The Mighty Oregon Podcast

Jessica Drummond has always felt drawn to the game of lacrosse. She picked it up with her twin sister Jana on the East Coast, in New Hampshire, before eventually making her way West to Oregon. Once in Eugene, Drummond helped usher in a successful era for the young Ducks program. Drummond knew coaching was in her future, with a return to Eugene set as the dream job. That opportunity has presented i...

When you’re weathering the storm, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For Tez Johnson, growing up in a rough part of Birmingham, Alabama was his storm. And the light at the end of that tunnel ended up being a family with roots in Auburn but ended up in Eugene. Johnson was taken in by Bo Nix’s family in high school, where the two became brothers. Nix went to Auburn before transferr...

It’s been said that in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. For proof of this statement, look no further than JJ Birden. A speedster out of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Birden ran track and field for the Ducks but wanted an opportunity to get on the football field. So he walked on…literally. How does someone with a single touchdown in his college career get drafted into the NFL? An opportunity. Bird...

You’ve heard the saying, the early bird gets the worm right? Well even as adults, that’s easier said than done. How about for an 8-year-old? You’re more likely to catch them playing a video game than hitting the court at 6 in the morning. Jackson Shelstad fell in love with the game as a young kid. Coming from West Linn, he’s been around high level basketball throughout his life…and that led him to...

Jeffrey Bassa has been a man on a mission since he arrived in Eugene. After making a name for himself in high school as the number one safety coming out of Utah in the 2020 recruiting class, Bassa enrolled at Oregon during the COVID year in college football, making the transition to the next level that much harder. Never one to make excuses and always putting the team first, Bassa made the switch...

Adversity comes in all shapes and sizes. It shows no prejudice. Hannah Pukis was shown this early, and often, in her volleyball career. Pukis has overcome multiple serious injuries during her high school and collegiate career while carving her place on the court. First at Washington State, then here at Oregon. As the Ducks are about to begin their latest playoff quest, there’s one last hurdle to c...

When you’re a kid, you dream about what you want to be when you grow up. A football player. Work for a big company. A writer. Maybe start your own business. Well, what happens when you actually grow up…and do all those things. Garren Strong knows, thanks in part to his time in Eugene, that anything is possible as long as you can dream it.  This is the Mighty Oregon podcast and this is former...

Most college students want to travel the world once they wrap up their academic career. You know, the typical tropes when it comes to sightseeing. Backpacking through Europe. Train hopping from country to country. Finding a hostel in a quiet little mountain town. For Phillipina Kyei, she took the road less traveled to get to Eugene. Born in Ghana, Kyei moved to Canada with her mother as a teenager...

Geoff Schwartz’s tenure at Oregon came during one of the most memorable times on campus in Eugene. During Schwartz’s senior season, a talented offensive mind in Chip Kelly was hired as offensive coordinator and sprinkled the seeds of what the Ducks could do on the field. Schwartz enjoyed a successful career in the NFL before transitioning into the world of media, breaking down film as only he can,...

Many children around the country vividly remember the first time they got to go to a sporting event. Walking into the stadium and seeing the field for the first time is etched in their minds forever. Bryce Boettcher can trace his first experience in Autzen Stadium to when he was 8 years old and when he first thought, “I want to do that.” A dream has turned into a reality for the three-sport star i...

Mimi Colyer has made her mark in more ways than one on the Ducks volleyball team. On the court as a freshman, Colyer led the entire NCAA in points and kills en route to helping Oregon reach the NCAA regional finals. Off the court, Mimi now looks to step into a leadership role for the Ducks, filling the shoes of the departed Brooke Nuneviller. It’s a role Colyer has embraced, and she can’t wait to...

New York City has some of the most recognizable fixtures of any city in the world. The Statue of Liberty. Central Park. The Empire State Building. Dive even further and you’ll find some of the most famous basketball courts in the world as well. Madison Square Garen and Rucker Park. So it’s tough when you’re trying to make your mark on the football field in the basketball capital of the world. Ajan...

Will Stein can trace his football journey back to grade school, where he can still recite the name of the play his dad, who coached him as a youth, would relay in. That drive as a youngster led Stein to become the quarterback at Trinity High School, one of the most established and prominent football programs in Kentucky. Undersized for a QB, Stein wasn’t highly recruited going into college. Just l...

Bo Nix has been in the spotlight since he first stepped onto a college football field. As a true freshman starting for Auburn in 2019, Nix would lead the Tigers on a game-winning drive on a national stage to open the season against the…Oregon Ducks. Circumstances would lead Nix to leave Auburn in 2022 and bring him West, to Eugene for a fresh start to his football career. Helping Oregon to a 10-wi...

Most of the students walking around campus at the University of Oregon have long known the football program as winners. A national powerhouse. Conference championships. Rose Bowls. It’s all become the norm in Eugene. But that success didn’t happen overnight. It was a long and winding road to become a destination spot in college football. A road that points back to one man. Before Lanning and Helfr...

Most of the students walking around campus at the University of Oregon have long known the football program as winners. A national powerhouse. Conference championships. Rose Bowls. It’s all become the norm in Eugene. But that success didn’t happen overnight. It was a long and winding road to becoming a college football destination spot. A road that points back to one man. Before Lanning and Helfri...

Dreams usually take a lifetime to achieve. It’s something we use to continue to push ourselves to constantly keep moving forward to reach our goals. But what happens when you reach that goal at 18? That’s where Tanner Smith found himself when he first dawned the green and yellow. Smith has not only continued to keep pushing for the betterment of himself, but also, for the betterment of the team. T...

Do it nice or do it twice. The mindset of a perfectionist can be a tortuously rewarding experience. Always giving it your best effort is something every athlete, whether amateur or professional, has been taught since they were in grade school. Having that mindset is tough in softball, when getting a hit less than half the time puts you in the record books. Allee Bunker has re-written the records d...

Adam Snyder is the definition of a grinder. Head down. Do your job. The rest will fall into place. Snyder wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. He wasn’t a top draft pick in the NFL. Even after being selected in the 3rd round of the NFL draft, he wasn’t sure if he belonged. But all that added fuel to the fire and drove Snyder to be the hardest worker in the room. After a stellar career as a...

The sentiment when it comes to kickers in football is they have the easiest job in the world. Run on the field. Kick the ball. Run back to the sidelines. Mission accomplished. Rinse. Repeat. Camden Lewis wants you to know that’s there a tad more that goes into it. A soccer goalie in high school with the nickname “Cannon” because of his leg strength, Lewis tried out for the football team and fell i...

Professional athletes are creatures of habit. The same routine day in and day out helps them block out all the noise and focus on the job at hand…winning. Tyler Anderson is a self-described tinkerer, making change in his life a part of his routine. The 20th overall pick in the 2011 MLB draft, Anderson has continued to hone his craft and makes changes all for the better. Injuries would force Anders...

Trust the process. That phrase has become a part of pop culture verbiage in the last decade, thanks in large part to the Philadelphia 76ers. At the core of the phrase is to not worry about the dark times and difficult situations because brighter days are ahead. And what better way to describe Terra McGowan’s collegiate softball career. A star high schooler on the diamond and in the classroom, McGo...

Ernie Kent made a name for himself as a player who left everything he had on the court in the late 70s with the Kamikaze Kids. Sacrificing his body for his teammates would take a toll, as injuries would cut short any pro aspirations. That wasn’t the end of Kent’s basketball journey though. Not by a long shot. In part two of my chat with Ernie, we dive into his resume as a coach, which started with...

Ernie Kent had never been west of the Mississippi River before heading to Eugene. An All-American in high school, Kent would arrive on campus not knowing much about the Ducks but could feel just how one-of-a-kind Eugene really was. Kent wanted to be apart of something special and he would find that in coach Dick Harter’s Ducks, or as their most commonly referred to, the Kamikaze Kids. In part one...

Chance Gray and Grace VanSlooten of the Ducks women’s basketball team have been on each others radar since a very young age. Gray is a product Cincinnati, Ohio and VanSlotten is from 200 miles north, in Toldeo, Ohio. That relatively close proximity lead both young ladies to playing for the same AAU team in the Buckeye state. A friendship developed that impacted each on and off the court, and ultim...