Gary Campbell on LaMichael James' greatness, Oregon's title runs and bringing class back to air travel
The I-5 Corridor caught up with the former Oregon running backs coach on the day his greatest player earned a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.
It’s not out of the ordinary for Gary Campbell to get a call from LaMichael James these days, but when the retired Oregon running backs coach got a ring from his greatest protege last week, he could tell something was different in the tone of James’ voice.
“He calls me all excited and is just going, ‘Coach. Coach. I can’t believe it,’” Campbell said Monday.
What James couldn’t believe: Last week the former Oregon running back was notified that he would be one of 22 members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year. The news of James’ inclusion in the 2023 class was announced on Monday, which came as a no brainer for the coach who watched James rush for 5,082 yards, 53 touchdowns and set single-season records for rushing touchdowns (21) and points scored (144) during his three seasons.
“I told him I could believe it,” Campbell said.
Of course, Campbell has believed in James for a long, long time. The I-5 Corridor caught up with the man who coached 19 players to 1,000-yard-rushing seasons during his 33 years in Eugene to talk about James, Kenjon Barner and how often he gets a chance to don one of those iconic suits he wore on game day.
We begin in 2008 with a meeting between the two in James’ dorm, when the all-time great Oregon running back wasn’t so sure about his future in Eugene.
Gary Campbell: You know, when LaMike first got to Oregon he wanted to leave. In fact, in double days I was talking with Chip Kelly and he says I had to go talk to LaMike because he was going to leave. So I went to the dormitories and we sat and talked for a couple hours. I had been close with him since I started recruiting him — and LaMike had a little bit of an attitude. You know, he was a guy that obviously had to grow up really fast. He was living with his grandmother. His dad passed away early. And when I met him I fell in love with him, not just as a player — I loved him on film — but I fell in love with him as a kid because of what he had gone through. And he wanted to go back.
What did you say to him?
We talked about all the things he could accomplish. I told him how much it meant to me for him to stay — and he liked me, so that helped the situation. So finally after a couple of hours of sitting and talking with him, talking about a lot of the things his future could be if he stuck it out, he decided that he was going to give it a try.
So he did.
We redshirted him and he didn’t like that, but after every game we had a scrimmage with the guys that didn’t get to play and every week he stood out and I knew he was going to be a special player. So I think after he started to have a little bit more success he saw that what I had talked to him about could come to fruition and he started to feel more at home in Oregon. So, I mean, I was excited to death when I found out he was going to be inducted. When it came out today he sent me a message and thanked me and said, “Hey coach I love you. You made me stay in it.”
I’m just so proud I could burst.
What’s the best performance you saw from him that made you think, “Man, this kid is a hall of famer?”
He had so many. I tell ya, one of the great games was the Tennessee game. I’ll never forget when Chip was on the headphones and we ran a stretch play to the field and Chip was yelling, “What is he doing? What is he doing?” as LaMike turned around and reversed the field for 70 yards. Firstly, it was like, “What is he doing?” Then it turns into, “Go! Go! Go!”
I remember the Stanford game and him breaking a touchdown for about 80 yards to seal that game. That was a great moment because Stanford was always a thorn in our side.
Another great moment was the first year of the Pac-12 championship game. That was an exciting time for the both of us.
Those film sessions when you had James, Kenjon Barner and later De’Anthony Thomas had to have been fun to watch.
Exactly. Things didn’t always go right as far as scheme was concerned, but they were the kind of guys who could make it right.
What’s it like watching players grow up?
It’s the fun part, you know? Last summer Dino Philyaw came here to visit and he was talking to me and he says, “You don’t have many players that you’ve had that haven’t ended up being really successful and making a good living.”
I’m proud of that.
To see the guys grow up and be something — that’s the one thing I preached to them about: Enjoy football, but know there’s life after football. You never know how long your career is going to last. I just encouraged them to get a degree and always have something to fall back on because football could be over in one play. So to see LaMike and some of the others get into business ventures and to do it well, it helps me to know that some of that sunk in.
We got this Georgia game going on here and I’m thinking about the Oregon teams you guys took to the national title game. Not to say they weren’t talented, but you guys seemed more keen on finding diamonds in the rough and developing guys. Georgia has as many 5-stars as Oregon’s had in its history. What does that make you think about when you watch something like this?
That’s a good question because I look at teams that are loaded like Georgia and I think about how when we did it, we didn’t have a bunch of 5-stars but we had guys that fit into our program and fit into what we wanted to do. If you’re coaching Georgia you can do whatever you want to do. You don’t even have to have a specific plan. Let’s just line up, run plays and let these guys outplay the other guys. When we were there at Oregon we had to get the right guys to do what we wanted to do and get them in the right position. A team like Georgia, they can move guys around. They got such great athletes that they can move them how they want and do whatever they want.
How competitive were LaMichael and Kenjon with each other?
They were very competitive and they were very close. And after LaMichael left Kenjon was chasing all his records. But they hung out. They still keep in touch and are close. I still talk to Kenjon quite often — in fact, I was up for a couple of games and we hung out on the sidelines. Both of those guys were not only close friends, but they were very close to me. They competed with each other, but it was a friendly competition.
I really enjoyed watching Bucky Irving run this year.
I thought he was a great player. I would never say this to the running backs coach, but