Oregon Ducks' Brian Michalowski Addresses Young Linebacker Development

EUGENE – The Oregon Ducks lost a key defensive starter and a vocal leader in the linebacker room this offseason with Jeffrey Bassa moving on to the next level.

With changes to the Ducks’ roster this fall, the 2025 season provides an opportunity for some of the program’s younger linebackers to step into a formidable role. It also allows opportunity for players who have developed with the program and waited for their turn to get a chance to shine.

Brian Michalowksi Oregon Ducks Linebackers Bryce Boettcher Gavin Nix Big Ten Cruz Rushing Fall Camp Dan Lanning Jerry Mixon — Oregon inside linebackers coach Brian Michalowski walks the field during the Ducks’ fall camp Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oregon inside linebackers coach Brian Michalowski talked about the depth the team has at the linebacker position this season and how he approaches development in a recent media session.

“Depth is really important to be a championship football team, to make those long runs and to be healthy throughout the season,” Michalowski said. “The thing that I take a lot of pride in is treating everyone like they could be the starter. I mean, there was a time that Bryce Boettcher was walk-on safety that came in a linebacker room that you know was a special teams guy sometimes, and I believed in him.”

Michalowski used Boettcher as a prime example of development in the linebacker room. Boettcher, a Eugene native, started with Oregon baseball and was a walk-on with the football team.

Boettcher earned All-Big Ten second team honors last season and won the Burlsworth Trophy for the nation’s most outstanding walk-on. He made 13 starts last season after only receiving two in 2023. Michalowski said he has the same kind of belief in players like Will Straton, Cruz Rushing and Gavin Nix when it comes to the opportunity to carve out a starting role.

“You just develop every single guy to think of themselves as a starter. We do a great job of having rotations at practice, splitting the team, green, yellow. A lot of guys get different experiences with each other, so they they're building that cohesiveness,” Michalowski said. “There's going to be things that happen during the season. There's going to be guys that go down, but there's that saying next man up.”

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Committing To Recruits

The Ducks’ linebackers coach also spoke about being all in on the program’s recruits, rather than feeling the need to go to the transfer portal to get starting linebackers.

Part of the vision for this season and beyond comes with the 2024 linebacker class. Redshirt freshmen Brayden Platt, Kamar Mothudi and Dylan Williams all received limited playing time in 2024, but Michalowski seems to believe they’ll be key pieces moving forward.

“Thus it's a position that takes a lot of experience and a lot of leadership and a lot of communication, and I think it's best to build from the bottom up,” Michalowski said.

“We feel like the development's been on the upward trend with (Platt, Mothudi and Williams). And so, it's build with from within philosophy,” Michalowski continued. “But I believe in myself as a coach and taking guys from point A to point B, believing in people, and not just saying someone's this or someone's that, it's seeing them for what they can be in their future. And so see the growth that's happening from the young guys and even the vets in the room right now, too.”

Fans may get to see some of the younger linebackers take the field when the Ducks kick off their 2025 season on Aug. 30 against Montana State.