Oregon to hire former Pac-12 coordinator to off-field role

Oregon is bringing a former Pac-12 assistant to its coaching staff — and it’s a familiar face.

The Ducks are hiring former Washington defensive coordinator and interim head coach Bob Gregory as an analyst, sources told On3’s Matt Zenitz. Gregory spent the last eight seasons with the Huskies, starting as linebackers coach before moving up to defensive coordinator.

Gregory has a wealth of experience in the coaching ranks. He started in 1987 as the defensive backs coach at Washington University in Missouri before becoming a graduate assistant at Oregon from 1989-90. After a stint at Willamatte, he returned to Oregon as defensive backs coach from 1998-2000.

Gregory headed to Boise State as defensive coordinator in 2001 before spending the next seven years as Cal’s defensive coordinator. He returned to Boise as linebackers coach from 2010-13 before heading to Washington.

After Washington fired coach Jimmy Lake, Gregory took over in the interim. The Huskies went 0-3 to close out the season and hired Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State as head coach.

Former Oregon four-star defensive back commits to Pac-12 rival

Oregon lost one of their highly recruited defensive backs to the transfer portal this offseason, and his new home will be with a Pac-12 rival. Jaylin Davies announced that he had committed to UCLA on Monday, leaving Oregon after a freshman season that saw him appear in just one game.

In a bit of surprising news for Ducks fans. Davies’ decision to leave for UCLA seems to have stemmed from their recent coaching change. With former head coach Mario Cristobal leaving for Miami, Davies’ claims his initial reason for coming to Oregon changed as well.

“I’m very excited to be a Bruin,” Davies said, via 247Sports. “I had a great visit and it felt like home for me. To be honest, I’ve always liked UCLA. Oregon was my dream school and with Mario Cristobal there and the way they were winning, it felt like Mater Dei for me.

“I think in hindsight, UCLA was the best all around fit. COVID kind of hurt my recruitment a little and I wasn’t really able to go through the process as thorough as I wanted to. Don’t get me wrong, Oregon was a great choice for me at the time but looking at every thing now, I really feel UCLA is where I belong.”

Davies went on to detail that after he entered the transfer portal, UCLA wasted no time in contacting him and recruiting him away from Oregon. With an official visit to the UCLA campus, Davies realized that he had wanted to be a Bruin since before he even enrolled at Oregon.