CORVALLIS -- Gary Andersen's first Oregon State recruiting cycle was abbreviated, thanks to the quick turnaround from a mid-December hire to an early February Signing Day.

In his second recruiting cycle, the Beavers focused hard on adding speed and athleticism at outside linebacker.

The 2017 signing class also addressed needs. It was also the 49th-best class in the nation according to 247 Sports' composite rankings. But perhaps most importantly, the group of 25 high school and junior college signees helped OSU stabilize its roster, both in numbers and in talent.

"Other than myself taking care of the kids, that's probably the most important part of my job," Andersen said Wednesday, "making sure that I put the coaches and the players in the program in a position to be able to have a roster that has enough kids in each position to be able to compete.

"That was big in this recruiting class, to filter ourselves into where we need to be and hit the targets that we wanted to hit."

Andersen's goal is to have 42 scholarship players on offense, 40 on defense and three on special teams. He wants balance in each class from freshman to senior. On Wednesday, he rattled off every defensive position group and noted the Beavers are now either at or close to the desired figure.

OSU hit those marks by signing seven defensive backs with length and speed in corners Isaiah Dunn, Justin Gardner and Kaleb Hayes and safeties TraJon Cotton, Jeffrey Manning, David Morris (a four-star prospect and Oregon Class 6A Defensive Player of the Year) and Charles "Moku" Watson. The Beavers also added four wide receivers -- including four-star early enrollee Isaiah Hodgins -- to create "tremendous competition" as they strive for a more dynamic passing game. They brought in five offensive linemen -- including two from the junior-college ranks -- to help ease the loss of three starters.

And they complemented those additions with a "smattering" of "best players available," along with starting quarterback contender Jake Luton and immediate impact defensive lineman Craig Evans from December's junior college Signing Day. 

Andersen's staff put this class together by "getting into those fights" for high-level prospects while "(sticking) with who we are," Andersen said.

The long-term vision for the program combined with the improvements results during a 4-8 season helped the Beavers' pitch. So did the ongoing construction of the renovated Valley Football Center, since "quite frankly, we didn't show (visitors) the locker room" during their first recruiting cycle, Andersen acknowledged. Andersen let players -- both prospects and current Beavers -- recruit each other, because "there's nothing more powerful in recruiting than kids." And they plugged Corvallis as a college town and off-field endeavors like Beyond Football as unique assets within the program.

"We don't try to put on a facade," Andersen said. "Some may say kids walk out of our recruiting visit and it's maybe too real, and I couldn't disagree more with you. I'm not interested in making it something that it's not, and I believe that happens sometimes out there, where it's just this 48-hour party (on official visits).

"I want them to walk out of here and understand what life is as a student-athlete at Oregon State."  

Down the stretch, new passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Jason Phillips added two running backs from Texas in B.J. Baylor and Calvin Tyler. The Beavers landed three-star linebacker Kesi Ah-Hoy from Hawaii on Signing Day, and did not lose any commitments due to a surprise flip. Luton, Hodgins and fellow early enrollee wide receiver Kolby Taylor are already on campus to participate in spring practice, while the rest of the class will arrive in either April or June.

A coaching staff's third season is often viewed as when its program should make significant strides. And Signing Day is the first benchmark.

Andersen's third recruiting class addressed needs. But it also helped stabilized the roster, both in numbers and in talent.

"We swung for the fences many, many times, but we also stay with the grassroots of who we are as a program," Andersen said. "That's taking the guys that we like and that we identify and make sure that they fit our program to the best of our knowledge."  

-- Gina Mizell | @ginamizell

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.