Within a span of five years, outside linebacker Justin Hollins has been on Oregon’s football team during the best and the worst of times.
He’s experienced a Rose Bowl victory and a National Championship run. He’s
stuck through the team’s first losing season since 2004 in 2016 when the team went 4-8. And despite three different head coaches and three different defensive coordinators, Hollins has remained a Duck.
After walking at graduation in the spring, Hollins had the choice to forgo a fifth year at Oregon. He could have taken a chance in the NFL draft, but instead he chose to utilize his last year of eligibility and play one more season in the green and yellow.
From a historic freshman year, an Oregon winless drought and multiple coaching changes, Hollins has taken advantage of his final year as a Duck in a season that’s starting to shape up as his best.
“He’s just a freak of nature,” inside linebacker Troy Dye said. “I mean, the dude is just super athletic. He’s big, strong, physical, fast. He’s everything you want in an outside linebacker and then some. We’re really excited to have him on our side of the ball and we’re really excited for the year that he’s having.”
The road to now
Hollins’ stellar senior season at Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, caught the attention of numerous college coaches. Recording 59 tackles, four sacks and two fumble recoveries on Martin’s defensive line, Hollins, a three-star recruit rated by ESPN, chose to play collegiately for the Ducks over schools including Baylor, Colorado, Illinois and Oklahoma.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a Duck. It was one of my dream schools actually,” Hollins told Oregon Football’s Instagram in June. “Growing up I always watched them, and I feel like that symbol, that ‘O,’ it means everything to me.”
As a freshman, Hollins played in 14 games as an outside linebacker, including Oregon’s Pac-12 Championship win against Arizona and its Rose Bowl win against Florida State. Even though he didn’t participate in the game, he helped propel the Ducks to the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, where they lost the title to Ohio State.
Ducks outside linebacker Justin Hollins (11) blocks the Cal throw. Oregon Ducks Football takes on UC Berkeley at California Memorial Stadium on Sept. 29, 2018. (Ben Green/Emerald)
He missed his true sophomore season due to injury, but Hollins returned in 2016 as a part of the inside defensive line and as a redshirt sophomore. He finished the season with 12 starts, leading the defensive line with 51 tackles and finished second on the team with three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.
However, the new position left him feeling out of place, especially going against offensive linemen that were some 60 pounds larger than his 6-foot-5, 238-pound frame at the time.
“It was hard,” Hollins told NBC Sports Northwest prior to the start of the 2017 season. “It was hard being a little undersized. But I got after it and did what I had to do.”
His junior season, in 2017, saw not only a new head coach in Willie Taggart and a new defensive coordinator in Jim Leavitt, but another position change. With Oregon switching back to a 3-4 defense after playing a 4-3 system in 2016, Hollins was brought back to the position he started with as a Duck.
“I’m more comfortable at outside linebacker,” Hollins told Duck Sports Authority in August 2017. “That’s what I originally came here to play and that’s where I started to break free a little bit.”
This time the change was successful. In the 2017 season, Hollins ended with 59 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and tied the team lead with three forced fumbles.
An impactful final season
For Hollins, the fifth time around might just be the most memorable.
“[It’s] the last year, the last go around,” he said. “[I] got to go as hard as I can, as fast as I can.”
Six games into his final season with the Ducks, the senior is leading the team in sacks (four), tackles for loss (nine) and forced fumbles (recording three of the team’s total five so far this season). He is also tied with senior safety Ugochukwu Amadi for a team lead of 21 solo tackles. Additionally, on the national stage, his forced fumbles have him tied for fourth in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
“Justin can do a lot of things,” outside linebacker coach Cort Dennison said. “He can align to the field; he can align to the boundary. He’s got a very high football IQ. He knows the defense in and out. He is a player that can do multiple things.”
Hollins ended the nonconference schedule with a standout game against San José State. Ending the game with a full stat line, Hollins recorded eight tackles (six solo, two assisted), one sack, one forced fumble, two tackles for loss and one interception return for 7 yards.
“He’s just a player that continues to develop and evolve,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said following the San José State game. “He’s so important to what we do, so important for so many reasons. He uses his length well. He uses his power well. He’s extremely quick, so he got underneath a lot of stuff and forced stuff to bounce. He played a really good football game and I’m proud of the way he played.”
His tackle for loss in Oregon’s most recent outing against Washington extended a 10-game streak in which he’s recorded at least one per game.
“We see his production on the field — he is a great player,” outside linebacker La’Mar Winston Jr. said. “Honestly, he’s one of the best pass rushers, really in college football to me, one of the best outside linebackers.”
It’s not just the numbers of his stats that prove his impact on the team. In addition to praise from numerous players and coaches, Hollins has also been chosen as one of the team’s captains for three games.
“God has given him a lot of talent,” defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt said. “He’s got length. He’s got great speed. He’s got levers. He’s just a really great guy. He’s an unbelievable person and he cares.”
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