EUGENE — Terrance Ferguson was torn about what to do with his football career. The Oregon tight end could have entered the NFL draft following the best season of his career, but Ferguson chose to return for his senior season.

“I had my biggest dream ahead of me of going to the NFL; I think that will always be there,” Ferguson said. “God has blessed me to be able to be here. I prayed about it and talked to my family, kind of back and forth, and there was some stuff I wanted to accomplish in college still. That was the biggest thing, there’s still stuff left on the table here before I need to move up to the next level.

“I wanted to win something here that meant something. I wanted to be a part of something special and with coach (Dan) Lanning and my (position) coach (Drew Mehringer) and everybody around, it’s special and I wanted to be a part of that one more time.”

Ferguson had 42 receptions for 414 yards and six touchdowns last season, all career-highs. It was also one of the best seasons ever for a Ducks tight end, which he will be attempting to top this fall.

“Terrance Ferguson has busted his absolute tail (and) put himself in great position to be a great player for this program,” Lanning said. “He’s one of many who made the decision to come back and get better, but he’s the guy that’s putting in the work to do it, too. He’s lowered his body fat percentage. He’s increased his muscle mass. He’s a leader on the field the way he runs in and out of drills. It’s been really, really impressive.”

Unprompted, offensive coordinator Will Stein said he needs to get Ferguson the ball more this fall.

That delighted Ferguson, whose 91 career receptions and 13 career touchdowns are tied for fourth and third, respectively, in program history among tight ends.

“I thought in the back half of the season Ferg played really, really well,” tight ends coach Drew Mehringer said. “When you watch that back after the season, it’s like ‘Hey, man, this is a guy that can make a lot of plays for us.’ He’s an older guy, he’s obviously a senior, so for him it’s like how do we get this guy involved and get them into routine and feel good about where he’s at.”

Ferguson is focusing on physicality in blocking at the end of the line, route running and getting out of his breaks during the spring and offseason. One of six players still on the roster to begin their career under Mario Cristobal and having played in two Pac-12 championship games, Ferguson has set goals of winning a Big Ten championship and national championships this fall.

“Terrance is a great example of having a guy around, but that’s called building within your program,” Lanning said.

“You’re always gonna have transition every single year in college football, there’s guys that are going to be leaving. It’s about what are you building underneath it? He’s a great example of a guy that’s earned the opportunity to be a leader on this team. He’s working his tail off to be really elite for us and we’ll continue to grow that throughout the team.”