I got the opportunity to chat with Austin Antoni, a recent graduate from the University of Oregon who happened to pick up a position interning with the University of Oregon Football Team. Here he talks about his journey not only being apart of this team but how he was able to make this childhood dream a reality.
Celebrating with his co-workers, friends, and players after a Holiday Bowl victory, recent University of Oregon graduate Austin Antoni reflects on the past year of his life dedicated to living out a childhood dream. Antoni worked as an undergraduate coaching assistant for the University of Oregon football team, specifically the offensive line, and ran with the opportunity to work with a top-tier football program. “The opportunity came out of the blue,” he stated, adding that he met another undergraduate coaching assistant in a marketing class who offered to put Antoni in contact with a recruiting coach who oversees applications.
But it did not always look this way for Antoni. Being part of a military family brought Antoni’s family to Hawaii when he was a freshman in high school, and they would remain on the islands for the next six and a half years. Antoni was the starting quarterback at Radford high school and wanted to try and continue his football career, but no schools offered him a chance. While attending the University of Hawaii, Antoni attempted to transfer but couldn’t agree with his family on where he could go. During the middle of his junior year, Antoni decided to take a risk that he felt he needed to take and transfer from the University of Hawaii to the University of Oregon. “I felt restricted at UH, sports just weren’t as important there and for what I wanted to do after school, I knew it had to be done,” he said. Starting the second half of his junior year at the University of Oregon, Antoni immediately sought opportunities within the university for sports.
After graduating in the fall of 2022, Antoni is looking to continue working in football but in a different role: “Scouting for an NFL team would be the ideal next step for me. Being able to travel for a job while also still being an important part of a football team would be amazing,” he said. With the experience he had with the Oregon football team, Antoni now looks to make the most of what football can offer him.