The Mighty Oregon Podcast

Toughness. Grittiness. Oregon Strong. Those are some of the words that describe Oregon great and NFL Hall of Famer Dave Wilcox. From Willow Creek, Oregon, Wilcox came from a family of athletes that realized early on that football was going to be their way to college. For Wilcox, who brought his rural, winning mentality to Eugene and helped the Ducks to their first bowl game in 47 years at the 1963...

Junior running back Travis Dye comes from a very athletic family, with football being the sport of excellence for the family. But it wasn’t always that way. And when football became the go-to sport for the family, a lightly recruited Travis decided to come to Oregon to play with his brother Troy, who was a Duck star in his own right. He excelled early in Eugene, mainly due to his desire to live in...

Johnny Johnson III is not the biggest Duck on the field. Or the fastest. But his drive to be a contributing cog in the Ducks football machine cannot be questioned. Johnson III came to Eugene as an unheralded recruit from Arizona, where he came from a big family and fell in love with the game of football. Playing time came early, and he immediately made an impact with the Ducks when he arrived on c...

When you think of the term, “American Dream”, former Duck cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and his family’s life in America fit the bill. His parents emigrated from Nigeria and gave him and his siblings a life that he continues to be thankful for. Ekpre-Olomu excelled early in sports, and his mentality and drive led him to Eugene, where he quickly became a defensive mainstay for some of Oregon’s most ta...

This week in a special episode of the Mighty Oregon Podcast presented by the Oregon Community Credit Union features starting safety Verone McKinley III interviewing starting quarterback Anthony Brown, who examines his exceptional, and sometimes devastating, experiences in college football and how he is using those experiences to help lead the Ducks in 2021. Brown began his career at Boston College...

Mike Bellotti was never afraid to seek out better ways of doing things. And although he ran his offense for 30 years, midway through his time as a coach with the Ducks, he knew something had to change. And after some research and the idea that he can always be better, Bellotti convinced his offensive staff to make that change. The Ducks offense took off, and Bellotti’s newfound offensive scheme wa...

The winds of change began blowing with Oregon football in the ’90s. Iconic new uniforms. Upgraded, functional facilities. And winning football at a historic level. Mike Bellotti helped steer the Ducks onto the national stage and watched the Oregon brand go from a regional identity to sweeping the nation and world by storm with innovation and a futuristic look. It helped that Bellotti was also putt...

If there’s anyone who had a front-row seat to the emergence of Oregon Football, look no further than former head coach Mike Bellotti. At face value, Bellotti’s Division-two resume did not look like the one that would lead the Ducks to the talk of college football. For him, it was all about doing the best he could, one day at a time. The Ducks found Bellotti, and under head coach Rich Brooks, Orego...

If we played a word association game when it comes to Oregon Football, there are plenty that comes to mind. But these two may be the words that get spoken the most: Marcus Mariota. Mariota’s foundation for his success in football came from his hard-working parents in Hawaii, who taught him and his brother to be competitive, but compassionate at the same time. After a unique recruiting process, Mar...

Is becoming only the third man in the history of the world to win back-to-back Olympic decathlon gold medals as easy as treating everything like a video game and leveling up? Or is at simple as just imitating what you see on television? For Duck track legend Ashton Eaton, it may just be. Eaton’s journey to greatness is an unlikely one. The only child of a single mom, Eaton, who grew up in LaPine,...

As his career progressed, Tinker Hatfield became known as a great shoe designer. His talent was unmistakable. More importantly, he figured out how to crack the code with some of the world’s best athletes. Michael Jordan. Andre Agassi. Roger Federer. Alex Rodriguez. All friends and clients. Hatfield made connections with the famous and well-known, but he also came to the overwhelming realization th...

Tinker Hatfield is not the designer he is with Nike today without legendary coach Bill Bowerman. He gave him a scholarship, helped him become an architect, and guided him to get into drawing and designing shoes. After a serious ankle injury sidelined Hatfield’s on-the-track career, he quickly became one of Bowerman’s most trusted testers of his new inventions. Architect's degree in hand, Hatfield...

There’s not a day that goes by that you don’t see a Tinker Hatfield creation. No matter where you are in the world, whether it’s a shoe, a shirt, or a building, Tinker is probably there with you. As overwhelming as that idea is, it’s even more improbable that the journey to become a household name in popular culture began in rural Lynn County, Oregon. Hatfield, like his father, was a three-sport a...

Oregon football strength and conditioning coordinator Aaron Feld has a mustache known around college football. What started as a way to motivate his players at the University of Georgia in their national championship run in 2017, quickly became a calling card for Feld. After an injury early in his playing career at Mississippi State, Feld found about the art of strength and conditioning, and his h...

Former Duck women’s basketball star Ruthy Hebard has quite a story. One that begins in Chicago, but plays out mostly in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Hebard was raised with two adopted black siblings and her white parents. And although she noticed her family was different, it didn’t matter to her, as she learned to love the outdoors and the Alaskan lifestyle. Hebard also began to excel on the basketbal...

Do you ever wonder to yourself if your dreams and goals are too outlandish to chase? For Duck track great Raevyn Rogers, the more outrageous, the better. The results she posted on the track at Oregon aren’t just crazy, they’re extraordinary. She’s a six-time NCAA Division I champion and ten-time All-American and played a key part in the Ducks’ Triple Crown in 2017. Her accomplishments have her in...

70 years. That’s how long Oregon Associate Athletic Director Herb Yamanaka has been involved with Oregon athletics, and the changes he has seen are not lost on the Hawaii native. Raised by his grandmother, he came to Eugene and became the first person in his family to earn a college degree. After earning a biology degree and figuring out the science world was not for him, he latched on to Oregon a...

Duck baseball player Kenyon Yovan doesn’t lack confidence. A hometown boy from Gladstone, Oregon, he used that confidence in himself to become one of the best collegiate players in the nation. Yovan’s career began at Oregon on the mound as a pitcher, and was named a Freshman All-America and was on his way, or so he thought, to a baseball career striking people out. Until the unthinkable happened,...

For many people on this planet, former Oregon football player Daryle Hawkins may have the best job in the world. Designing the Ducks’ Ohana uniform and making cool Nike products are a part of his job description. Hawkins’ eclectic upbringing in Omaha, Nebraska, helped charge his interest in sports and art, and after being recruited at the FCS level for football, Hawkins found his way to Eugene in...

New women’s basketball assistant coaches Jackie Nared Hairston and Mike Moser have come back to their home state and the University of Oregon. Nared Hairston comes back to Oregon after spending the 2017-18 season with the Ducks and recently helping the Arizona Wildcats to the NCAA Championship game. The opportunity to work with headman Kelly Graves again was too much to pass up. Moser played for h...

Oregon softball coach Melyssa Lombardi grew up in a competitive and rambunctious household with her two younger brothers. It was all she knew. Her parents also filled their household with tough love, and Lombardi used those lessons to fuel her to success and a college playing career at the University of Oklahoma. After playing with the Sooners, Lombardi latched on to coaching and was an assistant...

Brady Breeze was born to be a Duck. They were his team for as long as he can remember, and when the time came to choose a place to play football, it had to be the Ducks. In the beginning, Breeze struggled for playing time and thought about leaving. But, the man from Medford stuck it out, and Oregon fans are glad he hung around. His exploits in 2019 led the Ducks to the Pac 12 title and a Rose Bowl...

Oregon baseball coach Mark Wasikowski has seen it all on a baseball diamond- the highs and lows. And if you ask him, his ability to accept those moments come from the tough love and discipline he got from his parents. Those core lessons learned in his life helped him overcome adversity in his early college days and eventually led to winning a national championship at Pepperdine, where he was a thr...

The Hold. Extra Point Jesus. Just a couple of nicknames for a play that will be associated with Nate Costa and the annals of Oregon Football history. Oregon fans also associated Costa with a career that might’ve been. Multiple knee injuries derailed his chance to become the next great Oregon quarterback, but to Costa, it’s just part of the game. Costa’s gracious attitude has now turned to coaching...

Oregon track athlete Charlie Hunter almost quit running. The fastest Australian to ever run the indoor mile and 800 meters had lost his love of the sport. Little did he know what a journey across the world to run for the Ducks would do for him. Hunter’s engine was fine-tuned in March of 2020 when COVID-19 destroyed any goals he had at the time. It had all been taken away from him in a blink of an...