EUGENE -- During the offseason, Oregon sophomore Matt Mariota often received notifications on his phone that caused him to do a double-take.



"It's kind of weird to have someone text you, 'Hey, we've got to meet in the Mariota facility,'" Mariota said. "I'm like, what facility?"



The facility in question spreads over 30,000 square feet, cost at least $19 million to build, and is named after Mariota's brother, Oregon's only Heisman Trophy winner: the Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center.



Its plans -- paid for by a donation from Phil and Penny Knight -- were unveiled nearly two years ago, only a few months after Marcus left UO and Matt arrived. The team took its first tours a year ago.





Yet time has done nothing to diminish the oddity -- and cool factor -- of walking into a facility that carries your brother's name.



"It's very weird," Matt Mariota said. "I still don't believe it. It's such a big blessing. It's such an honor."



If the 6-foot-2, 224-pound Mariota is still getting used to the sight of his brother's face in lights in the facility's entryway, he's also spent 2017 doing something that feels much more natural.



After playing linebacker his first two years in Eugene -- he redshirted in 2015 and didn't see the field last fall -- Mariota is now a tight end.



"Shoot, I've been catching balls from Marcus ever since we were kids," Mariota said. "I think it's just always been ingrained in me as something I wanted to do."



The only hitch was that his high school, Saint Louis in Honolulu, ran a spread offense that didn't utilize a tight end. So he moved to linebacker. Once at Oregon he joined a team light on linebackers but deep at tight end. He stayed on defense.



His opening to join the UO offense came after last fall's 4-8 record, when three tight ends graduated and left the position devoid of experience.



Mariota, like his older brother, is understated and accommodating, but competitive, too, and he made the switch as a means of contributing on the field come this fall or next.



"Last November, I just thought about it and running routes for Marcus in the offseason kind of built up my confidence," he said. "I felt good and it felt like the right move. I'm happy I did it."



Though sophomore Jacob Breeland, a star of spring with his long pass plays from Justin Herbert, is the prohibitive favorite to play the largest role among those at his position this fall -- despite wearing a club around his right hand for much of preseason camp -- little appears settled behind him. Tigard's Ryan Bay and Bend's Cam McCormick each are among those competing with Mariota for playing time.



"Breeland's done a great job throughout the spring and fall but I've been really, really impressed with Bay and Cam McCormick," UO coach Willie Taggart said. "He's coming along and playing physical like we want him to but also catching the ball in the pass game as well. Matt Mariota the same way. Those guys are competing and I feel a lot better about them now than i did in the spring."



Their position is unique in that a graduate assistant is solely responsible for the coaching. David Gilbertson, a 2013 Washington State grad and the son of former Washington coach Keith Gilbertson, is not much older than his charges, yet he's also done this before. Gilbertson joined Taggart's South Florida staff as a graduate assistant in 2014 before a promotion a year later to coach tight ends when an assistant left close to the opening of preseason camp.



"David stepped in and did a good job for us," Taggart said. "He's a kid that's been raised around the game of football and understands the game of football and does a great job relating to our players."



Mariota's transition to tight end was slowed in April, when he missed time due to an injured shoulder. He rehabilitated that injury in the facility bearing his last name, the same place used by its namesake to treat a broken fibula in last winter, as well.



Marcus, Matt Mariota said, is "thankful" the facility has helped athletes recover. Still, its existence has nonetheless taken some getting used to. What happened the first time Marcus saw the lobby light display that, at just the right angle, reveals an image of his face?



"He was like, 'Wow,'" Matt Mariota said, with a quick laugh. "'It's really flashy.'"



Here are today's links:

Safeties are the QB of UO's defense



Players to watch in the Ducks offense in 2017

Video: Royce Freeman and Taggart speak with reporters Monday



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com