3* QB Paul Piferi recaps Oregon State visit, where OSU stand before his June 14th commitment date

One by one, class of 2019 quarterbacks are coming off the board, announcing their verbal commitments to colleges across the country as Oregon State are still in search for their guy who the coaches believe will best fit their style of play.

According to the 2019 247Sports ‘Top247’ quarterback rankings, 27 of the top 40 quarterbacks in the country are currently verbally committed to a college program. With the new offense in place under head coach Jonathan Smith, it’s safe to say at this point the Beavers looking at pro-style quarterbacks more so than dual-threat quarterbacks, although some dual-threat quarterbacks out there are still under serious consideration.

With that being said, according the the same ‘Top247’ rankings, when you look only at the 2019 pro-style quarterbacks rankings, 14 of the top 20 pro-style quarterbacks are also currently verbally committed to a college football team.

One of those remaining uncommitted quarterbacks recently took an important unofficial to Corvallis ahead of an anticipated June 14th commitment date.

Considered by many to be the No. 1 quarterback target on the Beavers recruiting board, insert 6-foot-5, 210-pound 247Sports three-star pro-style signal caller Paul Piferi from Villa Park high school in Villa Park, California about thirty-five miles Southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Ranked by those same ‘Top247’ 247Sports rankings as the No. 32 quarterback overall in the country and the No. 20 pro-style QB in the country, Piferi currently holds seventeen offers from teams such as Cincinnati, Colorado State, Harvard, Missouri, Oregon State, Princeton, Purdue, Washington State and others.

This past Monday and Tuesday, Piferi and his father made the trip from California to Oregon as it was the younger Piferi’s first time visiting the “Beaver State”.

“Coming from Villa Park, this was my first time coming to Oregon. The state had very beautiful scenery to enjoy on our drive from Portland to Corvallis with a lot of green landscape. It was an amazing sight to see.”

Tuesday was when the tour and interactions with the coaches took place for Piferi and he admitted he came away thoroughly impressed with what he saw and heard.

“On Tuesday morning, I was first given a tour of the academic department and got the chance to talk to the Dean of Engineering. After that we got lunch on campus with some people in the athletic department like Darrick Yray. Then we went to see the locker room, Valley Football Center, and field inside Reser Stadium. I got the chance to take some pictures in some game jerseys and had some great conversations with the coaches. The tour of the academic department and exploring the engineering buildings were really cool. The dean was very informative of how the practice schedule would not affect the school work and how my classes would work around football with study hall and tutors always being available to me if need be. I liked the atmosphere in and around campus and within the football facilities, I have a love for the Beavers and college town of Corvallis. My dad really liked how Oregon State laid out their plan of how they would take care of me on and off the field, whether it is maintaining a proper diet and nutrition or academic support.”

Being the only recruit on campus had its perks as well as Piferi and his father were able to spend plenty of time with almost every coach on staff and got to have meaningful conversations with each offensive coach.

“The coaches knew that I was planning to commit soon so they wanted to get me on campus as soon as possible regardless if it was an unofficial or official visit. I already knew a few of them previously like Coach Smith from Washington, Coach Lindgren from Colorado, and Coach Pitre played at El Modena High School less than a mile from my high school. I was able to talk to almost all of the coaches. I loved talking to Coach Lindgren, Coach Smith, and Coach Pitre in particular. We watched some of my film from last season and they talked about what I do well as a quarterback and how I could fit into their offense. They let me know that I was their number one target right now. I really liked how the entire coaching staff made my dad and I feel at home on campus. They were very nice and know what they are doing and I think they will do a great job leading the team in the right direction moving forward. We ran into a few current players as well and even though we didn't talk much, they were very welcoming and interested in getting to know me. It was a fantastic visit. If I were to commit to OSU, I would definitely make sure that I would take an official visit in the fall time to experience the game day atmosphere.”

Piferi has had a busy off-season looking to become a better quarterback and overall football player as he participated in 7-on-7 football tournaments for both his Villa Park team and B2G Sports.

“My season with B2G just ended not too long ago and my off-season training with my high school is just getting started. For B2G, I was trying to improve my mechanics and footwork since it’s a fast pace style of play, and with my high school I am currently trying to get timing down with my receivers and make sure everything is on point by the time the season starts. Just capitalizing from last year to make sure we are in the best position possible to succeed as a team. I want to keep progressing as a quarterback, overall football player, and leader on and off the field while continuing to get better.”

While he does have 17 offers, there are a few that are standing out more than others at this point in Piferi’s recruitment.

“I never publicly released a top 10 schools or anything like that, but at this point I’d say that my ‘unofficial top 6’ schools are Cincinnati, Missouri, Oregon State, Purdue, Rice and Washington State. The reason I like those six school are because of their academics, culture around each campus, the entire coaching staffs, and their offensive game plans of how they utilize their quarterbacks. I’ve already unofficially visited Washington State, I just got back from my trip to Oregon State and I have an official visit to Purdue scheduled for June 8th. Missouri is the other school that I might visit as well since my mother went to college there.”

With a verbal commitment coming no later than June 14th, the last day of school for Villa Park students, Piferi admits that a decision could come sooner if the timing feels right.

“I want to commit no later than June 14th since that is our last day of school but also because that is when our off-season training starts as well with our high school team. It’s possible that I could decide before that day if I feel like it’s the right time. I’m not the flashy type of person that wants a whole lot of attention, there’s not going to be any big ceremony or anything like that. I will just call the coaching staff that I am committing to so I can let them know privately first, and then I will announce it on Twitter publicly.”

As previously stated, Piferi knows what things are most important to him when deciding a college, but also knows a few other key factors that will play a significant role when weighing pros and cons of each school.

“As of right now I am planning on majoring in engineering, Oregon state has a very good engineering program which is one big reason why I’m very interested in them. Their engineering program has been consistently considered one of the best in the entire country for a number of years now. Things like distance from home, open depth chart/possible immediate playing time as a true freshman, what conference each school is in, what style of offense each team runs also plays a smaller role when I am talking with my family about choosing a college.”

Jonathan Smith has yet to coach his first game as a head coach so he still has things to prove to this current Beaver football team, alumni, fans, and maybe more importantly, future recruits who are considering Oregon State. Piferi believes that Coach Smith has the right personnel in place even without seeing a game being played and gave a simple “yes” when asked if they are under serious consideration for his services as a quarterback.

Piferi is ready to get the weight that this decision carries off of his shoulders so he can get back to focusing on being the best leader and quarterback for his Villa Park team.

“I am really looking to improve on my own consistency, accuracy as a passer, reading defenses, and to capitalize from last year when we start the season we have high expectations not only as players, but as a coaching staff and entire school. We have a lot of pride and determination.”

With two weeks, or possibly less, until Piferi is scheduled to make his announcement, and with at least one trip to a different school that could challenge Oregon State to land Piferi guaranteed to take place, this will be one recruiting battle that Beaver fans will want to pay close attention to. This intelligent young man could be the future leader of your football program in a short amount of time.

Piferi’s Hudl highlights:

Piferi will continue to keep Building The Dam informed with the latest info in his recruitment. In the meantime, want more coverage of Oregon State recruiting? Make sure you give @lucas_aguilar27 and @BuildingTheDam a follow on Twitter to stay up to date at all times with Beaver football and basketball recruiting.