Ducks Digest

Who is Brian Michalowski? Getting to Know Oregon's New Inside Linebackers Coach

Brian Michalowski stays in the Pac-12 with his new coaching job on Dan Lanning's staff.

Max Torres

In this story:

The Oregon Ducks made two new coaching additions on Monday, announcing the hires of Mike Cavanaugh and Brian Michalowski. 

Cavanaugh has just about as much experience as you'll find anywhere in the country coaching the offensive line, and he'll be another great mentor for new offensive line coach A'lique Terry.

Brian Michalowski arrives in Eugene to take over the inside linebackers, a position that was coached primarily by Jake Long last season before he rejoined the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff this off-season. 

Let's take a closer look at Michalowski's coaching background and what he brings to the table.

Pac-12 Experience

Michalowski doesn't have to travel far for new job. After spending the 2022 season working as a defensive quality control analyst at Oregon State, he'll head about 45 minutes south down the I-5 to Eugene. 

Defense has been a crucial part of Jonathan Smith's turnaround in Corvallis and Michalowski worked with Omar Speights and Jack Colletto, some of the best linebackers in the Pac-12 last year. 

He also spent time coaching the outside linebackers at Colorado, working with players like Carson Wells, who earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors in 2020 and Davion Taylor who was selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Recruiting Upside 

Michalowski was ranked inside the top 15 Pac-12 recruiters while he was at Colorado. He helped the Buffs land Jason Harris in 2020, a 6-foot-7 athletic edge rusher out of Arizona.

He also spent time at Georgia in 2018 as a defensive analyst. He may not have been out on the recruiting like assistant coaches, but he was there with Kirby Smart, sitting in on meetings and soaking up knowledge while learning the blueprint for the now back-to-back national champions. 

It's not far fetched to think Michalowski could become an elite recruiter in Eugene. We've seen it with coaches that come to Oregon before. Once they have that Nike brand and Oregon O behind them, they can really step into their own as recruiters.

READ MORE: Oregon's offensive recruiting needs in 2024

Arizona Ties

Oregon's new inside linebackers coach was originally born in Morristown, New Jersey but moved to Arizona when he was young and graduated high school from Notre Dame in Scottsdale. 

He was on staff at Arizona State from 2012 to 2017, serving in a variety of roles including defensive graduate assistant and defensive quality control. Dan Lanning was a graduate assistant with the Sun Devils in 2012 before becoming the on-campus recruiting coordinator in 2013. 

The Ducks have made Arizona a clear priority with Lanning at the helm, whether it's on the staff or on the roster. Oregon assistant quarterbacks coach Jordan Somerville and defensive analyst Kamran Araghi both hail from Arizona and the Ducks signed three recruits from the state in 2023 in CB Cole Martin (Basha HS), DL My'Keil Gardner (Liberty HS) and DL A'Mauri Washington (Chandler HS).

The Lanning Connection

As noted above, Michalowski spent the 2018 season at Georgia as a defensive quality control assistant, when Dan Lanning was coaching the outside linebackers on the Bulldogs staff. 

Prior to that the two coached together with the Memphis Tigers during the 2016 and 2017 seasons when Lanning served as inside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator while Michalowski was a defensive graduate assistant. 

German Football League

It may not be the NFL, but it's still professional football. Michalowski spent the 2014 season with the Cologne Falcons as the defensive coordinator. 

With him leading the defense the Falcons improved in every defensive statistical category from the previous year, ranking third in the GFL in pass defense and turnover margin, fourth in interceptions, and sixth in total defense and scoring defense.

READ MORE: Falcons release former Oregon QB Marcus Mariota

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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