Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said former Ducks linebacker Brent Haberly “is one of those success stories.” The former walk-on from Cottage Grove, Ore. became a 12-game starter in 2005 and the heart and soul in the middle of Oregon’s defense. He started last season before suffering a broken arm against Oklahoma, the third game of the season. He was expected to miss the remainder of the year, but the determination Haberly displayed through his entire career allowed him to make a return for Oregon’s final three games.
Haberly is set to graduate with a degree in Family and Human Services.
Oregon Daily Emerald: What are your plans after graduation?
Brent Haberly: I just finished up this last Friday. I was interning at Kids Sports through my FHS (Family and Human Services) Program. I’ve been interning over there for a month. Me and some of the former Duck guys put on a football camp. That was my senior project. I’m officially pretty much done. All I have to do now is show up on graduation day. Right now, with me and football, I have an agent, and I plan on staying in shape, trying to wait it out and see if anything happens. I’ve gone to Canadian, Arena and European tryouts as well as the combine here when the NFL guys came out. We’ll see what happens with that. In the meantime, I just got a position to teach summer school at Cottage Grove High School. That will be for six weeks. I have an odd job in town. I’m going to be giving hourly football lessons. Basically when school starts, I’m going to substitute teach and probably coach eighth-grade football with my brother and dad down in Cottage Grove. And pretty much just hang out and wait to see what happens with football.
ODE: When do you expect to hear about your future in football?
BH: The Canadian League camps started this past weekend. I don’t know if they play their first game on the 15th or they make their rosters by the 15th of June. They start playing over the summer and they can sign pretty much whoever as the season goes. Except, they can only have a certain number of Americans on each team, which kind of limits what they can do. Arena, as far as when they can start adding people to their roster, is Sept. 1. And as far as Europe, you have to be allocated by an NFL team to go play over there.
ODE: What were the tryouts like?
BH: Obviously, I’m not going to go out and run a 4.4 (seconds) 40 (yard dash)… But they did one-on-ones at these combines and I got the only interception and I batted a few balls down. I played good when we played one-on-one in positions. But since I’m not a speedster, the combines don’t really benefit me because we don’t just strap it up and go play. I’m kind of at a disadvantage.
ODE: Are you pretty confident something will become available?
BH: I’m just in the situation I am as far as getting hurt. Right now, I don’t want to say it’s a shot in the dark because I played good when I played. I played good enough to get a look. We’ll just hope. If not, I’m not putting all the chips in this happening. I’ve got some other things on the side. There are opportunities I can take advantage of. We’ll see what happens. It’d be nice. I’d like to be out there one more time just to do it as a person, just to have some closure on the whole football thing. I’ve been doing it for so long. I love it.
ODE: How tough will it be if you have to give up football?
BH: I have a possibility of going into coaching. It’s depending on if I play or not. I could still stick around the game and coach. I still have some other opportunities, possibly a graduate assistant at some places. We’ll just see what happens.
ODE: Fellow linebacker Blair Phillips said you were like another coach on the field. How serious are you about coaching?
BH: My family’s background – we play football. We’re ballplayers. So I’ve got it in my blood and it’s taken me this far. Being able to play linebacker at the University of Oregon is a lot different than other places because we run everything. We run pro packages with the nine-man boxes, we run covers one through four, we run odd, nickel and dime. We run blitz packages. So I’ve ran everything. I kind of have an advantage on other guys as far as my knowledge from these coaches. I do have a lot of background and coaching will be something I would pursue if the opportunity arises. It would definitely be a career I could see myself doing.
ODE: Have you talked to Oregon coach Mike Bellotti or other schools about coaching?
BH: I haven’t talked to coach Bellotti about it, but I’ve talked to some other schools about it and I’ve got opportunities to go places. I won’t necessarily say where. But I’ve got opportunities, depending on how short lived this whole football thing lasts.
ODE: Why did you choose a Family and Human Services major?
BH: I’ve always wanted to have the teaching background. My first mentor was a teacher-coach and I’ve thought, ‘Hey, I’d love to be a teacher and have that impact on kids.’ I came to college and I’m not a math guy or a science guy. So I picked that route.
ODE: What are your feelings like as you near graduation?
BH: Well, I’ve been playing ball since I was in second grade, and I haven’t really done anything else. Just to kind of let the body heal up and not really having to do a whole lot, is going to be nice because the last five years of college, when you’re on a team, it’s year-round and it’s boot camp for half of it.
ODE: How much will you miss Oregon?
BH: I’m not going anywhere. We’ve still got our season tickets so I’m still going to be around for the games. As far as missing the college life, it’s pretty much living the dream when you’re up here playing sports. Obviously it’s going to be different getting up at seven rather than getting up every day at 10:30. It’s fun being up here. I’m glad I came here.
ODE: What is the best thing about being a student-athlete at Oregon?
BH: Where I come from, nobody likes the Beavers and the Blazers have never been good. The Ducks are the only thing that have ever been anything. We’ve worn green and yellow since we were little. That’s the one thing that’s going to kind of stick.
ODE: What will you miss most about being a student-athlete at Oregon?
BH: There’s nothing better than running out of that (Autzen Stadium) tunnel, and you can ask the 105 guys a year. When they come out of that tunnel, it’s the best feeling. I actually got to walk down the tunnel with my dad at my last home game. Coming out of the tunnel, the whole atmosphere, that’ll never be the same. That’s definitely going to be the one thing that’s going to give me chills forever.
ODE: What was the highlight of your Oregon career?
BH: Obviously when I scored that touchdown (against Arizona in 2005) that was big for the team. That obviously stands out. But I got to play in Norman (Okla.), I played at Mississippi State, El Paso (Texas) at the Sun Bowl. I got to play at Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego). I’ve played at all these places that great people have played. Being able to kind of be an elite alumni… it’s just not a chance a lot of people get.
ODE: Do you have a particular item commemorating your Oregon career?
BH: I always have a towel hanging in my room because I always swung it coming out of the tunnel. I’ve always seen the Duck guys swinging it when I was little. I always have one hanging on the door or the window sill.
ODE: When did it finally hit you that your Oregon career was over?
BH: I didn’t have to go to spring practice, and it wasn’t all that bad, to tell you the truth. It’s kind of like boot camp. To not have to go is really relaxing.
ODE: How do you hope people remember you at Oregon?
BH: I love the Ducks and I’m pretty sure that anyone who watched a game could tell that.