The Oregon football class of 2019 is a work in progress. Sort of. With three weeks until national letter-of-intent day, they have several slots remaining and a handful of targets left to fill them.
But the class is mostly complete because of the success of the coaching staff during the early signing period. On December 19th they signed 22 athletes to the class, securing the top-ranked recruiting class in program history.
Our Top Recruiter series has featured four coaches who were the top dogs during the early signing period: Keith Heyward, Michael Johnson, Marcus Arroyo and Cort Dennison.
Today we honor Oregon’s 2019 Top Recruiter: DL/Associate Head Coach Joe Salave’a.
When you look at the results, no assistant coach played a more valuable role than defensive line coach Big Joe.
They teach you in physics class that large bodies attract each other. Applying this principle alone could help explain the success Salave'a enjoyed as primary recruiter for four outstanding linemen.
But of course physics has nothing to do with it. The highly capable defensive technician with years of NFL experience connects with his players on the field during practices, and it clearly translates into the living rooms of prospects.
On early signing day, Salave'a made quite a recruiting splash. He led the successful recruitments of the nation's mammoth No. 1 JC player, two elite defensive tackles and a quarterbacks' pass rushing nightmare.
Four players: Sixteen stars. A tremendous effort by any measure.
Salave'a did not stop there. He assisted Coach Heyward in the recruitment of the bombshell addition to the class, five-star DL Kayvon Thibodeaux. He helped Cort Dennison close the deal with both Brandon Dorlus and Treven Ma'ae.
And as a final feather in his 2019 recruiting cap, he helped Alex Mirabal land Narbonne standout OT Jonah Tauanu'u.
Oregon enjoyed tremendous success on the recruiting trail under first-year head coach Mario Cristobal. When all the smoke clears in early February, they will have landed one of the Top Ten recruiting classes in the nation. And while the Duck staff recruited as a team and many of them had great results, nobody shined brighter than Big Joe Salave'a.
