⚡ CFB Dashboard

This weekend's Spring game is fast approaching, which means that we will finally get a look at the squad that JaMarcus Shephard has brought together over the past several months. There are countless new names and faces that Beaver Nation is eager to see perform on the field.  In the past several weeks, during media availability, we have heard from a few of these new names.  For instance, Carter Guillaume, AJ Newberry, and Jesse Legree, among many others.  Personally, there is one in particular that I am very eager to see:  Linebacker Dylan Layne. Simply put, Dylan Layne has a vibe, a confidence, and a conviction. Layne, a 230lb LB from Lake Oswego, OR, came to Corvallis via the transfer portal from Idaho after his Vandal coach, Cort Dennison, made the decision to join coach Shephard's inaugural Oregon State staff.  Dennison will serve as Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach for the Beavers.  Upon his arrival on campus, Layne made an immediate impact through his words, but more importantly, through his actions.  Layne has indicated that he does the little things the right way, which he continued to learn from his coaches at Idaho. "From Coach Eck and Coach Ford back at Idaho, I've seen how you do things right. And I think I came in and hit the ground running with that, and just doing the little things, getting guys to show up early, doing the extra stuff, and I think just a culmination of doing the right thing and guys seeing that and rubbing off. And then I feel like I just try to treat people right, you know, whether it's my teammates, whether it's the janitor in the building, whether it's the cafeteria staff." For people curious about the culture coach Shephard is trying to instill at Oregon State, Layne might be the perfect example to look to.  Last week, Shephard identified some of the qualities in Layne that speak to his leadership on and off the field.  And it starts with communication: "I don't know if I've said this to you guys publicly or not, but we have our Unity Council, and our team votes on members of that Council.  The Unity Council itself voted Dylan Lane onto the Council. So, I thought that that was a huge badge of honor for that guy to get, having only been here for maybe a month at that time, and for them to vote him onto the Unity Council, I thought that was pretty special." Shephard continued: "In that Unity Council, we spend a lot of time talking about leadership, what that looks like, and Dylan Lane is, I mean, for our football team, there should be a picture of him sitting right next to that word, leadership. And so, super proud of him, excited that he's immersed himself in the culture of our football team from day one." When it comes to communication, Layne brings an intangible that Shephard sees as an invaluable asset to a new group of guys trying to gel as a team ahead of next season's opener at Houston.  But it's not just simple communication.  It's communication in the most obnoxious form. And by using the word obnoxious, that's a necessary and good thing. Shephard went on to clarify:  "If you guys come to practice, I mean, you know I'm a pretty obnoxious communicator. And so, we want to make sure they can hear and understand everything that's being said on the field. And so, he (Layne) is an obnoxious communicator at all times. And so, super happy to have him a part of our football team." Per Beaverblitz, here's a clip from Dylan at his media availability session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuT9wJWG6tM To get a better feel for Dylan's obnoxious communication style, make sure to come to Reser Stadium this weekend.  The Spring game starts at 12PM, this Saturday, April 25th.