Oregon Ducks wide receivers coach Ross Douglas spoke to the media after Saturday’s scrimmage, and he shared his thoughts on Evan Stewart’s injury, the addition of receiver Gatlin Bair, and a number of other topics.

Here’s everything Douglas said:

On Jeremiah McClellan

“I think his progress has been great. Even just I came in last spring and, you know, we went through spring ball, and I challenged him to do a couple of things. I challenged him to be more violent as a football player. I challenged him to be more dependable in critical situations. And I think you saw that all year. I mean, just all the big plays he made for us on third and fourth down, two-minute drives. you know, contested catches. So now we just got to take it to the next level. Now it’s just the competitive stamina, like doing it all the time, regardless of circumstances, situations. So just really improving on that,” said Douglas.

On Dante Moore, Oregon’s Offense

“Our quarterback is one of the best in the United States of America. I think NFL or college, I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks. We have really good tight ends. We have good backs. We got good wideouts. And the thing about them, they’re all selfless. There’s only one football to go around, but everyone wants to see each other win. So I think that’s what’s more unique, more than the skill set itself, just the personalities that you have and the different skill sets. So collectively, that makes a very dangerous group.”

On Evan Stewart’s Work Ethic

I think E-Stew’s still is operating with a sense of desperation because he realized he has one year left of eligibility and this is kind of all he has. So he’s been practicing at a little bit different clip,” said Douglas.

“I’m challenging him just to have that mindset, especially like run after the catch, like catching the ball and going to score, like practicing making somebody miss, alignment, versatility, being able to know every single spot in our playbook so we can line them up and put them in different situations, so the NFL could evaluate his skill set and so he could put certain things on tape. But I think he’s attacking great. He’s been great in winter conditioning. He’s been great at practice. He’s been a good veteran leader to the room. So, no, I’m excited about his progress, but still a long way to go.”

On Saturday’s Scrimmage

“You know, it was definitely our first scrimmage, so we had some first scrimmage things going on. So some good, some bad, some things we’ve got to clean up. But that’s the beautiful thing about football. What’s today, April 11th? So, no, we’ve got a long ways to go until we tee it up versus Boise State for our first game. So a lot of things we’ve got to clean up. We’re going to watch the film and see some things that we like. We’re going to watch some things on the film that we want to clean up. So it’s just beautiful. We’ve just got to continue to make progress.”

On Evan Stewart’s Return from Injury

“I actually have not had experience working with a player who’s been out for a year. But the thing I appreciate about E Stew, he’s never too high, he’s never too low. He’s just kind of neutral all the time. So when I first got here, he was out when I first got here because he was dealing with a little injury from the Rose Bowl in the last game of the year. But he’s a constant guy. He was always in my office at 6:30 in the morning and always asking me for extra film,” said Douglas.

“Like me, I come from the NFL, so he would ask me to critically evaluate his tape as if I was going to draft him. So we’ve had a lot of great positive conversations. He’s in my office a lot. He texts me about plays before we even watch the film together at practice. So he’s just a guy who’s hungry and always constantly wants to get better. So that’s kind of been his mindset since I’ve really got here. Now, like I said, he’s operating with a sense of desperation. So if he continues to have that same mindset and mentality towards his work and towards his craft, it’ll serve him very well.”

On Gatlin Bair

“No doubt, well, Gatlin, obviously, you see him, like, he’s physically gifted, like, crazily physically gifted. Like, he has size, he has speed, you know, both his parents were high-level collegiate athletes, I mean, his brother’s on our track team right here, he was at Mississippi State last year, like, he’s an NCAA champion in decathlon, so he comes from great parents and has great genes.”

“So now, again, he hasn’t played football for two years, but football is a game of repetition. So the more you play it, the better you get at it. So just continue to get him practice reps and really forge him in a fire, like just like learning on the fly and making mistakes, getting corrected, like not making the same mistakes again. So it’s just really been a good process with Gatlin. I like where he’s at and just excited to continue to work with him,” said Douglas.

On Iverson Hooks

“I think he’s been a great addition to the room. He’s a guy who’s played a lot of football. He had almost 1,000 yards last year. But the thing with him, now coming to Oregon, it’s a little bit different level playing at Oregon than it was where he was previously at. So now just adapting to the new level of physicality, new level of volume in the offense, maybe that he wasn’t accustomed to at his old spot. But ‘Trap’s’ coming along great. He has an amazing attitude. Our players love him. I love to coach him. You know what you’re going to get out of him every single day. So now just continue to push him to get better and make him a better version of himself.”

On Organizing the Depth Chart

“When I evaluate receivers, I evaluate skill sets because if you’re a good football player, you should be able to play anything. So it’s really positioned this football here in my room. So whether you’re outside, whether you’re inside, you should be able to plug and play anywhere. All those guys have unique skill sets, whether it’s speed, contested catchability, twitch, ball skills. whatever it might be, run after the catchability,” said Douglas.

“So you evaluate the skill set, and then now you package them and put them in good positions so we can be advantageous towards the defense. So really just focusing on that, make sure that we understand concepts. So regardless of who lines up where, we all know what we’re doing and then we know how to do it.”

On Ryan Switzer

“Me and Switzy, we go back to 2011. We were actually committed to Penn State together. So Bill O’Brien was the head coach. We were actually committed to Penn State. We’ve known each other since we were about 16 years old. And he’s a guy we followed each other all the way throughout. We were at the opening when they bought back the opening now. But back in 2012, we were at the opening together and then we were at the Semper Fi Dallas game in 2013,” said Douglas.

“It’s funny. Like I just, I was scrolling through my phone one day where she found a picture of me and him in high school. We took a picture together and I put in our receiver group chat. So no, we go way back and he was, obviously he was a heck of a player at North Carolina drafted to the Steelers and played for a long time in the NFL.”

“And he was at Tulsa last year and some certain things happened. He ended up getting let go and he reached out to me and, I’m just thankful that I’m in a position now where I can help a good friend. And it’s just a blessing to have him on our staff. He’s a valuable addition to the room, to me, to our players. So, no, he’ll do big things here. I’m happy he’s with us,” said Douglas.

On Dakorien Moore’s Offseason

“He’s a guy, again, he’s attacking the offseason. You know, I think last year, you know, he had the injury, but he was doing some good things for us. And then, you know, critically watched all his tape last year. Like, there’s some things that you like to see on film and there’s some things that plays that we wish we had back,” said Douglas.

“So now it’s just minimizing those plays that we wish we had back. I feel like he’s had a great attitude. He’s been practicing with great effort and, you know, he’s getting better every single day. Even as talented as he is, he’s getting better every single day. He’s coachable, and his attitude is a little different this year. Asking a lot of questions in the meeting room, making sure that he’s good on concepts, regardless of where he lines up. So I love where he’s at right now. He’s got to keep getting better.”

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