Get to Know The Candidates Interviewing To Be Oregon State's Next Head Coach
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First reported by John Canzano, and now confirmed by additional outlets, Oregon State's search committee has begun interviewing candidates to lead the Beavers' football program. Here is a brief write-up on these coaches and their chances of earning the biggest job in Corvallis.
Paul Chryst
We wrote about former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst last week, after On3 national insider Pete Nakos name-dropped him as a target for the orange & black. The connection makes perfect sense: the only coach on Oregon State's search committee, Mike Riley, has a long history with Chryst. They worked together on Riley's San Antonio Riders World League coaching staff in 1991-92, then reunited from 1997-01 with Oregon State and the San Diego Chargers. When Riley came back to Corvallis in 2003, Chryst came with him.
In this coaching cycle, Chryst represents a return to tradition: his Pitt & Wisconsin teams aspired to the same reliance on determined, old-school, smashmouth football that defined Oregon State for decades. That philosophy had mixed-results in his prior stops. At Pitt, Chryst went 19-19 in three seasons, while at Wisconsin he went 67-26 with a pair of New Year's Six bowl appearances in eight seasons. After a rocky 2-3 start to the 2022 season, the proud Wisconsin alum was given a pink slip. Aside from a brief sabbatical at Texas through the duration of that season, he hasn't coached since.
JaMarcus Shephard
Name-dropped by John Canzano and confirmed by On3, Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard is on Oregon State's interview list. Shephard's mentors are a who's who of college football coaches: slick-talking recruiter Willie Taggart, virtuoso of the vertical offense Bobby Petrino, people person Jeff Brohm, maverick Mike Leach, and creative play designer Kalen DeBoer. At Washington, Shephard helped develop pro pass-catchers Jalen McMillan (2024 3rd round), Ja'Lynn Polk (2024 2nd round), and Rome Odunze (2024 1st round, 9th overall). At Alabama, he has worked closely with potential future first round pick Ryan Williams.
Shephard is a bit of a swiss army knife: he can recruit, call plays, coach drills, and more. To that point, the Crimson Tide ask him to wear several different hats: he's their assistant head coach, a co-offensive coordinator, and the wide receivers' coach. He's also only 42 years old, and might feel ready for a climb up the coaching ladder.
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Brent Vigen
We're playing a delicate game of connect the dots: Montana State head coach Brent Vigen was previously floated as a potential candidate by On3 & CBS Sports, and John Canzano's report offered that the Beavers requested an interview with an FCS coach. That's likely Vigen.
FCS experience defines his coaching career: after four years playing tight end at his alma mater North Dakota State, he transitioned to a coaching career in Fargo. Vigen coached tight ends in 2001, quarterbacks in 2002, running backs in 2003, then became the pass game coordinator in 2004, and the offensive coordinator in 2009. After winning three consecutive FCS national championships, Vigen joined his mentor Craig Bohl at Wyoming. Together, they worked with 2016 2nd overall pick Carson Wentz and 2018 7th overall pick Josh Allen.
In 2021, Vigen took his first head coaching job with Montana State. He's won a pair of Big Sky conference championships, and gone 56-12 in five seasons. This year's Montana State squad is 9-2 overall, 7-0 in the Big Sky, heading into a de-facto conference championship game against arch rivals Montana on Saturday. It's been previously reported that he was a leading candidate at Washington State last offseason, before contract negotiations fell apart.
Will Stein
At just 36 years old, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein is a promising young coach with a meteoric rise. Recruited to Louisville by Jeff Brohm, Stein quarterbacked the Cardinals' offense from 2008-12, then he worked under Louisville coach Charlie Strong as his quality control coach: first with his alma mater from 2013-14, then at Texas from 2015-17. In 2018, Stein started a two year stint calling plays at football factory Lake Travis HS near Austin: at one of the nation's best high school football programs, Stein tutored future Texas & Purdue quarterback Hudson Card, and Pitt & Texas State quarterback Nate Yarnell. After three years as a pass game coordinator at UTSA, Stein broke out as Kenny Dillingham's replacement at Oregon.
Over the past three seasons in Eugene, Stein has engineered successful passing offenses with three different quarterbacks (Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and Dante Moore), and worked with many moving pieces at other skill positions thanks to the transfer portal. His youth & inexperience might keep him from earning a head coaching job, but the Beavers could do a lot worse than a promising young coordinator from an elite program down Highway 99.
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Tosh Lupoi
Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi reminds me of another name linked to the Beavers: Ed Orgeron. Like Orgeron, Lupoi is an ace recruiter. Unfortunately also like Orgeron, Lupoi's career trajectory was pockmarked by impropriety: while coaching the defensive line on Steve Sarkisian's Washington staff from 2012-13, Lupoi was accused of illegally paying a recruit. After serving a suspension, Lupoi was untouchable: Sarkisian departed to USC without him, and Sarkisian's successor on Montlake Chris Petersen refused to hire him. In came Nick Saban - who connected Lupoi with eventual Oregon head coach Dan Lanning - and arguably saved the young coach's career. Together, their Crimson Tide won two national championships.
The 44-year-old is one of the sport's best recruiters, plus he has a deep network of potential assistant coaches thanks to a three year stint in the NFL. Whether he seriously considers the Oregon State opening, or uses smoke surrounding the Beavers' job as leverage for other interviews in this cycle, remains to be seen.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.