Traverse City Record-Eagle

Football

February 3, 2011

Oregon feels right for Fisher

TC West tackle signs with Ducks

By Mike Eckert

Traverse City — meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Jake Fisher went to Oregon last weekend and came home a Duck.

The Traverse City West standout ended a whirlwind month of recruiting on Wednesday when he signed his national letter of intent to play football at the University of Oregon.

“I went out there after I met with (offensive line coach Steve) Greatwood and (head coach Chip) Kelly, I was really excited to go there,” Fisher said. “I went out there and I was finally just happy. I decided that was the place for me.”

Kelly was in Traverse City last week to visit Fisher. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound All-Stater then took his official visit to the school last weekend. After the meetings, Fisher wanted to give his decision a few days to sink in before making it official.

“(I wanted to) make sure I woke up both days and felt like that was my new home, where I was going to be for the next four to five years,” Fisher said.

When Fisher signed his national letter of intent, it ended a highly publicized recruiting process.

“It was extremely busy,” West coach Tim Wooer said. “I’m glad it’s over and I’m sure Jake is 10 times as glad. He was the one who had to make the decision. But I told Jake, ‘It’s time to move forward. Put a smile on your face. You’ve got a great opportunity. And don’t look back.’ The reason I say that is because I know it was extremely difficult.”

Last summer, Fisher went on a recruiting trip to Cincinnati, Michigan and Michigan State — and came away with scholarship offers from all three. He quickly gave a verbal commitment to Michigan and head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Then on Jan. 5, Wolverines athletic director Dave Brandon fired Rodriguez after three seasons. Fisher and Wooer decided to re-open the recruiting process and Florida and Oregon quickly jumped into the mix along with Michigan State and the Wolverines with new coach Brady Hoke.

“The whole process was about what’s best for Jake Fisher,” Wooer said. “It’s not about what’s best for Traverse City West, or what’s best for his coaches. I think his parents felt the same way. They want to go with what’s best for Jake. This is a huge sacrifice for his parents as well.”

“I’m humble, but choosing wherever I could go was nice,” Fisher said. “And seeing everything was good for me.”

In the end, though, it was Oregon.

“It’s just what they’ve been doing,” Fisher said. “They’ve been in a bowl game 19 out of 20 years. It’s a good program. That’s what struck my eye.

“The players and the coaches, they all want to win. Everyone’s on the same page. They’re doing things right. They’re not going to put up with anything. And they push for your education as much as they can.”

Fisher plans on studying sports management.

“If you were going to go out of state and pick a school, is there a hotter school in the country right now than Oregon?” Wooer asked. “They played in the national championship game. Their facilities are second to none.”

Oregon is coming off of a 12-1 season in which the Ducks lost the BCS championship game on a last-second field goal  to Auburn.

“When we re-opened it, you were curious who was interested and what options he had,” Wooer said. “When Oregon made two phone calls and dropped a couple e-mails from Arizona when they were playing in the national championship game, I knew that Jake was a pretty high priority to them. If he was a high priority to Oregon, I knew he probably would be to anybody.”

The Ducks will be looking to stay among the national elite this fall with a number of key players returning.

And don’t rule out Fisher being in the mix right away.

“I talked to their offensive line coach Steve Greatwood yesterday,” Wooer said. “They’ve got two senior tackles right now. Because they play at such a fast tempo, they certainly want to have two deep on their depth chart. He thought that he might even be able to play as a true freshman. But he thought for sure as a redshirt freshman after those two kids graduate he’ll have a phenomenal opportunity to see the field.”

“I think I’ll fit in any offense,” Fisher said. “Everything they run is so innovative. They’re not a traditional school that’s going to do anything because everyone else is doing it. They’re going to find new ways.”

Oregon gave Fisher a workout plan to use for the months leading up to his arrival in the fall. He can also get back to a normal life as a high school senior now that the decision is over.

Fisher said he couldn’t go very long over the last month without thinking about the decision or having someone talk to him about it.

“I probably got (asked) 20 times a day, if not more,” Fisher said. “It was a little awkward, but I didn’t discourage it. It was nice to have something to talk to with everybody.”

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