Oregon offered Gordo (Ala.) quarterback Tanner Bailey in the spring of 2020. It started there, and it ended after he took a quiet visit up to Eugene the weekend of February 27.
He knew when he stepped on the plane to fly back home after walking around the Oregon campus that he was going to be a Duck.
Then on Friday March 5, he let Mario Cristobal, Joe Moorhead, and the coaching staff know where his heart was leading him.
"I did a zoom call with the entire Oregon coaching staff last Friday, and that is when I told them," said Bailey. "I had known it since I was on the visit though. I didn't want to make that emotional decision though, so I slept on it, prayed about it for a few days, and I was excited then just I was when I was on campus.
"I knew my mind was made up, and I knew Oregon is the right school for me, so I committed."
The 6-foot-1, 195 pound four-star had quietly had Alabama and Oregon as his finalists for the last few weeks, and that trip up to the northwest put his mind at ease.
"I really didn't know what to expect up there. I knew I couldn't see the coaches, I knew I couldn't see the facilities, and I knew it would be different from little ole Gordo, where I am from, so I went up there excited.
"The coaches were texting me all day as I walked around, and I loved everything I saw. I loved the campus. I loved the environment. I was so impressed with everything I was able to see.
"When I got to the airport to go back home, I looked at my mom and dad, and I told them I was going to Oregon. I knew it. That visit sealed the deal."
The visit may have been the final piece of the puzzle to lure one of the top players in the south to the Pac 12, but it was Moorhead and that staff that made all this possible.
"I have known coach Moorhead since he was at Mississippi State, so we have that connection," said Bailey. "I love him and his offense. He has a great mind, and I have watched so many games of his from Mississippi State and Oregon. I love what he does and what he can do with me.
"Since they offered me in May, we have been in contact. I talked to coach Moorhead at least once a week at first, then when the season got going, things really heated up.
"We talked more, coach Cristobal got involved, and they really made me feel like a priority. Nobody recruited me the way they. Nobody made me feel the way Oregon did either, and that meant a lot.
"Coach Moorhead did a great job of recruiting me. We have a great relationship and I am excited to play in his offense."
Bailey feels he could be playing for not only a Pac 12 title, but a National title in his career as a Duck.
"I think Oregon is very, very close to winning it all. They have a great coaching staff, they are signing great recruiting classes, and I see us making a run it all soon.
"At Gordo, we have won at least 10 games five years in a row, we win a lot in baseball, and I want to play for a winner. Oregon is that, and I am excited about it.
"I felt important to them, they wanted me, and I am excited about my commitment."
