for us and the power of prayer, what everyone’s love can do for us. It’s just amazing.”

In October 2024, Dan, who supported her and put his career aside, said to Sports Illustrated about the impact of his wife’s cancer.

“All of us are really ambitious, and sometimes we’re just not patient enough to realize how blessed we are to be exactly where we are. I’ve learned to really enjoy my blessings,” he said. “Wherever I am, I enjoy the experience and understand that I can affect people, the people I’m around and the people who affect me, it’s been really rewarding.”

Sauphia contributed Dan’s team uniform

Sauphia Lanning and her sons visit husband and father Dan Lanning at the University of Oregon football training camp.

Sauphia Lanning/ Instagram

The Oregon Ducks wore uniforms designed by Sauphia and her children that represent different forms of cancer.

Dan said at the press conference that Nike contacted him and Sauphia about making the uniform. “I know it was really important to my wife that it was something that really honored all forms of cancer and the people who are surrounded by it,” he said.

Sauphia has always supported Dan in his career

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning celebrates with his family after a 31-7 win over the Oregon State Beavers at Autzen Stadium on November 24, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon.

Getty

Dan told ESPN College game day that his wife supported him earlier in his career when he was “selfish,” saying, “I was really, really selfish early in my career, and I think Sauphia knew my dreams and aspirations, but they were probably just my dreams and aspirations, and she was like joining me to chase them.”

Although Sauphia doesn’t have much of a social media presence and keeps her Instagram account private, she often posts about her husband on X (formerly Twitter) and re-shares Oregon Ducks posts.

In February 2024, she posted a photo of herself with Dan and their kids at a game night with the caption: “I like it better when I’m with you. I am grateful to be surrounded by love, always and forever.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education