In years past, Duck fans have become quite accustom to the normal signing day let down. Not to say that the fans aren’t happy to bring in the players Oregon does sign, but year-after-year three things seemed to be true:

1) The Ducks would sign pretty much who they expected to sign going into the day.

2) Oregon would be in on some top talent, but often finish second.

3) Oregon would lose a couple commits to flips at the end.

For Oregon fans, the fireworks would usually wrap up around 9 or 10 am, as the final expected letter hit the fax machines of the Oregon coaches. For the last two years, those days are gone.

Wednesday was a day that did not stop for Oregon, starting at 4 am and not ending until much later in the day. The day brought a combination of fear and excitement, as Duck fans slowly heal from years of being the "bridesmaid" for top recruits (often to USC), flipping the script to see the Ducks land some of the top talent in the land.

Suspense remains with potential silent signees waiting in the wings. We'll know more about those recruits when they make their choices public in All-Star games right after New Year's Day.

There is no slowing down in recruiting. In order to succeed, programs have to bring it on every level, including social media. Oregon and many other schools now have extensive staff that produce content hyping all major athletic related events. Above we see the printing system used to create the nameplates for the Oregon locker room.

The coaches have already been up since 3 am or earlier and have headed to the HDC to start off the day. When you recruit nationally on the West Coast, you have to adjust life to cover both East Coast and West Coast time. Student athletes are allowed to send their National Letter of Intent (NLI) at 7 am local time, so Oregon was ready to go for multiple incoming letters.

Smith was the first to send in his paperwork, which occured prior to the 4:16 am post confirming his signature. There is some delay in receiving the letter and posting information online as Oregon (and all other schools) has to make sure everything is in place before making an announcement. Once the student athlete is signed, Oregon is free to promote and speak specifically about the player.

Sneaking in right behind Smith, Jonathan Denis was officially announced at 4:26 am. The first couple of linemen signees no doubt gave Cristobal, a former Big Ugly, an extra boost in the morning. Oregon has been structuring their program on physicality, and the first two recruits in are the types of athletes needed to continue that trend.

Luke Hill joined the party officially at 4:35 am, an elite level cornerback that has stayed true to Oregon after committing nearly eight months ago. Hill did not waiver, despite being heavily pursued. On Thursday, Hill would be named one of the USA Today All-American First-Team defenders, joining a couple other Duck signees. While Oregon has landed top offensive talent in the past, they have never recruited at the level they currently are on defense.

Bradyn Swinson capped off the 4 am hour, being announced at 4:48. Swinson was a major want for the Oregon coaches, and they put their full effort towards him once it became clear that the Ducks would miss on a five-star end. Make no mistake, the Ducks love Swinson's game and are quite happy to have him in an Oregon uniform. Swinson picked up local player of the year honors a few hours after signing.

Maybe the coaches grabbed a quick 10-minute power nap before 5 AM, knowing that they had signed all four of their East Coast Time Zone recruits, but they couldn't rest for long, as they also were expecting letters from the Central Time Zone.

Benson had to be sitting close to the fax machine at 7 am CST, as he was quickly announced at 5:07 am PST by the Duck Football staff. Benson will likely remain a 3-star in recruiting rankings, but the Oregon coaches think he deserves more. Benson played against lesser competition in high school, but brings a combination of size and speed that will allow him the chance to be elite in college.

Marcus Harper was not far behind Benson, being announced at 5:18 am. This marked a six-for-six signing of players in the CST and EST time zones. More amazingly, all but one of the recruits were committed for months before signing day. Make no mistake, the Ducks aren't just recruiting nationally, they are going out and grabbing priority players from across the country, with the group averaging over just over 20 D-1 offers a piece.

With Harper sending in his letter at 5:18 am, the coaches might have had enough time to sneak over to a sleepy pod and get a better nap in. Chances are they didn't, but I know I would have. Oregon had over 40 minutes until they expected their next letter of intent.

Another long time signee and extremely athletic big man, Jaylan Jeffers joined the flock at 6:19 am PST. Jaylan was one of three from the mountain time zone, but the only one fully expected to sign during the hour. Jeffers is not only a huge addition on the line, but also an important recruiter for Oregon, as he did his best to try and persuade teammate 5* CB Kelee Ringo to join the Ducks. Even if the Ducks miss on Ringo, they didn't miss on Jeffers and Cristobal and Mirabal are excited for his potential.

No signing day would be complete without something really crazy happening, and a top runner for the award this year would likely go to Jaiden Francois. Following a couple commitments and decommitments from Miami prior to the day, his signing day announcement became a multiple hour drama involving phone calls and an eventual signature with Nebraska. We might have a better story some time in the future as Jonathan Denis was sitting next to Francois for much of the ordeal.

At this point, there was no turning back. All the coaches could do is pour another coffee or just ride off the adrenaline of the mass of incoming letters. Oregon was still waiting on 4* WR Johnny Wilson, and although he publicly didn't de-commit at this point, all signs were pointing to ASU.

Bennett Williams became the first west coast commit to sign, being announced at 7:12 am. Make no mistake, Williams is no two-star, we are simply waiting on Rivals to update his ranking as a Junior College player. Williams was a Freshman All-American at Illinois in 2018 and should fit right in with a talented defensive backfield. Williams is reunited with buddy Cyrus Habibi-Likio, and they might soon get to greet each other on opposite sides of the practice field.

Dontae Manning tweeted out that he had signed with a school at 7:18 am. This one is worth keeping an eye on as the Ducks are considered a front-runner for his services. The other school thought to be in contention in this one is Georgia, but neither the Ducks or the Dawgs have tipped their hand yet by offering additional targets. There is another major piece in play in that transaction as 5* Kelee Ringo is also a silent signee with Oregon and Georgia (favorite) facing off for his services.

The expected bad news finally dropped at 7:19 am, as the no longer "Green" Lantern was announced to ASU. While you hate to lose someone of Wilson's ability, the Ducks are certainly not hurting in the talent department at receiver. Wilson is headed to a great situation in Arizona with an established true sophomore quarterback going into next season.

No time to cry over spilt milk, Oregon was back in the W column at 7:20 am when Jake Shipley was announced. Jake is another guy that has been a Duck for a long time, committing in the Summer, and never waivered on his commitment. Finding big men for the defensive line can be a struggle on the west coast, so it is important to win these type of recruiting battles.

Jackson LaDuke was officially announced at 7:29 am. Rated outside the Rivals250, we would consider Jackson an underrated 4*. Cristobal would later talk about LaDuke being a great compliment to a couple later signees in the day. LaDuke is fast, athletic, and a relentless competitor, with the ability to add on bulk.

The good news kept rolling in at 7:36 am as Oregon confirmed top 10 athlete Jaden Navarrette. Navarrette is a former LSU commit that flipped to Oregon all the way back in April. Since then he has been all Duck, coming from the same school as Troy and Travis Dye. Cristobal didn't make mention of Navarrette when specifically talking about linebackers later in the day, so Oregon may be interested in his potential at STUD or possibly giving him a shot at multiple positions.

Next up was the Ducks quarterback signee Jay Butterfield, introduced at 7:46 am. Butterfield was the clear cut second option for Oregon, but only behind the #1 quarterback in the nation. As soon as Oregon missed out on DJ Uiagalelei, Butterfield was given the green light and jumped on the opportunity. Butterfield brings the size and arm strength need to be a top quarterback at the college level.

Topping off the 7 o'clock hour, Kris Hutson came in at 7:58 am. This one had to be a relief for the coaches as Hutson had waivered a little bit with the loss of Arroyo. Even without an offensive coordinator in place, Hutson had faith in Cristobal to put him in a successful position. Hutson announced the night before signing that he would join Oregon in the early period.

By the time some people start to roll into work, at least 13 student athletes had already signed to be Ducks. Oregon entered the day only really sure of 18 signees, so by 8 am, the day was already seemingly over two-thirds done. In past years, it might have been, but a lot of action remained on this day.

TJ Bass came in at 8:08 am. Originally from Washington, Bass played his JC ball down in California and adds depth in a much needed area. Oregon graduates six offensive linemen this year, so grabbing someone that is closer to playing level development is important for this class. Bass already has the size to step in and play, but will also benefit from Feld and company getting him right.

Oregon continued to roll in southern California talent when they announced Jared Greenfield at 8:24 am. Greenfield is another long time commit, having made his pledge during the summer. Having Greenfield in the fold became more important as Oregon finally lost out on Avantae Williams (expected flip) prior to signing day. Greenfield will have time to develop and learn once he gets here.

Just to show off Oregon's recruiting reach, the Ducks had two players that couldn't even sign a letter until 9 am PST. So far, everything was rolling out for the Ducks as well as could be expected. Even with the loss of Wilson (and earlier Avantae Williams) the Ducks were still poised to be right around the Top 15 classes in the country.

Maceal Afaese was the first of the two Hawaiian signees at 9:29 am. Afaese adds a huge body for the DL and a nasty streak on the field to boot. As a re-occuring theme, this is another commit all the way back from the summer and someone that did not waiver from their Oregon commitment.

The second big signing from Hawaii came in at 10:02 am when Fa'aope Laloulu was announced. Big is an understatement as Faaope comes in at 6'8" 390-pounds. Did we mention he is still athletic at that size? Cristobal would later in the day would denote him as someone that made Joe Salave'a look small. I'm not kidding on the athletic part, above you can see him in the air playing volleyball. With Oregon's offensive line coaching, Laloulu has an NFL level ceiling.

I did a quick recap of the remaining action at 10:04 am, at this point Sewell was the last (#18) of the expected signatures and more excitement was possible on the day. At this point, there were still plenty of Oregon fans fearful of Flowe picking USC despite most predicting him to Oregon. We'll just chalk that up to PTSD from past signing days.

At 10:21 am Kelee Ringo indicated that he signed with a school. Where that school is? We won't know for a couple more weeks. Georgia has been rumored to be the long time favorite, but Oregon was a childhood favorite of Ringo and rapidly closing ground. Whether it was enough to secure his signature is the question. What was thought to be a slam dunk for Georgia turned into a greater mystery when Ringo showed up later in the day in an Oregon shirt for an interview

With only 30 minutes remaining until Justin Flowe announced his college destination, pictures started to flow(e) out to social media. Based on his hat selection, we had a sneaking suspicion which one Justin was going to pick.

11 am to noon was poised to be a historic hour for the Ducks. All signs pointed to Oregon not only signing two five-stars in the same hour, they would also mark the first time Oregon had ever signed two five-stars in a year. Add on top of that, Oregon would be the first team since 2005 to bring home the top two insider linebackers.

At 11:13 am the #4 overall recruit made his commitment known and by 11:20 am the Ducks announced his signing. Words don't quite capture what Oregon is getting in Flowe, so it is probably better to just watch the film. Both Flowe and Sewell are superfreaks, and both will try and out work everyone on and off the field. It took a few hours, but Duck fans could finally relax, knowing they had landed a huge one for the second year in a row.

As a funny aside, Cristobal didn't even watch the announcement as he was running practice on the lead up to the Rose Bowl. He had a staffer on the sideline with it streaming on a phone, and once the good news came in, Cristobal received the thumbs up.

Flowe was later named USA Today Defensive Player of the Year, marking the second year in a row (Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2019) that Oregon has landed not only the top defensive player from Calfornia, but the top defensive player in the nation. Earlier in the week Flowe also took home the Butkus award for top HS linebacker. Flowe became Oregon's second First-Team All-American Defender signee (following Luke Hill).

In the moments following the Flowe announcement, past USC greats came out and called a spade a spade, indicating that Oregon had taken over west coast recruiting. This is something that a past coach, Scott Frost, indicated wouldn't be possible. Sometimes effort overcomes obstacles.

Before the clock struck noon, a couple of the 4* 2021 recruits were out there talking about a huge commitment. I spoke with Brown and confirmed that he was talking about someone that didn't commit Wednesday. The initial logical thought is that it has to be Ringo or Manning, but we'll have to wait and see. We'll talk about the dark horse candidate in a bit.

Fresh off his brother coming home with The Outland Trophy, Noah Sewell made it official shortly after noon, at 12:05 pm. While he wasn't technically announced in the same hour, it was within an hour of each other, so I'll count that.

As mentioned above, Sewell is a freak, but a different kind of freak than even Flowe. Sewell runs around at nearly 270 pounds and can even play running back (scary). Andy Avalos indicated that he told Sewell they would sketch up some wildcat plays for him in the upcoming years.

Not only is Oregon winning the recruiting battles, they are winning over the families. Faoliu, Dye, Herbert, Mariota, Sewell, Ware-Hudson, and likely soon Flowe will be sets of brothers playing for the Ducks. Sewell is the third USA Today First-Team Defensive player of this class.

Lost in the excitement of signing Sewell was Myles Slusher making the anticipated flip at 12:05 pm. Slusher is an excellent player that had a desire to play closer to home. We look forward to seeing him succeed in the SEC. Oregon entered the day with 20 expected to sign somewhere, with two of those expected to flip (Wilson and Slusher), so with Flowe signed, Oregon now sat at #19 signed by lunchtime.

The only real excitement of the 1 pm hour came with the news drop of Kelee Ringo showing up in a Duck shirt on signing day. While Georgia still feels good about their chances, it had to make a few fans nervous at the possibilty of Ringo going to the Ducks. Guess we'll find out on January 4th.

2:03 pm saw the start of the signing day press conference, where Cristobal would be able to openly discuss the players for the first time. During the conference he mentioned Oregon not being done multiple times, and something even happened in the waining moments of the session.

During the Press Conference, 5* TE Darnell Washington also indicated that he had signed with a school. In another reoccuring theme, if Oregon has a shot here, they are going against Georgia again. Washington was thought to be a strong Georgia lean, but within 20 minutes of his announcement, Oregon got more good news from a friend of Washington. Although he didn't officially visit, Washington has visited Oregon before and would be considered one of the all time steals.

Just as the press conference was winding down at 2:35 pm, Official visitor from last weekend, 4* QB Robby Ashford committed to the Ducks. Ashford is an elite athlete who also plays baseball. He made the Elite 11 finals and while he has some mechanics to work on, he has the tools to be next level. Additionally, he is good friends with Darnell Washington and there are some rumors flying that they wanted to go to school together. After watching the way Oregon utilized Jake Breeland this season, I'm not sure why an elite TE wouldn't want to come to Eugene.

Moments after saying he was going to sign in Feburary, Ashford pulled off the perfectly executed fake and sent in his paperwork. He realized he was completely sure of his decision and there was no reason to wait.

I'm not sure if Mario Cristobal is really human. His wife Jessica let all know that he left the house at 3 am on Wednesday, and he still made it to the Ducks Men's Basketball game that tipped of at 8 pm with his two sons. 19 hours after he left the house, the Ducks finished up their game. 19 hours may seem crazy to some of us, but to Mario, that's probably not an atypical day.

Oregon obviously has at least one big commit out there, with the likely suspects being Manning and Ringo. Additionally, they could have another signee that joined the fray later on in Washington. If by some miracle Oregon pulled off Ringo and Washington, they would create a new mortal enemy in Georgia, which had a somewhat disappointing signing day (and yet is still top 5 nationally in the team rankings). Chances are that Oregon lands Manning and Georgia picks up Ringo and Washington, but time will tell.

Oregon finished the day at #10 in the team recruiting rankings, and with a solid close should be able to notch back-to-back top 10 classes for the first time in school history. Sit back and enjoy the ride Duck fans, because Cristobal and company are taking Oregon to old heights, but with a different identity. With dead period upon us, Cristobal and staff can focus on something else great, the Rose Bowl: