Oregon Star Brandon Finney Jr. Speaks to His Growth Before Fall Camp

Oregon Ducks cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. appeared at Oregon’s media day on Monday ahead of the Ducks’ fall camp. After a breakout freshman year, Finney enters the 2026 season as one of the top players in the Oregon secondary.

See what the Ducks star had to say about his offseason and long term goals.

On His Routine

Oregon Ducks brandon finney jr. eugene autzen stadium media day big ten conference college football 2026 season. — Oregon defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. celebrates an interception as the Oregon Ducks take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

"Yeah, really just creating a routine. Staying consistent with it. I feel like last year, I feel like I just need to lear from last year with my mistakes from last year and what I did good last year, so, really just creating a routine surrounding that," Finney Jr. said.

On Implementing What He Learned Into This Season

"I feel like the main thing from last year was experience, like you said, from experience as you get outcomes, like outcomes from a game whether it's good or bad I feel like I'm able to learn and now I'm able to implement what I learned into this season," Finney Jr. said.

On Oregon's Self-Awareness

"Yeah, I feel like Oregon is a very self-aware program. So after every game last year, the first thing we would do was watch film, see what you could do better, and also we will go over last season, obviously in the winter—this program being self-aware is obviously one of the benefits that even when I was looking to come to the school I didn't really know about, but it's an amazing benefit," Finney Jr. said.

On National Championship Goals

"Yeah I mean, we view that as a telescope. Right now we are worried about fall camp, so the only thing I'm really worried about is fall camp. I'm really anxious about a national championship and I'm trying to worry about this practice coming up on Wednesday," Finney Jr. said.

On Changes From 2025 Fall Camp to 2026

"Yeah, personally, it's a lot more confidence because I know the playbook, I know the scheme and now I'm trying to move around and play different positions so I can have more impact on the game. But I'm just overall excited for fall camp," Finney Jr. said.

On Being More Known Nationally

"I mean when you say known, and there's obviously a lot more cameras, but it's not really something that you're worried about, I mean, it's the same sport it's the same stuff that I love it's just 'how am I progressing? How can I make myself better?'," Finney Jr. said.

On Changing His Running Mechanics

"There has been a lot of people that I was able to work around this offseason as far as my bio mechanics and what not, but it's really just changing because I'm a long strider, they call it a bounder. So I just had to trying to fix some stuff about my run so it would be more efficient. Obviously playing DB we have to get in and out of the brakes faster," Finney Jr. said.

On Setting Goals Being a Key Part of His Work

"Yeah feel like goal setting is something that every athlete should have and do have. If you look at Michael Jordan and LeBron James, they set goals so like if you don't set goals at some point, you're just doing it and it becomes stagnant. I feel like goals gives you some type of motivation for you to look at every single day even if it's not motivation and it's something that allows you to stay consistent at every day," Finney Jr. said.

On Some of His Goal Setting This Summer

"A daily goal that I would say is like recurring and one that I did especially this summer, was just setting standards of what I should do every single day. Like working on my breaks every day for a week so I kind of just cycled it through that whether it's breaks, tackling, or press. So it would be stuff like that as far as goals it would be like a goal weight that I want to be at, goals for speed or MPH that I want to hit. Same with workouts and things like that," Finney Jr. said.

On Going Against the Oregon Wide Receivers

"It actually helps a lot because you'll go up against all of the receivers in practice and everything happens fast because they are really good and they're really shifty. They are getting coached by Coach Doug, and he is giving them the tools and what not. Then you will go over a break and go against other receivers, and it's just not the same. It's crazy," Finney Jr. said.

On the Team Giving Back

"Yeah, I feel like we are a team that has been given so much so we're looking to give a lot back. I mean, we got guys like JMAC and Jamari. They all had kids camps so it's like we always want to get back to the community that has already given so much to us," Finney Jr. said.

On the Defensive Back Room

"What excites me the most is being able to connect with these guys even more. Because last year as a freshman, I was just trying to know what you're doing, but I feel like with all of us having experience we should have more chemistry and it should make it easier to push us once we know each other more too," Finney Jr. said.

On Learning the New Defense

"Yeah, our defense, we really wanna be known as a prominent defense, and I feel like Coach Hamp is doing an amazing job of teaching us the scheme. I picked it up a lot easier than I was able to last year, and he has a lot of new things in terms of his coverage that he is doing, so, yeah I am excited," Finney Jr. said.

On Carl Williams IV

"Yeah, I feel like Carl is a very committed guy to his process, and he is really smart too. I man, he is a guy that you'll see in the film room and he is writing stuff down from the white board, and it is a whole bunch of stuff, so, yeah," Finney Jr. said.

On What He Wants the Team to Be in One Word

"I would say consistent. I would say consistent because we want to be consistent through the first to the fourth quarter, and spring to winter through our work," Finney Jr.

On His Long Term Goal

"Man, I want to win a national championship but that starts with fall camp, and it starts come Week 1 against Boise State. So, that is all that I am really worried about right now, Finney Jr. said.

On Making a Big Play

"I would like to lay the wood, yeah," Finney Jr. said.

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