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Dashcam footage has surfaced showing an Oregon assistant coach fleeing the scene of a crash back in April, and the details that have come out since are almost stranger than the collision itself. Ra’Shaad Samples, who serves as Oregon’s assistant head coach and running backs coach, was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) and reckless driving following the incident, according to The Oregonian.
The video tells a pretty clear story. Samples’ 2026 Ford F-150 backs into a parked car, then takes off out of the parking lot and onto a main road. That’s when things get chaotic.
Steven James Young, the driver of the vehicle that got hit, wasn’t about to let it go. He chased Samples down while the coach was weaving between lanes. Eventually Young pulled up alongside him, and both drivers ended up turning left into a nearby parking lot to sort things out.
Here’s where it gets bizarre. Young says the two exchanged insurance information once they’d pulled off, but Samples gave him a fake name. Not just any fake name, either. He told Young he was DeSean Jackson, the former NFL wide receiver.
Samples doesn’t deny it.
“After I pulled over and stopped, I gave the driver my license and insurance,” Samples told The Oregonian. “I gave him my information that included my name. He kept asking me, ‘Who are you? Who are you?’”
He then explained why he blurted out Jackson’s name. “He had my name. I got a little frustrated, and I gave him a cheeky response. ‘DeSean Jackson.’ Jackson is my favorite football player.”
Young also claims Samples was reluctant to hand over his real insurance details that night, telling him he was driving a loaner vehicle at the time.
Things escalated further after the crash, according to Young. He said Samples offered him $1,000 on the spot to make the whole thing go away without a police report. When that didn’t work, Samples allegedly followed up with a text offering $2,500 and football tickets.
That’s when Young decided he’d had enough. He sent the dashcam footage directly to Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.
No field sobriety test was administered at the scene that night. Young and another passenger in his vehicle have since said they suffered injuries from the crash, and both have retained lawyers.
Oregon issued a brief statement in response to the reporting: “We take these matters seriously and have taken appropriate action.”
Samples appeared in court for his initial hearing on July 20. His case isn’t over yet; his next court date is set for Aug 25.
