Torres' Take: How Oregon Football can Take the Next Step in Recruiting

The Ducks have established themselves as a major recruiting power, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

Author:
Max Torres
Publish date:
Aug 31, 2021 1:07 PM EDT

Heading into the season, the Ducks are hot on the recruiting trail with the top class in the Pac-12. A big reason for their success has been their construction of pipelines in California and Texas, two of the most talent-rich states in the country for high school football recruits.

California has consistently served as a foundation for most of Oregon's recruiting classes, and Mario Cristobal has taken it to another level with a particular interest in Southern California. Here in the 2022 class, he's continued to push the envelope and expand Oregon's national brand across the country, with a strong presence in Texas after swiping five recruits from right under the noses of storied in-state programs Texas and Texas A&M.

The next step for Oregon is to break into Florida.

And when I say break in, it's not to say the staff hasn't been there before. During Willie Taggart's brief tenure at the helm in Eugene, the "FLOREGON" hashtag was a mainstay on Oregon Twitter, but it's faded in the time since.

For context, I'm only focusing on players that spent the majority of their high school careers playing in Florida. Josh Delgado spent one season at IMG, and Mycah Pittman went to high school in Southern California.

Jonathan Denis came from Florida in the 2020 class and was positioned to earn some playing time this season before getting injured. The Ducks have also brought in guys like Daewood Davis and Ge'Mon Eafford from Deerfield Beach, but both have transferred out. Now the main Floridian making an impact is Brandon Dorlus.

With that in mind, the Ducks now need to land top talent from the third of the "big three" states-- and all the top recruiting powers have set the example. Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia all have at least ten players on their rosters from the Sunshine State. And Ohio State is starting to break in a bit with four.

Granted, the SEC programs have distance on their side, but we're past the point of that being a significant hurdle. What makes the prospect of resurrecting the Florida pipeline even better? You'd be hard-pressed to find a better time.

There's some room for disagreement, but in large part Oregon is outperforming Miami, Florida and Florida State both on the field and on the recruiting trail. None of the state's major programs, except maybe Florida, have been performing at a level consistent with what you'd expect from schools that have won national championships.

If you want an idea of just how loaded Florida is, 15 players in the SI99 call the Sunshine State home.

7. Edge Shemar Stewart (Opa Locka, FL)

8. Edge Marvin Jones (Plantation, FL)

9. CB Jaheim Singletary (Jacksonville, FL)

10. IDL Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy (Lakeland, FL)

18. LB Shemar James (Navarre, FL)-Florida

26. CB Daylen Everette (Bradenton, FL)-Clemson

27. IOL Tyler Booker (Bradenton, FL)-Alabama

29. S Kamari Wilston (Bradenton, FL)

36. TE Jaleel Skinner (Bradenton, FL)

41. S Keon Sabb (Bradenton, FL)- Clemson

45. CB Earl Little Jr. (Plantation, FL)

71. Edge Mario Eugenio (Tampa, FL)-Michigan

80. CB Devin Moore (Naples, FL)-Notre Dame

83. Edge Kenyatta Jackson (Hollywood, FL)

97. Edge Jihaad Campbell (Bradenton, FL)-Clemson

You can view the complete list of SI99 recruits here

Furthermore, Oregon's recruiting has never been this widespread. With verbal commitments from nine states in 2022, why not push into Florida? What's even more enticing--the coaching staff has extensive ties to the state.

We all know about Mario Cristobal and Miami from his time as a Hurricane, but the connections don't stop there. Alex Mirabal has ties to Florida from his time coaching under Cristobal at Florida International as well as his 14 seasons spent as a high school coach in southern Florida.

Cristobal's newest addition, Defensive Analyst Nick Toth, comes across the country after spending the better part of three years on the Central Florida staff. Rod Chance is also from Fort Lauderdale and played his high school football at national power St. Thomas Aquinas, so there's no doubt he knows the talent that his home state brings to the table.

Mario Cristobal hinted at expanding the program's recruiting reach when discussing what the alliance with the Big Ten and ACC could mean for the program. ACC matchups would take Oregon into Florida to face the likes of Miami and Florida State.

"We've got Ducks all over the country and this looks like a tremendous opportunity to expand our footprint, to expand and elevate our brand--be and go and compete in places that we haven't been before and just continue doing things to elevate not only our brand, but our conference and college football," Cristobal said.

All the pieces are there.

If Oregon wants to get over the hump and solidify themselves as one of the top five recruiting programs in the country, Florida could be the answer.

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