Oregon Ducks Ra'Shaad Samples 'Loves' Being With The Ducks

Oregon Ducks On SI

Oregon Ducks Ra'Shaad Samples Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach  says "I love it here" When Talking About Being With The Ducks

Transcript

00:00What drew you to Makai in the first place,

00:05and what have you seen from him here at these first nine practices?

00:09Just the physical runner he is, his ability to break tackles,

00:13his contact balance.

00:15He's a striker and pass pro.

00:17He's contact initiation.

00:19And obviously, his productivity in a really good league

00:23and against really good talent.

00:25And, I mean, he's shown the same thing here, right?

00:28Every day he's getting comfortable.

00:30He's getting more and more comfortable with the playbook.

00:33You can see some of his natural ability coming out

00:35as he's starting to play faster and think less.

00:39What a really eventful offseason for you.

00:41Obviously, the interest from Dallas.

00:42What was the process like for you

00:44and kind of why you chose to come back to Oregon for more year?

00:48Yeah, man, it's always awesome to be wanted

00:51and to be looked at in high regard.

00:54Dallas is my hometown, right?

00:55So, it's a place that that's why it's consideration.

00:59It was consideration, my family, my friends.

01:02And so, it was awesome, man, going through the process,

01:05interviewing, getting to talk ball with those guys.

01:07But at the end of the day, my heart was at Oregon.

01:12I love being here, love coaching my guys.

01:14And, you know, I felt like this is the right place

01:16for my career right now.

01:17Obviously, I have some goals and aspirations,

01:19want to be a head coach sometime in the future.

01:21And I think, you know, the ability to learn from Dan,

01:24how Dan has took me under his wing,

01:26and just getting more and more comfortable with him,

01:29learning what he wants, learning how he thinks,

01:31learning how he sees things.

01:33Some of the opportunity he gave me during bowl prep,

01:38during playoff prep, to, you know, kind of just be around him

01:42and see his day-to-day is just invaluable experience

01:45that I don't think I'm going to get anywhere else.

01:46And just working for Dan and the staff we have

01:49is what kept me here.

01:52Sure.

01:53I'm just wondering kind of broadly with your group,

01:54what are some, maybe some superlatives,

01:56what are some attributes that stand out with this group

01:57and kind of what do you make of what you have?

02:00Yeah, man, this group is dynamic, right?

02:03Like, you go out there, I mean, you got so many dynamic runners

02:08that are dynamic for different reasons.

02:10You know, lateral ability and Jay Harris is explosive

02:14and Jayden Lamar has long speed.

02:17And, I mean, you can just go down the line with every single guy.

02:20There's different reasons why these guys can just rattle off

02:2320, 30, 40-yard runs.

02:25And they're going to do it in all different ways.

02:27And, you know, they all kind of weirdly complement each other.

02:31And so, man, it's probably one of the most talented running back rooms

02:34I've ever been a part of.

02:37Yeah.

02:37Watching them on film and getting to actually coach guys

02:41is a little bit different.

02:43What's your impression so far of Jordan and De'Aaron

02:45and just the opportunity they're going to have at your position group,

02:49whether it's now or down the road?

02:52Yeah, the cool thing about these young guys this year

02:55is their ability to learn and just how much they love football.

02:59Like, De'Aaron's here every morning at 6.15, 6 a.m. meeting,

03:04learning the playbook.

03:05Obviously, he got here after Jordan.

03:07Jordan is like he's a football whiz, man.

03:10I mean, he understands the game at a level that, you know,

03:13see many young guys understand the game at.

03:16And just the ability that they have

03:21and the way they've been able to go through the maturation process

03:25is like, man, these guys are going to have an opportunity to contribute

03:29and be ready to contribute early on.

03:31And so, man, bro, when you talk about those young guys,

03:34they love ball.

03:36And it's cool to have young guys around who, like, really love ball,

03:39who are excited to hit the field every day, and they are.

03:42Thanks.

03:42When we were talking with Noah earlier in the spring,

03:47asking about the comp to Daryl Henderson,

03:49and besides stature, and obviously that you and Locke coached both of them,

03:53do you see any comps in their games, the way that they play,

03:57the way that they prep,

03:58and for a guy of his stature to hopefully make the league a year from now,

04:02how he'll be able to do that or not?

04:04Yeah.

04:05There's a lot of – I can definitely see that comp.

04:08I think Daryl was a little bit thicker, but, like, probably in college,

04:10I think he kind of got a little bigger as he got to the league,

04:14and I think Noah will also get a little bit more size.

04:17But, you know, you talk about that straight line speed,

04:20the ability to go from speed to power, especially for a little guy.

04:23I mean, you watch some of those runs Noah had last year,

04:26and his contact initiation, he's running through guys' faces.

04:29And so, like, when a guy – when a small guy comes up on you that fast

04:34and he's that level – there's that level of violence there,

04:38I think there's some similarities there.

04:40I think there's some similarities in the ability of open field running

04:43and creativity in the open field.

04:46I think Daryl and Noah both have that.

04:47And then I think their biggest comparison is their ability to play as a third down

04:51back, out the backfield lineup at slot, do some things.

04:54We did some things with Daryl where we treated him as a slot

04:57or a third receiver and drifted him out and lining him up

05:01and splitting him out and run routes against backers

05:03and even putting him out wide.

05:05And I think Noah has all that ability also.

05:09Here's how Dink has come along this year

05:12and kind of what he's – how he's matured and grown in this offense.

05:16Yeah, Dink has grown up.

05:18He's definitely grown up.

05:20He's matured in the offense.

05:21He looks comfortable, right?

05:22That second half of the season, Dink really started to get comfortable.

05:26And I know you guys saw him rattle off a couple of runs, man.

05:29It's just – it's been consistent.

05:31Like, he shows up every day.

05:33He's the same person.

05:35He's natural.

05:37He's a really, really natural runner.

05:39I mean, it doesn't take much for him.

05:40It isn't hard for him.

05:41He makes it look really easy.

05:43So, I think he's going to be a person that can impact the offense in the future.

05:50Sure.

05:51Rashad, just kind of hearing you talk about how everybody complements each other well,

05:53and obviously you're really high on a lot of these guys.

05:56You guys have kind of historically played two to three backs.

05:58Is this a room where you could see that number grow, do you think?

06:00Or kind of what's your assessment on how many you could use in this offense?

06:03Yeah, I'm going to try to figure out if I can call the NCAA

06:06and see if we can play with two footballs.

06:10Yeah, we've got to find ways to get these guys the ball, and that's my job.

06:13And it's a hard job.

06:14It's a good problem to have, right?

06:15It's to have a lot of good guys that you want to get the ball to in different ways.

06:18So, yeah, I think you can expect to see multiple guys playing a little bit more.

06:25Guys are excited in that right now.

06:27I'm in the wrong place.

06:31Can you detail and expound a bit about your connection with Ross going back to Elite 11

06:36and how you guys crossed paths both then and then later on in the NFL?

06:40That's some good research right there.

06:42Back to Elite 11.

06:43Yeah, me and Ross graduated in the same class.

06:47So, funny story.

06:48Yeah, we went high school together, Elite 11.

06:51I think we did a couple camps together.

06:53We knew each other then.

06:54And then, funny enough, when I got the job for the Rams, funny story, he texted me.

07:01He's like, hey, man, I think I'm the youngest coach in the league,

07:05and I think you're the second youngest coach in the league.

07:07Man, we need to continue our relationship.

07:10And I was like, oh, man, I remember you, and this, that.

07:13And we talked on the phone for a little bit, and then I hung up,

07:16and I Googled his birthday.

07:18His birthday is actually seven days before mine.

07:20So, I texted him back and said, I think you got it wrong.

07:22I think I'm the youngest guy.

07:24You're the second.

07:26So, man, me and Ross go way back.

07:28When we were both in the league, man, we used to spend actually,

07:30we used to talk on the phone for hours about our experiences as young coaches

07:34and how to grow, and Ross was my – he helped me out at the last coaches

07:41association, National Coaches Association, like go through my skills and drills.

07:46So, like Ross is somebody I have a prior relationship to.

07:49He was somebody that we've kind of grown in this business as of lately, you know,

07:54starting when we was in the NFL together and talked a bunch.

07:57And, like, when he was interviewing for the job, he called me,

08:00and he was just like, Sam, we got to get there together.

08:03Like, I want to be there with you.

08:05Like, this is going to be awesome.

08:07And so, man, it's a blessing to get to work with Ross

08:09and just add him to a bunch of people that I've worked with

08:12and known for my entire life.

08:14One more, Zach.

08:16Just building on that, what's it been like now having him here with you

08:20for the past, you know, couple months and actually getting to work with him

08:23and after you guys talked about it so long?

08:25Yeah, it's awesome.

08:26Like, I mean, I hang out with Ross all the time.

08:28I mean, his office, he's in mine.

08:30He was in my office yesterday for about two, three hours,

08:33and we're just chopping it up, watching film together,

08:35talking receiver play together.

08:36We both coach receivers.

08:38We both always talk receivers before this,

08:41and now to be in the same building doing that

08:42and then sharing running back input.

08:45When we come here, we both draw up, actually get on the board

08:47and draw up plays against.

08:49He draws up an offense.

08:50I'll draw up a defense, and then we'll just go back and forth.

08:54Man, it's been awesome.

08:55And honestly, it's been awesome with the whole staff.

08:59Like, been knowing Stein, we GA'd together, or he was a GA,

09:02and I was an analyst at Texas.

09:04And, I mean, working with him, I was Drew's GA at the time.

09:08And, man, a league, man, it's been amazing.

09:12You know, we got a really good staff.

09:14So.

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