Canzano: Waking up to Oregon State football

Exclusive access with JaMarcus Shephard.

JaMarcus Shephard met me before sunrise in Corvallis. (Photo: Naji Saker)

CORVALLIS — JaMarcus Shephard apparently has a beef with the elevator. He won’t allow his players to use the one inside at the Valley Football Center. He insists his Oregon State football players instead use the winding staircase in the main lobby.

“We will always use the stairs,” Oregon State’s football coach said. “As long as I’m here, we’ll take no shortcuts.”

The Beavers opened Fall Camp on Wednesday. Players reported for morning meetings. Coaches showed up early, too. But Shephard arrived at 4:15 a.m. in an otherwise dark and empty parking lot.

I met him there for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what happens in the hours before his first official practice. I drove to the parking lot, where I found Shephard on his bicycle, waiting. And so what does happen for a first-time coach in the hours before the storm called “Day 1”?

Sweat, it turns out.

Also, some deep thinking.

Shephard took the road bike his wife bought him on an 11-mile jaunt around Corvallis as the sun rose. For 38 minutes, he pedaled through a small town that was barely waking up, and hardly aware he was out there. He’s a first-time, first-year head football coach working in a new conference, for a new athletic director.

At one point, Shephard pedaled parallel to the Willamette River, just a couple of blocks from the main downtown artery known as Third Street.

“I ride right into the heart of downtown and straight up the main drag,” he told me.

JaMarcus Shephard and his team on Wednesday. (Photos: Naji Saker)

Shephard granted me unprecedented access on Wednesday. He shared his private thoughts, fears, and hopes hours before taking the field for the first regular practice as head coach at OSU. He was candid, outspoken, and filled with energy. If anything has changed at Oregon State in front of this football season, it’s the buzz around the program. Shephard’s brought it with him.

There are some big questions in front of his inaugural season, too.

As in, who is going to start for the Beavers at quarterback?

“Shoot,” he joked. “One of the five of ‘em that are here. I dunno. One of the five. I don’t think any of our receivers can play quarterback right now or any of our offensive linemen.”

What keeps him up at night?

“Nothing,” Shephard said.

Then, he paused.

“My wife’s happiness,” he continued. “My kids’ happiness.”

Shephard grew up amid poverty in Northeast Indiana. The Fort Wayne School District bused him across town to Jefferson Middle School, and he’d look out the bus windows at the affluent neighborhoods on his way to campus.

He sat in the big chair on Wednesday at Oregon State University. He’s the head football coach. The program is his. Some pressure comes with that. And while I don’t know how many games the Beavers will actually win this season (four? six?), the intrigue feels worthwhile.

I sat in on a special teams meeting on Wednesday morning. Remember when the Beavers couldn’t snap the ball or make a field goal last season? Shephard’s special teams coach — Ricky Brumfield — has spent time at eight different college programs and has 11 years of experience with the NFL.

Brumfield shouted: “I hope you all woke up and chose violence. I really don’t give a damn if we’re in helmets, shoulder pads, or whatever it is; what do we have?!?”

“Violence!” his special teams players crowed.

Shephard sat along one side of the room, taking notes and nodding.

One of the most telling parts of the morning came in the minutes just before Shephard walked onto the field for the first time. He retreated to the coaching locker room for a quick moment. I went in with him. As we walked out to the field, he turned to me, remembering our first phone conversation months earlier.

He was just a candidate for the job back then. Shephard called me a week before his formal interview. I told him Oregon State would have questions about his ability to act like a CEO. That Trent Bray’s clunky approach had probably scarred the hiring committee.

I also warned Shephard that his athletic director at the time — Scott Barnes — wasn’t likely to be around by the time he coached his first game. Barnes was squeezed out and left his position just three months after hiring Shephard.

Shephard told me on Wednesday that he asked Barnes about his potential departure during the interview.

“He gave a good answer,” Shephard said.

The video is worth your time:

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