A lot of good things occurred when the Oregon Ducks smacked Oklahoma State last season to the tune of a 69-3 beatdown. One of those was the emergence of linebacker Jerry Mixon , who had an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter.
It only got better from there as Mixon's playing time increased as the season went along. Now he's going to be a regular on the 2026 defense. The athleticism is definitely there, but now he needs to be more of a leader on and off the field with such a high-profile defensive position of inside linebacker.
Mixon is a quiet guy off the field and he's working on being more boisterous on the field. In order to find inspiration and find his on-the-field voice, Mixon looks toward one of the best linebackers who recently played in the NFL, Carolina Panthers ' Luke Kuechly .
"Really, just flipping the switch. I used to watch Luke Kuechly videos when I was younger," Mixon said. "He was a quiet guy, and then once in the game, you flip the switch. So, really, just flipping the switch."
Mixon might have looked to Kuechly to find his voice, but there was a voice last year that he listened to every day in practice and in games. Former Duck Bryce Boettcher was a great player to emulate. According to Oregon 's inside linebacker coach Brian Michalowski, Mixon is going to be an integral part of what the Duck defense does this season.
"The big thing is we have to communicate across the defense at an extremely high level. He was a little bit more to the field last year with how we packaged him and Bryce, so a little bit more removed from the box," said Michalowski. "So just want him to really be that voice to the entire defense. That's one emphasis that I've made with him. And he's a very talented athlete. He's great in the pass game. He's really improved some of his run field mechanics and stroking fans, and he's been working hard on those."
In order to be a leader at the inside linebacker position, not only to you have to have a voice, but a voice other players are willing to listen to and according to Michalowski, Mixon has that in spades.
"He's a leader in the style of he's very close with a lot of his teammates, so it starts with that connection that he has with his teammates," he said. "But the confidence and vocal leadership on the football field comes from knowledge, and just really having that voice command. So he has a lot of experience. He has a lot of knowledge within the defense, and he's doing a good job communicating thus far."
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Jerry Mixon channeling Luke Kuechly in new leadership role at Oregon
