A new era of Oregon football is upon us.
The Ducks will play in a new conference in 2024 with a new starting quarterback. Among other changes, Oregon will welcome a handful of new faces in the coaching staff — while old ones will take on new roles.
It’s time to break down the names that are exiting head coach Dan Lanning’s staff and find out who’s coming in ahead of the 2024 Spring Game.
Out: Carlos Locklyn
Locklyn joined the coaching staff in January 2022, shortly after Lanning took over as head coach. He announced during spring training that he’s leaving the Ducks for Ohio State University.
Locklyn played a part in bringing in Bucky Irving from the University of Minnesota and Noah Whittington from Western Kentucky University. Jordan James, Jayden Limar and Dante Dowdell were other running backs that he helped sign. Oregon was ranked top 30 nationally in rushing yards per game in Locklyn’s two seasons. It led the Pac-12 in total rushing yards in 2023 under Locklyn’s guidance.
In: Ra’Shaad Samples
Samples will take over as running back coach following Locklyn’s departure. Samples previously served as the wide receiver coach at Arizona State in 2023. He also worked as the running back coach for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
Samples already has quite the resume at only 29 years old. He played a key role in the development of Rams’ Kyren Williams who ended up in the NFL Pro Bowl last season. He also assisted receiver Elijah Badger to an all-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Now, he’ll inherit a deep running back room.
“I think we’ve just got to continue to be detail-oriented, be detail-focused and build on our weaknesses,” Samples said at practice. “We talk about being the first ones on the field and one of the last ones off.”
Samples said that the depth of the Oregon coaching staff influenced his decision to come to Eugene. He’s expressed the desire to become a head coach somewhere in the future.
Out: Demetrice Martin
Like Locklyn, the Ducks will see Martin on the opposite sidelines in 2024. Martin is departing for Michigan State University after two seasons as the cornerbacks coach.
Martin coached five different Pac-12 programs throughout the years. He coached Evan Williams, Khyree Jackson and 2023 NFL first rounder Christian Gonzalez at Oregon. Ultimately, he left the Ducks for the same position at his alma mater. Oregon has big shoes to fill since he took on the role of both cornerbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
Promoting: Rashad Wadood, Brian Michalowski and Chris Hampton
Wadood is taking on an increased role of working with the cornerbacks after Martin’s exit. He was one of the graduate assistants in 2023. Wadood first joined the staff as the director of community engagement in 2022. He worked with the cornerbacks last season but will take on a bigger role with the unit.
Hampton spent last season as the safeties coach, but will have an expanded role coaching all the defensive backs. He entered the program in 2023 after a couple of years as the defensive coordinator at Tulane University. He’ll maintain his role as co-defensive coordinator for the Ducks.
Michalowski served as the defensive analyst in 2023, but was promoted to inside linebackers coach. He previously was the outside linebacker coach at Colorado for three years. Michalowski also worked with Lanning earlier in his career at a few different programs. One program that they were both graduate assistants for was ASU back when Wadood played there.
“In terms of our defensive staff chemistry, we have a lot of continuity,” Michalowski said at practice. “We worked incredibly well together last year and just really look forward to continuing that build this year with coach Tosh [Lupoi] and coach Hamp[ton] and the rest of the defensive staff.”
Other names such as former Oregon lineman Ryan Walk and defensive analyst Kamran Araghi will join the staff in graduate assistant roles. A handful of names have moved in and out of the coaching staff since Lanning took over as head coach, but he seems to only see it as a positive move forward.
“Transitions give you an opportunity to get better, right? So that’s our goal,” Lanning said after practice on April 2. “We’re gonna go get better. We’re going to bring some men in here who can do a really good job with our organization. We got a lot of young coaches right now in our organization that do an unbelievable job.”
