Oregon Co-Defensive Coordinator Chris Hampton on Secondary: "Sky's the limit"

Oregon’s secondary may be the biggest puzzle the coaching staff has to solve this offseason. After losing all of its starters from the 2024 season, Co-Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach Chris Hampton plenty of talent to field another great group.

He met with the media following Oregon’s fourth spring practice on Thursday. Here are some of his key quotes.

On Ole Miss transfer Jadon Canady

Hampton: “It’s been great. Jadon’s obviously a young man I had a chance to work with and coach at Tulane in ’21 and ’22. Very cerebral, high IQ, competitive, very tough. Understands the game inside and out. He’s only been here for I guess half a week now. But so far he’s looked fine. He’s obviously gotta get in better shape to practice how we’ve been practicing. Coach Love had our guys in tremendous shape. So he’s got some things to work on as far as that. Learning the scheme. But he’s been good.”

On true freshmen cornerbacks (Na’eem Offord, Dorian Brew, Brandon Finney)

Hampton: “They all fit the profile: height, weight, speed. They look the part for sure when you come out there and watch us practice. They don’t look like true freshmen. They’ve all got size. They’ve got tremendous length. Arm length. They’re as talented as they come. Obviously right now it’s new for ’em, adjusting to college. It’s still football, but the speed of the game changes. The terminology changes. The tempo of practice. All these guys are probably used to being the best player on their team. And then they’re around a bunch of good players. So that’s an adjustment for ’em. But they’ve caught on really, really fast. Brandon just got here this week. But he’s worked extremely hard at home. You can tell.”

On being around Purdue safety transfer Dillon Thieneman

Hampton: “Once you get to know him, the person is much better than the player. His attention to detail, his work ethic is like none other—anyone I’ve ever coached. The guy’s relentless in his pursuit for greatness. He’s trying to get better each and every day. He’s all about growth. Every rep, every day, every meeting. He’s a pro. The intangibles about this guy is what’s really tremendous.”

On defensive backs’ hunger for learning

Hampton: “I just think it’s kind of the standard that Coach Lanning has set here. The way we take notes is different than any place I’ve ever been. And I’ve been involved in college football since 2004 when I played at South Carolina. I never took notes. That’s probably why I was an average player. But these guys now take elite notes. I’ve learned that from being here. It’s the way you take notes. They take notes like the coaches do. Everyone falls in place. It’s part of the culture.”

On what he’s seen from Ify Obidegwu

Hampton: “Ify’s a really competitive player man. Competitive, tough, loves the game. Doesn’t say a whole bunch. Just kind of laid-back demeanor and does his job consistently. And that’s the thing that you love about him man. He’s got long arms, tremendous wingspan, gets his hands on guys. He’s physical. He has the right mentality and mindset too. He’s made of the right stuff and I think that he’s gonna have a really bright future here at Oregon.”

On young safeties

Hampton: “I love ’em. I really do. I think we got a really really good group. They’re young, they haven’t played. Me and Connor Boyd were talking, we think we’re pretty good at safety. They’re growing the right way. Last year they were true freshmen. You’ve got Trey McNutt right now, who’s probably ahead of where those guys were last year at this time. He’s not ahead of them now, not yet, but he’s going in the right place. I think we got a good group. They gotta continue to get better, gotta continue to grow, but after four practices—and I think they’re hungry to play. They are. They didn’t play a whole bunch last year and now it’s their time.”

On where Peyton Woodyard is at now compared to last year when he arrived

Hampton: “Night and day. He was a guy that wasn’t here last spring. So he didn’t have the spring with us. He got here in late June, so he was a little bit behind as far as how much football he had missed with us. But it’s a night and day difference from where he was last year. So I think he’s got a bright future with us.”

On Jahlil Florence, expectations for him this spring

Hampton: “He’s rolling right now. He’s trying to get better. Is he exactly where you want him to be at? No. But nobody is right now. But he’s practicing. He’s not limited in reps. He’s taking every rep. He’s getting better and better each and every day. He looks better this week than he did before spring break. Like it’s tremendous difference. I think with confidence and reps he’s gonna be back to the player he once was.”

On what the secondary is capable of with cornerbacks that have more prototypical size

Hampton: “I think that’s why you recruit. I think we’ve done a tremendous job here recruiting. Our recruiting staff: Marshall, Tyler Dean, Brian Bachman, all those guys have done a tremendous job of identifying guys that fit the profile that’ll help us get to where we want to go. And I think now we’ve got a group of guys that we’ve recruited that look the way—that fit the height, weight, speed profile that you would want. And I think the guys we had last year were tremendous players. Love ’em all. These guys are young, they don’t have as much experience as the guys last year, but they’re bigger. But talent doesn’t always win. And that’s the big piece that we’re preaching to the guys now. It’s not about the talent that you have. I was reading a book from John Calipari. He talked about he had all these five-star players, maybe ten of them got drafted and they didn’t win a national championship. They were the most talented team, but talent doesn’t always win. It’s about applying the talent and going in the right direction. That’s kind of what we’re trying to get done now. Learning the fundamentals, playing with elite technique. Understanding my assignment, my alignment, my keys. And going from there. I think the sky’s the limit. I really do. How soon can we get there, that’s the challenge.”