Oregon assistant head coach and running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples allegedly refused to share insurance information and tried to use a fake name during a minor car crash that led to charges of DUII and reckless driving. Video of the incident casts doubt on his status with the college football program just a few weeks before its first game.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt!
The Ducks must now decide how they are going to handle this situation. There is less than one month until the start of the 2026 college football season. Seeing that the crash happened back in April, the matter may already be resolved.
Who is Ra’Shaad Samples?
At 31 years old, Ra’Shaad Samples currently serves as the assistant head coach to Dan Lanning and the running backs coach at the University of Oregon. A native of Dallas, Texas, he is the son of current Duncanville High School head coach Reginald Samples.
The former four-star wide receiver played at Oklahoma State and Houston before a series of concussions forced him into an early retirement. Samples got into coaching as soon as his playing career was over. He has since worked at five different schools in 10 different roles and spent one season in the NFL.
- Houston: 2016-2017
- Student assistant
- Texas: 2018
- Assistant wide receivers coach
- SMU: 2018-2021
- Offensive assistant
- Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator
- Assistant head coach and running backs coach
- Los Angeles Rams: 2022
- Running backs coach
- Arizona State: 2023
- Wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator
- Oregon: 2024-Present
- Assistant head coach and running backs coach
Lanning had this to say in 2024:
“We are thrilled to be able to add a coach of Ra’Shaad’s caliber to our program. Coach Samples is one of the brightest young coaches in all of football, and it is easy to see why he has had such a rapid rise through the coaching ranks. He is a dynamic personality who will bring out the very best in our student-athletes both on and off the field, and he will recruit relentlessly to bring the best young men we can find to our program. I am excited to see the impact Ra’Shaad has on our players’ development as we continue to build upon the storied history of running backs here at Oregon.”
Samples is considered one of the best young recruiters in the sport. He is also credited with the breakout season of Kyren Williams as the youngest position coach in the NFL and the development of former All-Pac-12 honorable mention wide receiver Elijhah Badger while in Tempe.
This new video could lead to a suspension from the program. Seeing that the crash happened in April, it is unclear as to how the Ducks plan to handle the situation with less than one month until their first game.
The Oregon football coach left the scene of a crash that resulted in DUII and reckless driving charges in April.
Ra’Shaad Samples, in his third season with the Ducks, was charged with DUII and reckless driving in April. DUII, which is specific to the state of Oregon, stands for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. It serves the same as DUI in other states.
A Eugene police officer cited Samples in lieu of custody on April 12 at 2:02 a.m. after he backed his Ford F-150 into a parked Dodge Ram in a parking lot downtown. According to police, and a newly-released dash cam video, the coach initially left the scene of the crash. He was flagged down by the Dodge driver shortly thereafter. He acted surprised to know he hit the vehicle.
The responding officer reported that Samples appeared visibly impaired by alcohol but a sobriety test was not conducted. Both vehicles sustained relatively minor damage but nobody was injured.
The issue was more with the DUII and, whether intentional or not, his decision to flee the scene. DUII and reckless driving are both Class A misdemeanors in Oregon, which carry a maximum sentence of up to 364 days in jail.
To make matters worse, according to Ryan Clarke of The Oregonian, Samples provided a false name of ‘DeSean Jackson’ to the Dodge driver and initially refused to share insurance information. Jackson is a former NFL wide receiver and the current head coach of Delaware State.