JaMarcus Shephard

Head coach · Oregon State
1st season · since 2026

At Oregon State5-3since 2026 · 5-3 this seasonHot seatCool1% · 99th of 132 jobsLast gameL 22-38at Fresno State · Nov 1Nextvs Texas StateSat Nov 7 · 10:30 pm ET · The CW
This week · as of Wed Nov 4

5-3, on track for 6-5 in the regular season.

Now

Career arc

This week Wed Nov 4

  • Last gameL 22-38 at Fresno State Sat Oct 31
  • This season5-3
  • On track for6-5 regular season
  • Nextvs. Texas State Sat Nov 7
  • Stature73rd of 138 FBS programs

What the result changed

  • Playoff odds 15% → 5% CFB Zeitgeist forecast, before and after

Saturday: vs. Texas State

Sat Nov 7, 10:30 pm ET The CW · Texas State is 4-4 · First meeting between Shephard and G.J. Kinne as head coaches · Oregon State’s chance to win: 50% (the site’s model)

His week

OSUBeaversAthletics · 8,327 views by Wednesday

Several stories this week →

The headlines, Nov 1–4 from a few outlets

Fans are feeling good about Oregon State

As a Oregon State fan I'm like why are we not ranked at least in the top 25 AP poll rankings I don't care about the college football playoff rankings because at the end of the day no pac-12 teams going to make the college football playoff anyway

Why is Happy Lemon now called Beavers Boba? I got boba there for the first time this year so the difference was obvious. Why the name change? Also why the stupid AI logo and menu??

Every team y'all face has come in clutch so it's all good

Fan mood · last 3 weeks · more upbeat than 3 in 4 FBS fan bases

Offense: 9th of 138 per play. Defense: 57th.

Offense, per play9thOffense, points per trip inside the 403rdDefense, per play57thDefense, big plays allowed6thWorstBest
Offense, per play9th of 138Offense, points per trip inside the 403rd of 138Defense, per play57th of 138Defense, big plays allowed6th of 138WorstBest
Through 8 games. Each tick is an FBS team, adjusted for opponent strength (CFB Zeitgeist model); the dot is Oregon State. The other two rows are where Oregon State stands furthest from the middle. Early-season numbers move a lot.

3 games left

  1. Sat Nov 7vs. Texas State (4-4)The CW50%
  2. Sat Nov 14at Boise State (7-1)USA Network26%
  3. Sat Nov 21vs. Utah State (3-5)CBS Sports Network67%

Percent: Oregon State’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.

How the season got here

Where Oregon State stood among 138 FBS programs by stature after each game (1st is the highest; the CFB Zeitgeist ledger).

70th80th90thPreseason85thHouston L 20-33Houston L 20-33L 20-33Houston85thTexas Tech L 24-35Texas Tech L 24-35L 24-35Texas Tech85thMontana W 52-17Montana W 52-17W 52-17Montana86thUTEP W 33-7UTEP W 33-7W 33-7UTEP83rdColorado State W 56-26Colorado State W 56-26W 56-26Colorado State81stSan Diego State W 66-14San Diego State W 66-14W 66-14San Diego Sta…77thWashington State W 48-30Washington State W 48-30W 48-30Washington St…74thFresno State L 22-38Fresno State L 22-38L 22-38Fresno State74thBye74th
  1. Oct 26–Nov 1L 22-38 at Fresno State7 headlines · 58th of 138
  2. Oct 19–25No game2 headlines · 73rd of 138JaMarcus Shephard Discusses OSU's Dominant Ground Game Against Cougars Yahoo Sports
  3. Oct 12–18W 48-30 vs. Washington State5 headlines · 51st of 138What JaMarcus Shephard said after Oregon State beat Washington State Yahoo Sports“Washington State Is Going To Bring Intensity This Weekend”JaMarcus Shephard, Oct 16
  4. Oct 5–11W 66-14 vs. San Diego State6 headlines · 53rd of 138JaMarcus Shephard: "These Kids are Putting Their Hearts into This Football Team" Yahoo Sports“These Kids are Putting Their Hearts into This Football Team”JaMarcus Shephard, Oct 9
  5. Sep 28–Oct 4W 56-26 at Colorado State3 headlines · 70th of 138What JaMarcus Shephard said after Oregon State drubbed Colorado State OregonLive
  6. Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 33-7 at UTEP8 headlines · 44th of 138JaMarcus Shephard’s Beavers Lead Nation in Passing Despite 1-2 Start FishDuck

Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.

Watch the biggest plays from Oregon State’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.

Poach watch

This winter

3%chance he leaves this winter for a head-coaching job elsewhere, or an NFL coordinator jobSettled66th-highest of 132 FBS head coaches
0%50%+

Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.

What drives his number

The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.

  • ▼ Lower
    His first season at Oregon State
  • ▲ Higher
    No record for him here before this season · his first year in the job
  • ▲ Higher
    Age 43 · neither at his alma mater nor in the state he was born in
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do

Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.

  • The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
  • Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
  • It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
  • A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.