Football Practice Report: April 17
By Rob Moseley and Andy McNamara
UO Athletic Communications
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
Former UO linebacker Kwame Agyeman is back on the Ducks’ sideline as of this spring, in a graduate assistant coach position. Anybody who knew Agyeman during his playing days would be completely unsurprised by this development, though Agyeman himself was late to acknowledge his professional destiny.
An 18-game starter for the Ducks from 2004-07, Agyeman was dubbed “Coach Kwame” by teammates for the way he pushed them to do the right thing. That meant on the field – knowing their assignments and hustling through the end of plays – and off the field – going to class and such.
In high school, Agyeman won a leadership award three years straight with the basketball team, even though he was far from a star player. Despite all that, though, when Agyeman stayed in Eugene to finish school after his eligibility was up, he had no designs on a coaching career.
That changed in the summer of 2009, when Agyeman was asked to participate in an Oregon football camp. “Taking a group of guys who didn’t know each other, having success, seeing kids succeed off what I taught them, I thought, ‘This is what I need to be doing,’” Agyeman said Thursday from the office in the Hatfield-Dowling Complex that he shares with other GAs. “This is what my passion is.”
Agyeman worked the next fall as a volunteer locally at Thurston High, in neighboring Springfield. He returned home to his native Illinois, to work at his alma mater, Lake Park High, and then made the jump to Northwestern as a recruiting assistant and quality control staffer.
A year ago, Agyeman visited Eugene to impress upon Oregon coaches how much he’d like to work with the Ducks, and learn the 3-4 defense they’d transitioned to since he left. When former GA Mike Keldorf’s three-year tenure ended, Agyeman wanted the position. “It would mean a lot to come back here, and continue building something you helped start,” he said.
Agyeman broke in with the Ducks as a true freshman in 2004, the last time the program had a losing record. He started nine times in 2006 – the troubling Las Vegas Bowl season – and finished his career with eight starts in 2007, when Oregon football got back on track.
That was Chip Kelly’s first season on the UO staff, and Agyeman said the defense could see signs of what was to come. “Maybe a week into practice we all kind of said to each other, ‘That’s the guy that’s going to take us to the next level,’” Agyeman recalled. “You had a sense with the way he prepared the guys, his way of thinking, he was going to take us to the next level. It was cool to see that materialize in the years after.”
Now that he’s back on staff, Agyeman has assumed Keldorf’s role with the inside linebackers under their position coach, UO defensive coordinator Don Pellum. Agyeman was recruited to Oregon by Pellum, and played under him with the Ducks.
Now, he’s back at Oregon working under his old position coach. “I know this position – him getting the defensive coordinator role – it was something he worked really hard for,” Agyeman said. “So I know what this opportunity means for him, and it means that much more to be able to do a good job for him.”
Highlights: Taylor Alie had one of the nicest completions of the day, hitting Dwayne Stanford in stride as he split two defenders with a pass that traveled between 45 and 50 yards down field during 11-on-11. ... Later in the period Tui Talia shook his blocker and stuffed a running back for a loss. Talia was the first man to the ball on the next play as well, making a tackle after a short gain. ... Byron Marshall showed off his speed after hauling in a quick out from Jeff Lockie. Marshall put on the brakes along the sideline before bursting past a pair of would be tacklers for a long touchdown. ... The defense got the better of things during the day's final period, where the offense had three downs to make a first. The offense failed to move the bail on its first two series before Morgan Mahalak and Stanford hooked up on a third-down pass play just beyond the first-down marker. Jimmie Swain deflected a pass on the first play of the next series, caught it and ran it back for a "pick-6”. The fifth series also went to the defense and featured true freshman Canton Kaumatule batting down a ball in the backfield. The offense converted its final chance thanks to an 8-yard run through traffiic by Thomas Tyner.
Other observations: Young quarterbacks Mahalak and Travis Jonsen both looked poised and comfortable during a Red Zone drill pitting two receivers against a pair of defensive backs. Mahalak appears to be driving the ball to his targets with more zip this spring, while Jonsen has taken visible strides from his first college football practice a few weeks ago to what was No. 9 today. ... Several U.S. war veterans representing the Central Oregon chapter of "Band of Brothers" were in attendance and broke the final team huddle. Players spent time chatting with them after meeting with their position groups at the end of practice.
