Alabama WR coach JaMarcus Shephard, one of the Tide's top young assistants and an ace recruiter, has agreed to a 5-year contract to become the next head coach at Oregon State, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Shephard was reportedly one of two finalists for the job, along with Montana State head coach Brent Vigen. When Vigen released a statement this week announcing his intent to stay put, the focus of the search zeroed in on Shephard.
Shephard is Alabama's WR coach, but also listed as the Co-Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach, though not the play caller. Shephard is one of the brightest young minds in the coaching world, however, and has done excellent work with boosting the talent level in the Crimson Tide's WR room in his two years in Tuscaloosa.
Shephard has worked with Kalen DeBoer for four years now. DeBoer hired him as the WR coach in 2022 when he took the head coaching job at Washington.
This is a pretty big jump for Shephard into a head coaching job, but a worthwhile risk for a program like Oregon State that has been trending in the wrong direction since they were one of two schools (Washington State) left behind when the PAC-12 got pillaged.
The Beavers are now a Group of Six program; next season the PAC-12's expansion will make it a real conference again, though far from its glory days.
Shephard will have his work cut out for him. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Oregon State is just 2-9 this season.
JaMarcus Shephard to be the next head coach at Oregon State
It's not immediately known whether Shephard will stay in Tuscaloosa to finish out the season or not. The expectation from insiders is that Shephard will finish the job at Alabama before officially leaving for Corvallis, but he'll have to pull some double duty with Early Signing Day next week. The college football calendar waits for no one.
It will be interesting to see who DeBoer may target to replace Shephard. Alabama has an analyst on the staff currently - Tyler Hughes - who was the WR coach for the New England Patriots in 2024.
Shephard could also take an analyst or two with him to Oregon State, which will be an interesting situation to monitor. It shouldn't have any effect on the Crimson Tide's recruiting class, however, as Oregon State is a significant step down from Alabama.