Page 54 - LVGL Summer 2021

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to internships and the Bill Belichick camp in New England.
What we did at Oregon, and to be around the people, not
just the coaches. The people that make up all of football. To
sit down with Phil Knight, to sit down with Tinker Hatfield
(a famous shoe designer for Nike) to sit down and hear how
not only football but the bigger pieces of what do come into
play. We are around kids, we are developing people, we are
around a lot of alphas and great coaches. I think manag-
ing people is probably the most important thing that we do.
The kids, coaches, assistants, interns, strength coaches….
football is easy, people are complicated. I am fortunate
enough to have been around a lot of good leaders to see
how to build a plan, a philosophy around being a part of
something great.

: You’ve been around and worked with some great
Qquarterbacks. Do you have one that you just loved
being around or working with, and why?

rroyo: There are a lot. I have been fortunate to be
Aaround a lot of quarterbacks that have a chance to
go on and play. Guys that I have had a chance to recruit
and then eventually get drafted. Even a lot of guys who
said they couldn’t make it. The Jared Goff recruitment,
Nick Mullens out of Southern Miss, and the one that sticks
out obviously is Justin [Herbert]. We built a really strong
relationship during the years that I was there. It was very
organic, it was very real. I was more mature at that stage
than at other stages, was a better person and was able to
make it into about him. We taught each other a lot, we went
through a lot. The last year was a rocky one for me, person-
ally off the field. I lost a child in the season, and we shared
a lot of things. I have lost two children during the last eight
years and we really had some hard conversations about life
and perspective and how to see things and the big picture.
That relationship with Justin is one that continues to this
day. That one will be something that will go a long way. We
shared a lot of laughs and hugs and tears. We did a lot of
stuff that wasn’t football related in regards to leadership.
I think we really helped him mold that fact that he can be
himself and still lead.

Q : Who motivates you outside of football?

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