Kenny Dillingham praises Ty Thompson's mentality, work ethic

Since the day he committed to Oregon, Ty Thompson has captured the imagination of Duck fans.

Equipped with immense arm talent, eye-popping athleticism, and an ideal frame for a quarterback, Thompson’s high school tape makes it easy to believe that he has all the physical traits required to become a very good college player.

But that isn’t what has Oregon offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kenny Dillingham so excited about him. Rather, it’s the redshirt freshman’s mentality and willingness to work that leads Dillingham to believe he will succeed.

“I think he has a strong arm, I think he makes good decisions, and I think he cares,” Dillingham said when asked what makes Thompson special. “I think there’s a lot that goes into somebody who just cares, somebody who’s gonna put in the extra work.”

Like every elite quarterback prospect in the modern era, Thompson became a nationally-known name before he was even old enough to get his driver’s license. For some players, the endless stream of praise and accolades that start rolling in at an early age can make it difficult to adjust at the college level.

For Thompson, though, Dillingham believes that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It’s hard. You have a lot of guys who, you know, you get hyped up in the media at the age of 14, 15, and you have four years of being the superstar,” Dillingham said. “Then you have to go to college and be like, ‘Man, I’ve gotta start over. I’ve gotta re-work. I’ve gotta re-learn all this stuff.’

“So for a guy like that to want to work is pretty remarkable.”

Oregon made waves in December when it opted to bring in former Auburn starting quarterback Bo Nix via the transfer portal. At that time, Oregon had three highly-touted young quarterbacks in the mix: Thompson, Jay Butterfield, and Robby Ashford.

The arrival of Nix, some fans worried, was an indicator that Dillingham and Dan Lanning felt they didn’t have a starting-caliber quarterback within the program already and needed to find one externally.

However, Dillingham put that notion to rest over the weekend, as did Thompson.

“Competition; it’s that simple. Competition,” Dillingham said when asked about the Ducks’ decision to add Nix. “I talk about it in our room a lot, there are two types of people: there’s the type of person who just wants to play. Then there’s the type of person who wants to be the very best version of himself. If you’re the type of person who just wants to play, you’re never going to be the very best version of yourself. Because you may play for the wrong reasons.

“I’m looking for guys who want to grow and want to be better.”

Ashford opted to depart the program in January and has since transferred to Auburn. Dillingham believes he has three guys in his quarterback room who fit that aforementioned mold.

He said Butterfield, Nix, and Thompson are all in the mix for the starting job. While Oregon has not necessarily established first- and second-unit offensive players at this point, Dillingham said all three signal-callers rotate who they throw to on a daily basis.

“It’s a fair rotation and they know they’ll rotate the next day,” Dillingham said. “I see guys who are helping each other. That’s what you want. I’ve always been a part of quarterback rooms who truly care for each other, and that’s how you raise the level of play.”