RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - Quack and quack.
Oregon scored big Sunday night when four-stars Jeremiah Criddell and Sean Dollars from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei committed to the Ducks during a ceremony here at the Athletic Republic training facility.
Plucking two of Southern California’s top prospects seems like nothing new to Oregon’s coaching staff - Criddell is No. 54 nationally, Dollars is No. 59 in the class - as the Ducks have now landed those two along with four-star defensive linemen Mase Funa and Keyon Ware-Hudson, and three-stars Cameron Williams and Jayvaun Wilson from the state.
Oregon has the top class in the Pac-12 and is ranked No. 12 nationally.
For Criddell, after his recent visit to Eugene, the four-star cornerback knew Oregon was the right place. He talked with close friend and teammate Dollars, and they formulated a plan.
“About three weeks ago after I got back from my visit I was like, ‘Man, this is the place for me,’” Criddell said. “(Dollars) was like, ‘Let’s just do it then.’ For a while, Sean has always liked Oregon and I was trying to venture out. I was looking at UDub, I was trying to look at FSU, I was trying to see where I could go.
“DBs can flourish in a lot of places, a lot of good coaches can make you a really good DB. Oregon we have coach (Keith) Heyward, coach Donte (Williams), coach (Mario) Cristobal is a defensive guy, he’s coming from Alabama. We have all the pieces, we just have to put it all together and we’ll be fine. There isn’t a standard set yet but we’re going to start it for sure.”
Minutes after making his pledge, which was live-streamed on Twitter, Criddell was on FaceTime with Cristobal, who seemed ecstatic about landing both four-star prospects.
The Oregon coach told them everyone on his staff was watching as Dollars and Criddell ripped painted signs of the final teams off the wall, both leaving Florida State and Oregon last, and then ripping the FSU posters to reveal their pledges.
The room went crazy.
Criddell was high on Washington throughout his recruitment, he loved his visit to Florida State and then Oklahoma and Notre Dame were also high on the list as well. But Oregon was the place.
“It was not the facilities, yeah, all that stuff is really good, it’s just an add-on,” Criddell said. “Right now, coming in freshman year and trying to make an impact, win championships and just win games, start off winning games and then championships."
Dollars, a speedy four-star running back who can run between the tackles, break it to the outside or catch the ball out of the backfield, seems like a perfect fit in Oregon’s offense. Washington, USC, Georgia, Nevada and Florida State were also considered but Dollars had known for a while that Oregon was the best fit.
“We already had a plan, it was basically already written,” Dollars said. “I already knew (Criddell) was going there. I said, ‘Bro, don’t do it right when you come back. Let’s just build the suspense a little bit and then we’ll do it.’ We held it back another week and we’re here right now.”
The secret is out. Oregon, here they come.
“I feel like me and Sean get each other really fast so he kind of had the vibe when I got back,” Criddell said. “I didn’t really tell him off the bat. It was little conversation, little conversation and then he started picking it up and I said, ‘That’s the place for me.’
“We did it and we’re with it now.”
