What We Learned From JaMarcus Shephard's First Press Conference
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At 11:30 AM, the doors of the welcome center on Reser Stadium's west side burst open. In walked Jamarcus Shephard. Previously, he was the wide receivers coach for arguably the most prestigious blue-chip college football program in all of America. Now, he was about to be introduced as the next head coach of the Oregon State Beavers.
A few minutes later, the Coastal Club upstairs on Reser's west side hosted an introductory press conference for Coach Shephard. Our own Matt Bagley was there, and shares his thoughts below.
Shephard's Character Earned Him the Job
Much has been written about the troubling saga of Oregon State cornerback Exodus Ayers, and the lack of communication from fired Oregon State coach Trent Bray. The Oregon State campus no longer supported its football team, and the Beavers' search committee coveted a coach who could put that fire out. JaMarcus Shephard is that coach. Shephard exhuded charisma, beginning his comments today with heart-warming, personal thanks to an array of onlookers: his immediate family, Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy, representatives from the search firm DHR Global, and members of Oregon State's search committee. Later, he outlined his vision for Oregon State: to "win the Pac-12 championship, and a bowl game, with integrity, class, and academic excellence".
Academic excellence isn't just a throwaway line for Shephard: he talked about attending NCAA Division III DePauw University, where athletic scholarships are not allowed, and surviving partly due to an academic scholarship awarded by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lily. Shephard would go on to further his education with a masters degree in Reaction & Sports Administration from Western Kentucky, earning a 4.0 grade-point-average, and winning awards as one of the university's top graduate students. Clearly, Oregon State valued a coach who could clean up their locker room, and they believe Shephard is the man for the job.
Shephard's Offense Will Be Balanced
While much has been said of the high-octane spread passing game that new offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen studied under Kalen DeBoer, Shephard stressed the importance of the running game at Oregon State. At multiple different times in the press conference, he emphasized that part of Oregon State's allure was its rich tradition of tough, physical rushing offenses. When asked about influences from his coaching career, Shephard cited Willie Taggart, who learned the value of a great running game from his time with Jim Harbaugh: "they run the rock, and we need to have a football team that complements one another when it comes to the run and the pass game".
Shephard Believes He Can Recruit at Oregon State
Today's formal question/answer session ran out of time, and I got cut off before getting a chance to speak. Thankfully, Shephard followed up with an additional chat with a scrum of reporters off to the side of the Coastal Club. Last week, my biggest question regarding Oregon State's process was Shephard's willingness to work in Corvallis; surely, a successful assistant coach at one of America's greatest college football programs wouldn't need to settle for a two-win team. When I asked what drew him to Oregon State, he lit up.
"I feel like Oregon State is pitted right now in the top echelon of our conference. When it [the job] came open, I looked at it and said 'thats one of those places'. I called people that I really trusted and believed, and asked 'What do you guys think about Oregon State?' and they said that's a good place to go."
He also briefly mentioned the presence of Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang, an Oregon State alum. Nvidia, a graphics chip manufacturer, is currently the world's largest company by market capitalization, and fundraisers in Oregon State's athletics department have long dreamed of a future where Huang patronizes Oregon State. While Huang has given generously to the university in the past, he has not expressed interest in athletics, and Shephard verbatim labeled Oregon State athletics as a sleeping giant if he can help win over Huang's support.
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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.