Oregon reportedly hires Arizona State football assistant coach Ra’Shaad Samples

The University of Oregon will reportedly hire Arizona State football assistant Ra’Shaad Samples as its next running backs coach and assistant head coach under Dan Lanning, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports first reported on Sunday.

Samples, a pass-game coordinator and receivers coach for the Sun Devils, is known as one of the better recruiters in the country. Samples had just signed a contract extension with the Sun Devils through the 2025 season with ASU headed to the Big 12.

Samples joined ASU for head coach Kenny Dillingham’s first season, leaving the Los Angeles Rams where he was the running backs coach.

Samples, who at 27 years old was the youngest position coach in the NFL in 2022, previously worked at SMU. There, Samples began as an offensive assistant in 2019, shifting to running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for 2020 and then assistant head coach and running backs coach in 2021.

A former receiver at Oklahoma State and Houston, Samples began coaching at Houston from 2016-17 and spent a year at Texas as an assistant wide receivers coach after a series of concussions ended his playing career.

As a player, he starred at Skyline High School in Dallas.

Samples fills the vacant running backs coach role for the Ducks after Carlos Locklyn left for Ohio State last week.

Fired up for @RashaadSamples 2nd time he has become an Assistant Head Coach in the P5 before the age of 30!!! Forever grateful for him helping us get ASU back in a forward direction!!! And can’t wait to see his career continue to sky rocket!!

— Coach Dillingham (@KennyDillingham) April 7, 2024

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