Report: Oregon State hiring Alabama co-OC JaMarcus Shephard as head coach

Oregon State was among the several jobs still open around the FBS after their firing of Trent Bray back in October. Now, the Beavers reportedly are the latest to have their hire as of this morning up in Corvallis.

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Oregon State has agreed to a five-year deal with Alabama’s JaMarcus Shephard to be the next head coach. Shephard, the assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and wide receivers coach for the Crimson Tide under Kalen DeBoer, will now be a head coach for the first time, with him set to take over at Oregon State.

“Sources: Oregon State has agreed to terms on a five-year deal to make Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard as the school’s next coach,” Thamel posted this morning. “Shephard is also Alabama’s assistant head coach and wide receiver coach. CBS first reported him as target.”

As noted by Thamel, CBS Sports first reported Shephard as a target at Oregon State yesterday evening on Thanksgiving. Now, less than a day later, a deal looks to be done between him and the Beavers.

Shephard is a long-time offensive name on several staffs around college football since 2011. That began with five years as a quarterback and a wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky under coaches like Willie Taggart, Bobby Petrino, and Jeff Brohm. He then spent a year at Washington State as a receivers coach under Mike Leach, before five more years under Brohm at Purdue as a receivers coach, passing game coordinator, and eventually a co-offensive coordinator for the Boilermakers. That’s when Shephard eventually ended up with DeBoer, with several responsibilities on offense, while also being assistant head coach, at Washington and now Alabama.

This comes after Oregon State fired Bray back on October 12 after a start of 0-7, after being 5-7 last fall to end up at 5-14 (.263) through a season and a half of his tenure in Corvallis. Since taking over as his interim, Robb Akey has the Beavers nearly at that win-total with a mark of 2-2, with one game left tomorrow evening in playing at Washington State.

This, though, is a unique opportunity for Shephard. That’s considering Oregon State has competed as a form of independent the past two seasons since the realignment that broke apart the Pac-12, leaving only them and Washington State. The Beavers and Cougars will now return to the league next fall after the conference added seven schools, with six of those that’ll play football in the Pac-12. Still, it may remain a difficult job, at least due to their status outside of the Power Four.

Nonetheless, Shephard has taken it as his first chance to be a head coach, with no determination yet of how much longer he’ll be with the Tide before joining the Beavers. That has his name as the latest update to this coaching carousel, with another job now filled by Oregon State.