Great Interview: Insider Pulls Back Curtain on Oregon Ducks Football

[Charles Fischer]

By John Canzano

 

Nate Costa played and coached at Oregon and is now at Nevada as the quarterback coach.

 

Nate Costa has seen some stuff over the years in Eugene. The former University of Oregon quarterback played for Chip Kelly, helped coach Marcus Mariota and Justin Herbert, and found himself inside Mario Cristobal’s program last season working with the Ducks’ quarterbacks.

 

Costa, now at Nevada as an assistant, joined me on Wednesday for a wide-ranging interview on a variety of subjects. Our conversation was candid, authentic and helped answer some questions about what we saw — and didn’t see — last season in Eugene.

 

UO went with Anthony Brown Jr. as the starter in 2021, but Costa said the coaching staff had extensive discussions and debates week to week about whether Oregon should be playing Ty Thompson more.

“I think Anthony did just enough — just enough — to hold onto that position,” Costa said on Wednesday. “He won us a lot of football games. The quarterback standard at Oregon is very high. It’s a high bar for a guy to try and reach. I don’t think Anthony reached it on a daily basis and the fan base let him hear it from time to time.”
 

How close were the Ducks to giving Thompson more playing time?

“We had those conversations. We had them early on, we had them midseason, we had an extensive one at halftime of the bowl game against Oklahoma,” Costa said. “We almost made a move (at halftime).”

Thompson, a five-star recruit, now finds himself in a spring football battle with Auburn transfer Bo Nix. If you’re looking to identify Oregon’s biggest sin of the last decade it is the failure to recruit and develop a quarterback. After the wild successes of Mariota and Herbert, UO turned to a line of transfers, experiments and stop gaps. 

Costa has been there for it all. He said first-year coach Dan Lanning’s decision to bring Nix to campus creates a “sticky” dynamic for a position group that includes Thompson and Jay Butterfield.  “They essentially shot a round across the bow of every quarterback in that quarterback room,” Costa said. 

 

Still, Costa understands why Lanning did it — Nix has played in 34 games in his college career. He has extensive game experience in the toughest conference in the America.

“Bo has seen those things. He’s seen it at the SEC level and has a better feel for the speed-of-the-game challenges,” Costa said. “It doesn’t mean Bo is going to be the guy, but it’s a slight advantage for Bo Nix.”

I spent a lot of time last season observing Cristobal’s program, wondering about scheme, and wondering how the head coach’s personality might grind on his staff. Also, I wondered why we weren’t seeing more of Thompson in games. Said Costa: “Anthony did a serviceable job.”

 

Costa helped answer a variety of other questions…

 

On Ty Thompson’s strongest skills:
“Big arm. One of the biggest arms I’ve seen in a quarterback. I used to do a thing with the QBs at Oregon where I put them on a radar gun like an MLB prospect. It gives you a general understanding of arm strength. He was putting the football above 60 mph. If you look at the NFL combine numbers that’s an elite number. For a kid that is 18-19 years old to be able to generate that kind of velocity is impressive.”
 

On where Thompson struggles:

“Speed of the game. He played at a smaller level in high school in Arizona. Adjusting to the speed of Pac-12 football is an adjustment for anyone and he’s still working on that.”
 

On quarterback Jay Butterfield:
“Butterfield is a coach’s son, understands offense and has a photographic memory and can build plays in his head. What Ty (Thompson) has in arm strength, Jay has in accuracy… he’s one of those guys that you don’t notice in year 1, 2 or 3, but in year 4 and 5 you’re going to be ‘Oh my gosh, who is this guy?!?’”
 

On the impact of offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead missing the Stanford game:

“Massive… I was the quarterback coach for that game. But ultimately I’m not the same as the coach you have there every day… Anthony’s play that game struggled a little bit because of Joe not being there… we were in the game and we weren't sure Joe was going to make it.”
 

On the toughest defensive match-up in the Pac-12:
“Cal — I think Cal is probably the best coached team in the Pac-12. I think year in and year out Justin Wilcox does more with less. Overall they recruit hard-nosed, intelligent kids and get them to play really hard. They play a sound scheme and the coaching staff in general puts players in position to make plays. They beat us in the Covid year, beat us in 2020 in Berkeley. That never should have happened but they did it with superior scheme and coaching.”
 

Costa on what he learned from Mario Cristobal:
“Work ethic, he’s one of the hardest working men in college football. He wasn’t just sitting behind a desk, guarding his desk. He was constantly working; text messaging recruits, Face Timing recruits, hitting me up about what game plan I liked on third down, hitting Joe Moorhead up and asking about the install for spring football, he was constantly on top of everybody in the building.” 

On defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux:

“I have text messages and missed phone calls on my phone every day after practice from NFL scouts — 49ers, Eagles, Tampa Bay Bucs — every one of them asking me questions about Kayvon… I think he’s a dual threat. I think he’s a very intelligent young man and he’s going to align himself with the right people off the field. He’s going to make himself a boat load of money both on the field and off the field.”

On the questions about Thibodeaux’s motor:
“I get the questions about his motor. I think he can take plays off from time to time. But when you’re in a position being like him and you have a 320-pound left tackle trying to rip your face off I think everybody can take a play off from time to time. I think he’s a sensational player. I hated matching up against him in practice because he made it hard for my quarterbacks to get a pass off.”

[30Duck]

I don't think it was ever that close to Thompson really replacing Brown. He did a "serviceable" job, won 10 games. The two against Utah weren't because of who was the QB, putting Thompson in either of those games might have set him back. The quarterback competition looks to be going well, and I think will produce more than a "serviceable" quarterback. 

[Wrathis]

Phenomenal read, one of my favorite in the relatively short time I've been a part of this community. Thanks for sharing this!!! 

[DUCati855]

Like him or not... Canzano gets some great interviews and asks the right questions.

 

Who better (or more believable) than Nate Costa to ask these questions. Nate bleeds green. No reason to question anything he said.

 

From Ty's interview the other day it sounds like the game is finally slowing down for him. I still have high hopes. Butterfield makes a perfect backup as a coaches son. If we can keep them both for next year we will be in great shape for the future.

[Duck 1972]

Have always liked me some Nate Costa. Wishing him all the success he can produce which shouldn't take long at all.

[Haywarduck]

He is the qb coach and said it was really close. Follow up question, who was yes and who was no. I would have to say Cristobal had the final say, but I am still left wondering who made, or didn't make the decision to play Ty?

 

I do completely agree with his conclusion on the qb's. Ty is going to be lights out when the game slows down and he seems to be getting there. I also think Butterfield is going to be an amazing qb if he sticks around and plays back-up. We won't have a worry in the world with him as the back-up after Nix leaves.

 

I also am impressed with Nix and think we are set up with an amazing qb group going forward. The question is what is going to happen going forward? I personally don't see Butters sitting for a couple more years. He is going to be ready to lead a program at least next year, not as the third option.

[1Ducker1]

Costa is a great guy and was a decent QB -like him a lot but the interview went as I would expect if you know what I mean.

[Charles Fischer]

I think this interview told us for certain....Ty was not ready.

[David Marsh]

On 4/7/2022 at 10:12 AM, DUCati855 said:

Nate bleeds green. No reason to question anything he said.

He was also very tactful in his responses... There is a whole lot to read between the lines for us as fans but nothing there that would burn any bridges for his coaching future. 

[idontrollonshobbas]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:47 PM, David Marsh said:

He was also very tactful in his responses... There is a whole lot to read between the lines for us as fans but nothing there that would burn any bridges for his coaching future. 

Exactly.....he managed to say a lot without saying anything.  He has a career to think about.  Nonetheless, he seemed to say that Ty was always 1b.  No shame in that....given the level of HS football he came from and AB's experience.