Oregon Ducks 'Relentless' Linebackers: Injury Update, Turnovers Focus

Oregon Ducks linebackers are gearing up for a collision course. After seven days of fall camp practice, the linebacker room seems poised to unleash havoc on opposing Big Ten offenses. With a scrimmage on Saturday, linebacker coach Brian Michalowski is instilling a mentality of relentless aggression and turnover creation in the linebacker room.

Oregon Ducks inside linebacker coach Brian Michalowski meets woth the media following day seven of Fall Camp / Olivia Cleary

EUGENE- Oregon Ducks Inside linebackers coach Brian Michalowski, a long-time collaborator with head coach Dan Lanning (both served as graduate assistants at Arizona State in 2012 and reunited at Georgia in 2018), is emphasizing muscle memory through repetition within his linebacker room.

Following day seven of Oregon football’s fall camp, Michalowski highlighted the unit's growing pressure on the offense, increased focus on turnovers, communication, and tenacity. As the Ducks prepare for their first scrimmage on Saturday, the linebackers are aiming for a relentless style of play. Michalowski also discussed the progress of key players Dylan Williams, Jerry Mixon, and Jestin Jacobs, who has made a full recovery from injury. 

Oregon inside linebacker Jestin Jacobs and outside linebacker Blake Purchase sack Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward as the No. 9 Oregon Ducks host Washington State Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Here are some key quotes from Coach Michalowski following day seven of Oregon’s Fall Camp:  

Michalowski on the linebacker room:  

We're flying around. We're playing with relentless effort. We're playing we're doing a really good job attacking the ball." 

Michalowski on the linebacker room’s focus:  

“Something that we're extremely emphasizing right now is how we can get more turnovers on defense, all the linebackers doing a good job punching out the football." 

Michalowski on the importance of repetition and muscle memory: 

There's repetitions you know, that's going to create the muscle memory for us coaches to know what to expect from them on game day, and that's going to give them the confidence to execute on game day." 

Michalowski on Jestin Jacobs:

“He's playing extremely physical and he's doing a great job communicating as well." 

Michalowski on the mentality of the linebacker room:  

"The game really slows down for guys when they see it and they know thy job, you know they there's a there's a quote, know thyself, Know thy enemy. It always starts with knowing your job and knowing your responsibility, and then when you really tap into that, you can really hone into what the opponent's doing." 

Michalowski on Coach Dan Lanning:  

“I've seen his journey. I've seen how hard he works. I know the expectations that he puts on himself. You know those expectations are the same that I put on myself, and I'm trying to match it or exceed it, which is very difficult because he's very elite in what he does." 

Michalowski on the linebackers' values: 

 "It's relentless effort. It's our guys flying around to the football. It's us getting takeaways and being aggressive, attacking the ball. And it's being a great teammate, power of unit, and in the linebacker room, it's being a great communicator, getting the defense aligned." 

Michalowski on Dylan Williams:  

“Dylan's doing a tremendous job. Really spends a lot of extra time with me learning the playbook. Has some really good, natural movements that we saw in the recruiting process, and to see him in person here has been really exciting for us." 

Michalowski on Dylan Williams:  

“He's sudden, he's quick, he's violent. He plays with a tenacity to them, and I'm excited about how that development process will go." 

Michalowski on linebackers' success: 

 "It starts with just understanding their playbook and understanding when they get out there, how they see the formations, how they communicate in really, real live action." 

Michalowski on Jerry Mixon:  

“Jerry came a couple practices in his spring ball last year. So, I mean, he was really throwing the fire, so he didn't know much when he came in here, you know, got some game action last year. Really had a desire to play last year as a true freshman." 

Michalowski on Jerry Mixon: 

"He has that switch. He has that switch when he gets on the field. He's, you know, he's the alpha you know, he's the alpha dog when he's on the field." 

Michalowski on his coaching philosophy: 

“Just always key in coaching is just understanding who these young men are, who these men are individually. and really understanding, you know who they are, and meeting them meeting them where they're at and where they're comfortable." 

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