Photo by: Karl Maasdam
Oregon State Football Opens First Fall Camp Under Head Coach JaMarcus Shephard
August 05, 2026 | Football
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State opened fall camp Wednesday, and first-year head coach JaMarcus Shephard used his post-practice press conference to lay out the foundation he wants his program built on, starting with a phrase he repeats often: how you do anything is how you do everything.
"It's about choosing progress over results," Shephard said. "Each and every day, we have to progressively get better as a football team with the small details."
"Not focusing on the results, but the process of how you would get to the results," Shephard added. "That's what we have to build within this program."
Much of that foundation, Shephard said, is being built through culture. He pointed to a recent team tradition called Tattoo Tuesday, in which players stand in front of the team and explain the meaning behind their tattoos. He singled out tight end DeCorion Temple's turn at the podium, saying Temple told "so many beautifully scripted stories" about tattoos honoring best friends, siblings and parents.
"He started to tell his why," Shephard said. "It's written all over his body."
Summer bonding trips to the Oregon coast and to the summit of Marys Peak reinforced the same idea, Shephard said, recalling players calling home in awe from above the cloud line. He was intentional about building those trips into the calendar rather than treating them as one-offs.
"You sort of want this consistency as a coach, we all sort of preach that, but these are still 18 to 22-year-old young men," Shephard said. "They'll remember them for a lifetime."
Shephard said the next layer is accountability, and it starts with the coaching staff.
"It really starts with us as coaches being consistent, never wavering, but then eventually it shifts over to the players," Shephard said. "And that's the part that we're getting there. We're not all the way there, we're getting there."
That same process-over-results philosophy showed up in how Shephard evaluated Wednesday's practice. He liked what he saw from his defense, which forced several early takeaways, and from his quarterbacks, who he said pushed throws into tighter windows than they had during spring ball without turning the ball over.
But Shephard was careful not to draw conclusions from a single day. Rather than deciding the starting quarterback job solely on feel, his staff is tracking data — turnovers, missed reads and missed assignments — during camp, and posting the results where the entire offense can see them.
"We're very, very transparent with our whole football team to the point that we put this information up in front of all of our offense so they see how it's going all throughout camp," Shephard said.
Coaches plan to sit down with players and define roles roughly two weeks before the season opener.
Shephard closed by tying the day back to the foundation metaphor he leans on, running through the small, unglamorous details — tucking in a jersey, getting a foot behind the line, showing up on time — that he believes will define the program well beyond his own tenure.
"Is your house built on sand or on rock?" he said.
Asked what he wants this season remembered for, he didn't hesitate.
"This was the foundation," he said. "I love it here. I can stay here for a very, very long time."
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"It's about choosing progress over results," Shephard said. "Each and every day, we have to progressively get better as a football team with the small details."
"Not focusing on the results, but the process of how you would get to the results," Shephard added. "That's what we have to build within this program."
Much of that foundation, Shephard said, is being built through culture. He pointed to a recent team tradition called Tattoo Tuesday, in which players stand in front of the team and explain the meaning behind their tattoos. He singled out tight end DeCorion Temple's turn at the podium, saying Temple told "so many beautifully scripted stories" about tattoos honoring best friends, siblings and parents.
"He started to tell his why," Shephard said. "It's written all over his body."
Summer bonding trips to the Oregon coast and to the summit of Marys Peak reinforced the same idea, Shephard said, recalling players calling home in awe from above the cloud line. He was intentional about building those trips into the calendar rather than treating them as one-offs.
"You sort of want this consistency as a coach, we all sort of preach that, but these are still 18 to 22-year-old young men," Shephard said. "They'll remember them for a lifetime."
Shephard said the next layer is accountability, and it starts with the coaching staff.
"It really starts with us as coaches being consistent, never wavering, but then eventually it shifts over to the players," Shephard said. "And that's the part that we're getting there. We're not all the way there, we're getting there."
That same process-over-results philosophy showed up in how Shephard evaluated Wednesday's practice. He liked what he saw from his defense, which forced several early takeaways, and from his quarterbacks, who he said pushed throws into tighter windows than they had during spring ball without turning the ball over.
But Shephard was careful not to draw conclusions from a single day. Rather than deciding the starting quarterback job solely on feel, his staff is tracking data — turnovers, missed reads and missed assignments — during camp, and posting the results where the entire offense can see them.
"We're very, very transparent with our whole football team to the point that we put this information up in front of all of our offense so they see how it's going all throughout camp," Shephard said.
Coaches plan to sit down with players and define roles roughly two weeks before the season opener.
Shephard closed by tying the day back to the foundation metaphor he leans on, running through the small, unglamorous details — tucking in a jersey, getting a foot behind the line, showing up on time — that he believes will define the program well beyond his own tenure.
"Is your house built on sand or on rock?" he said.
Asked what he wants this season remembered for, he didn't hesitate.
"This was the foundation," he said. "I love it here. I can stay here for a very, very long time."
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Players Mentioned
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