Brian Michalowksi's approach at linebacker fits right in with Dan Lanning's theme of doubling down for the 2025 season.
Oregon’s linebacker room carries a lot of intrigue heading into the 2025 season as Brian Michalowksi builds on a foundation of talented returners. He’s also been tasked with developing a few younger players that can step into the rotation as the Ducks head into the season-opener against Montana State.
He with with reporters on Wednesday following Oregon’s 12th practice of fall camp. Below are some of the most notable quotes from his media availability.
On Devin Jacksoncoming off an injury, how prepared he is for a bigger role
Michalowksi: “It’s a physical game. There’s gonna be injuries. That’s part of it. You gotta really coach them to handle the mental adversity of it, but see the opportunity in challenges. He’s really embraced the time he had off to focus in on the playbook, just be the best teammate he could be on the side as well. Really increase some leadership. He hasn’t missed a beat. He’s really setting himself up for a great season this year.”
On what Brayden Platt‘s done to position himself for playing time
Michalowksi: “Just attacked every single day with a growth mindset. The mentality that we have in our room, it’s gotta be with that growth mindset and you gotta be a leader. He’s just day by day come to work, really challenged himself to understand the playbook better. He’s growing a lot from a communicator, his volume. We have a saying that volume displays confidence. So just hearing out there on the sideline and hearing how he’s communicating. It’s just all the preparation. It’s the day to day and we’re year round with these guys. These guys work incredibly hard and he’s worked incredibly hard up to this point.”
On what makes Jerry Mixon ready for a bigger role
Michalowksi: “Jerry’s developed himself and he’s been very patient. But there’s no substitute for the experience he’s had the last couple years being behind the guys that he’s been behind. Lot of practice reps. He might be consistently, every camp, the highest rep count linebacker when it comes to reps out there. He does an unbelievable job staying healthy. He’s been healthy, he’s gotten a ton of reps. He had a great spring. He came out in the spring game, had a great spring game. That wasn’t a surprise to me. The development process of college football, he’s right here going into his third year in the program and it should be Jerry’s time.”
On depth of linebacker room, overall growth
Michalowksi: “The thing that take a lot of pride in is treating everyone like they could be the starter. You just develop every single guy to tink of themself 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’re building that cohesiveness, there’s gonna things that happen during the season. There’s gonna be guys that go down. There’s that saying ‘Next man up’ but truly here we are preparing that every single day that we practice in camp with how we rotate green/yellow.”
On how many linebackers he wants to rotate
Michalowksi: “It’s about who’s really ready to play in that moment. There’s some teams that play 90% of snaps with two linebackers. That hasn’t been the case since I’ve been here because Jamal Hill is an NFL linebacker. He was a rotational guy. Bryce Boettcher was in that room too. We had Jestin Jacobs. There’s been depth in that room in the past. I think if we can roll with four or five, we like to have a lot of linebackers on special teams. It’s all about how many guys we can get on the “bus” or the “plane” at our level. I’d love to travel six or seven linebackers if I could, but just prepare each one of those guys to step up in the role when the opportunity comes.”
On what gave him the confidence to stick with his guys rather than utilize transfer portal
Michalowksi: “I think it’s just the philosophy and I spoke of this in the spring. This is a position 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. We had a great signing class with those three Brayden Platt, Kamar Mothudi, Dylan Williams. They all redshirted last year. We believe in those guys. We brought ’em in here and we feel like the development has been on the upward trend with ’em. It’s just build from within philosophy. When you can do that, do it. Stick to that philosophy.”
Category: General Sports
