The future of Oregon football was announced on Wednesday’s National Signing Day – the final day of the recruitment process for high school and junior college standouts. Twenty-two players, 13 on offense, eight on defense and one who can play both ways, signed with the Ducks and will make Eugene their next destination.
“I think this class answered immediate needs at certain key positions for us that were hurt by graduation or the loss of great players,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said.
Specific positions Bellotti sought to strengthen this offseason were at defensive back and along the offensive line. The loss of starters Aaron Gipson and Justin Phinisee left holes at defensive back, but five potential players, including two junior college transfers, will compete this spring for the openings. They include JC transfers Jameel Dowling (6-foot-2, 179-pounds) and Matthew Harper (6-foot, 177-pounds) as well as incoming freshmen Devin Mays (5-foot-10, 161-pounds) and Chad Peppars (5-foot-10, 178-pounds). One defensive back, Marvin Johnson, is listed as a safety.
The offensive line also received a boost, signing five players including Pat So’oalo, the 6-foot-5 340-pounder who originally committed to Oregon out of high school in 2003. According to Bellotti, So’oalo was one of the most talented
linemen Oregon signed that year, but he did not enroll and instead attended Fresno City College, where he helped the Rams’ rushing attack rank 19th in the California Community College Football Conference. He is currently enrolled in classes at Oregon and will attend spring drills, as will fellow JC transfer Fenuki Tupou (6-foot-6, 324 pounds).
Three other incoming freshmen will join an offensive line that returns four full-time starters next season.
Oregon signed four defensive linemen (one, Bo Thran from Gresham’s Barlow High School, was also recruited as an offensive lineman) and three quarterbacks. The Ducks did not sign any quarterbacks last season and were almost forced to use wide receiver Garren Strong at times as the third-string quarterback after the season-ending injury to Kellen Clemens.
Oregon’s gun-slingers of the future include Nathan Costa of Hilmar, Calif., Justin Roper from Buford, Ga., and Cody Kempt from Westview High School in Beaverton. Kempt and Thran are the only two recruits from the state of Oregon.
Ten of Oregon’s 22 signees hail from California, two each from Washington, Oregon, Texas and Georgia, and one each from Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina and Oklahoma.
The Ducks have, in recent years, engineered many unconventional recruiting strategies, including comic strips involving potential players (which were later ruled illegal) and the new Oregongridiron.com and Mikebellotti.com Web sites.
Bellotti also noted other factors that influence success in the recruiting wars.
“When you win 10 games, that helps,” Bellotti said, adding that Eugene and Oregon’s facilities are big factors. “I think certainly the fact that we were ranked in the BCS got their attention. We’re becoming a more national recruiting organization.”
The Ducks signed three players at wide receiver and running back, as well as one at tight end, to complete a class that ranks among the top 50 in the nation, according to Rivals.com.
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