8 Quotes: JaMarcus Shephard Previews Oregon State Football Ahead of Houston
August 26, 2026 | Football
Oregon State practiced Tuesday with Braden Atkinson officially in place as the Beavers' starting quarterback, head coach JaMarcus Shephard's first public confirmation of a competition that had tightened over the course of fall camp.
Shephard touched on the decision, his team's culture and the Pac-12 landscape as Oregon State continues preparations for its season opener Sept. 5 at Houston. Here are eight notable quotes from Tuesday's press conference.
On Atkinson winning the job
"When the statistics all were laid out, his numbers were just slightly a little bit better than some of the other ones. ... It was a tight race."
On Atkinson's makeup as a transfer target
"Junkie. Total football junkie. ... He wasn't worried about photo shoots, he wasn't worried about going and hanging out with the other guys, he wasn't worried about anything other than getting in the room and understanding how the offense was going to be run."
On the sideline throw to Aeryn Hampton in Saturday's scrimmage
That's a great ball. He did an outstanding job, and we've seen that often. ... This young man, he plays the quarterback position like a pro.
On what a player-led team means to him
"When you have a player-led team, those are teams that have gone to the national championship that I've been a part of. ... The more our players are reiterating, 'Hey, this is what our culture is,' the more I know, 'Hey, we're getting to the point where we're ready to play a game.'"
On stretching players mentally within the system
"We're really stretching them with what they can do mentally. ... Jeff Brohm, a coach that I love, he always said, 'Hey Coach Shephard, they can do more than you think.' And so we're really stretching these players to become fluent in what their job is at their positions."
On the Pac-12's identity heading into the season
"We're going to be the disruptive conference in college football this year, and along that journey we're going to be disrupting each other along the way. Hopefully we can disrupt some other conferences early in the season first, and then we'll go to war with one another."
On the receiver room's ceiling
"I think we have like elite potential in that wide receiver room right now. ... Those guys are going to showcase how we can create and generate those explosive plays."
On the two ranked games to open the season
"We've got two top-25 teams coming up right away, right out of the gate, I think, that are going to really test our football team and test, hey, if our culture is as strong as we think we are."
Watch the entire interview below
