Oregon State football lost out on landing Brent Vigen of Montana State . Tim Polasek of North Dakota State was another who took himself out of the Beavers' running . But an Alabama assistant looks like the top target in Corvallis.

Crimson Tide co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard is trending up as the next Beavers head coach, per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Shephard also serves as the wide receivers coach for Alabama.

If hired, Shephard becomes the first from the Kalen DeBoer coaching tree to land a head coaching gig at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. Alabama, though, brings a deep history of producing future head coaches via DeBoer's predecessor Nick Saban.

Kirby Smart, Mike Locksley and Lane Kiffin are recent past ‘Bama assistants who took head coaching gigs. Shepha

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