EUGENE — The late summer wind in the Willamette Valley came through with force. Quiet yet powerful.

One could barely hear Jordan James’ voice beneath it. He shrugged when asked about when he knew he was a better football player than other kids growing up outside of Nashville. “Probably my first offer.”

There is plenty of talk swirling outside the Oregon program about expectations, rankings, big games and individual comparisons. It is both easy and common for a player to say he is ignoring those distractions, driven solely by a passion for football.

But those who know James are quick to say: when the Ducks’ lead running back says something, he means it. And his words carry weight.

“I do this for the love of the game,” James said. “I respect the game in every way. I don’t do this for social media, I don’t do this for rankings, I don’t do this for mock drafts or anything like that. I got my mindset from my mom. She’s real persistent in everything she does.”

James’ mother, Tashia, is a nurse. Oregon filmed James reading a letter she wrote to him in February for Black History Month, which touched the hearts of Duck fans on social media.

“I was 20 years old and already had one baby. I knew I was going to be judged for being a young mother, but I looked at your sister playing on the floor, and decided I didn’t care what anyone had to say,” she wrote in part. “I have always taught you to do your best and not take handouts because nothing is free. At age five, you told me you were not regular, and that is what I reminded you of when things seemed tough.”

James credits his mother for instilling values of hard work and discipline in him and his sisters. And letting actions speak louder than words.

The community that raised James in Tennessee — which included a highly supportive extended family, featuring cousins pursuing their own football dreams — carried him through a challenging recruiting process. Then a four-star prospect, James decommitted from Georgia before joining Dan Lanning’s first recruiting class at Oregon in 2022.

“The guy just plays hard,” Lanning said this fall. “If you guys get a chance to talk to him, I’d be interested to see if you can hear what he says. (Laughs) But when he plays, he plays really loud. I appreciate a guy that plays loud and brings the energy every single day. Runs hard, runs tough. He’s that guy that has toughness.”

James had 98 carries for 696 yards and 11 touchdowns during his sophomore season with the Ducks, the second piece of a formidable tandem with the now-departed Bucky Irving. He slides into the lead role this season, paired with a healthy Noah Whittington and supplemented by the likes of Jayden Limar and Jay Harris.

James’ growth on the field has been steady, as has his growing connection with teammates. He said he understands the dichotomy between his soft-spoken demeanor and on-field aggression.

“This is my passion,” James said. “I am really passionate about the game and I work really hard to find those results on the field. I have to celebrate that. You can ask any of the guys here, my freshman year I basically didn’t talk to anyone. I don’t talk unless I get to know you. I’m not a fake energy type of guy.”

Among the teammates James has befriended, thanks in part to playing EA Sports College Football 25 together, is wide receiver Traeshon Holden.

“Jordan, that’s my boy,” Holden said. “We’ve grown really close this offseason and hang out a lot more. The energy he brings to that running back room, we need that. That’s an emphasis we’ve talked about: once he really knows he’s that dude, it’s going to be scary for a lot of teams out there.”