EUGENE -- Oregon junior cornerback Terrance Mitchell will forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft in hopes of earning a job that's "always been a dream of mine," he said Thursday evening.

Mitchell had five interceptions as a junior. In a phone interview, Mitchell said he had spoken with Oregon secondary coach John Neal about his decision. With Nick Aliotti retiring as defensive coordinator after Oregon's 30-7 Alamo Bowl victory, Mitchell said he was not influenced by the prospect of a new coordinator, nor was he waiting to hear whether fellow junior cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu would stay or leave early.

"Being at Oregon was great," Mitchell said. "Since I've been here we won big-time bowls and accomplished a lot, 38 games starting, I felt like I accomplished a lot and it was time to go to the next thing."

Mitchell's decision to leave for the NFL was first reported by

and later confirmed by

. Mitchell plans to move away from Eugene to train but did not have a location chosen yet.

Though he requested an evaluation by the NFL draft board, Mitchell said he did not read much into a review he did not consider favorable.

"It wasn't a fair evaluation," he said. "It came back in like a week and they didn't have time to break down film. They didn't get chance to really dissect what was real. I

've been an underdog my whole life.

"In my opinion I'm just focused on going out and when I'm lined up with all the other DBs in the country just to go show what I can do and put show on like I did coming out of high school. ... I

just always have a chip on my shoulder ever since I came into college as a three star. I know the NFL is full of three-stars (players)."

Mitchell's departure depletes a secondary that was one of the nation's deepest in 2013, with seniors Avery Patterson and Brian Jackson at safety, Ekpre-Olomu at corner, with upperclassmen contributors in Dior Mathis and Troy Hill as nickel-package corners. Patterson and Jackson played their final games in the Alamo Bowl as expected but, Hill is suspended after a mid-December arrest and Ekpre-Olomu is still deciding whether he will return.

"Coming into college as a young kid growing up (the NFL) was always a dream of mine," he said. "It started there. When I got to college and came in my first year, being blessed and able to start and playing I could see I could play at this level."