By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
In roughly three months, Gavin Lussier (aka Triipz) went from an offensive coordinator to a candidate for the AD of the Year Award. Lussier was thrust into the AD role and flourished this season. While he is not truly a Freshman AD now that he has one season under his belt, we still wanted to give him his moment in the spotlight. He has more than earned it.
Lussier came to Oregon to be the OC, but in some unforeseen circumstances, he found himself leading the Ducks. “[It was] terrifying,” he said. “Jumping from offensive coordinator to AD in a short span was not what I had intended but I went full steam ahead with my head coach and with guidance from other ADs, DTHall, in particular, it started to become less terrifying and became awesome rather quickly.”
The Ducks grew with their new AD. Oregon had gone 0-8 in the previous season and in their first game of the season, they were mercied by Illinois. From the outside, it looked like the Ducks were going to be at the bottom of the CFSL once again. However, Lussier and his team turned things around in a big way. Oregon would finish the season 5-4 and earn a spot in the playoffs.
When asked what happened to make Oregon so good, Lussier had a simple answer. “Commitment.” He later added, “Everyone was committed to the goal of not going 0-8 again. Everyone was committed to turning around Oregon.”
Lussier describes himself as a “goofy, tall, and lanky white guy who’s here to have fun.” But to the Duck faithful, he is so much more. He is the guy that righted the ship when all looked lost. And the leader of this Cinderella flock isn’t done yet. When asked what the expectation was for Oregon this season, Lussier said, “Champions. That’s the goal.”
