Just ahead of the early national signing period, JaMarcus Shephard has made it clear he wants to recruit more Oregon football players.
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Oregon high school football players, as well as their parents and coaches, likely walked away from Oregon State football coach JaMarcus Shephard’s introductory press conference with a new confidence in the program.
One day before the start of a three-day early national signing period, Shephard made it clear that he intends to recruit Oregon high school football players more than the Beavers have in recent years.
“I do believe that a nucleus of our football team needs to come from local areas from Oregon and within a five-hour radius of this institution,” Shephard said when asked about the makeup of the Beavers’ future roster. “Why? Because I think that those young men are the ones that create part of the culture. They’re taking people back home for Thanksgiving. They’re taking people to the lake and taking them out skiing and they understand the landscape of the area that we in.”
Shephard added that he wants to look for players from all over the western United States, he specifically mentioned the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles as places where Oregon State has had a lot of success with recruits. He also brought up Utah, Colorado and Las Vegas as top targets.
Bell has signed his letter of intent to play college football at Utah, but he was previously committed to Oregon State. Howard Lao for The Oregonian/OregonLive
When it comes to crafting relationships with in-state recruits, Shephard has some work cut out for him. In taking over for Trent Bray, Shephard inherits a program that has struggled with in-state recruiting.
The Beavers have no commits from the top 20 of Oregon’s class of 2026, per 247Sports’ ranking.
And it’s not for a lack of interest.
The Beavers previously had commitments from Lake Oswego running back LaMarcus Bell and Lakeridge edge rusher Noah Tishendorf. Both are three-star recruits and later flipped their commitments to other schools — Bell is signed with Utah and Tishendorf is now committed to West Virginia.
Steve Coury, who just coached Lake Oswego to the Class 6A state championship, said he is looking forward to meeting with Shephard.
“I think his philosophy with the local kids is important to the survival and building of the Beaver program,” Coury told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “You need a good culture and his idea of building it around people familiar with the surroundings is right on the money in my opinion.”
Tishendorf is committed to West Virginia, but was previously committed to Oregon State. Ali Gradischer for The Oregonian/OregonLive
Shephard’s comment about going after in-state high school recruits mirrors his commitment to the state as a whole.
Another big part of Shephard’s introductory press conference included that he wanted to have as many alumni as possible involved with the program.
“Let me tell you right now, all the alumni, get your butt back here,” Shephard said. “I want you back here. I want you on the sidelines. I want you engaging with our players. I want you sitting in meetings. I want you sitting in my office talking to me about your experience here at Oregon State and how we can mirror that. Or how we can enhance that experience for our current athletes.”
Coury is also an alumnus of Oregon State, an All-American receiver in the late 1970s.
“I look forward to watching Coach and his staff build on this philosophy,” he said. “It’s got alumni like me excited about the future.”
The 2025 Oregon State football roster featured 21 players from Oregon. It’s unclear how many of those players will return in 2026, but Riley Williams (who played for Central Catholic) has already announced his intent to enter the transfer portal.
One of Shephard’s first tasks may be in trying to keep linebacker Dexter Foster around. A Central Catholic alumnus who also played for Roosevelt, Foster has turned into one of the Beavers’ top young defenders.
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