Glen Lanham has been involved in the sport of wrestling for over 40 years. He started his wrestling career at Lindenhurst Junior High under the guidance of Larry Buzzerio. After eighth grade, he was moved up to the varsity team by Hall of Fame coach Paul Brodmerkel. His wrestling career blossomed under Hall of Fame coach Joe Russo, where he was a two-time league champion. In addition, Lanham was also a New York freestyle and Greco- Roman Champion, triple crown winner, and a Junior National finalist. 

After high school, Lanham went to the University of Tennessee on a full wrestling scholarship. At Tennessee, he was coached by Hall of Fame and Olympic wrestler Gray Simons. Lanham became a two-time Midwest Regional Champion, two-time Outstanding Midwest Regional wrestler and an NCAA Division I All-American while compiling a record of 66-18.

When Tennessee dropped their wrestling program, Lanham finished his wrestling career at Oklahoma State University under the guidance of Hall of Fame and Olympic coach Joe Seay, where he was a team captain with Olympic and World champion John Smith. Lanham was a Big Eight finalist and became an All-American for the second time with a record of 38-6-1, putting him 10th on the All-time single-season winning record list. He was also a Freestyle All-American and training partner with Olympic gold medalist Kenny Monday for the Sunkist Wrestling Club. 

Once his wrestling career was over, he began his coaching career at Oklahoma State, where the team won two NCAA and three Big Eight team titles. After three years at Oklahoma State, Lanham spent seven years coaching at Midwest City High School where he coached 14 individual state champions. He left Midwest City for a coaching job at North Carolina where he coached four Atlantic Coast Conference individual champions and won two ACC team championships, while coaching Evan Sola to an All-American finish. He also coached at Purdue where he had a Top Five finish in the Big Ten Championships and two Top 15 ranked recruiting classes with a Top 25 team finish. 

Presently he is at Duke University where he has had two Top 25 team finishes, the best in program history. He has coached five ACC Champions, three All-Americans, and 28 Academic All-Americans, the most in program history. Lanham coached Conner Hartmann, who was a three-time All-American, a two-time ACC Champion, and a four-time NCAA qualifier; Jacob Kasper, who was a two-time All-American, an ACC Champion and a three-time NCAA qualifier; and Mitch Finesilver, who was an All-American and ACC Champion and a four-time NCAA qualifier.