Recruiting rankings put Woodie among nation’s best

Despite the University of Oregon’s success on the field in recent years, the Ducks were never a team that dominated the recruiting circuit. The Chip Kelly-led staff landed a handful of four- and five-star recruits each season, but those were blended with players whose specific skill sets were catered to succeed in Kelly’s unorthodox offense.

Willie Taggart’s arrival as head coach earlier this year has brought a new philosophy to Eugene, Ore., and for the first time in program history Oregon is thriving on the recruiting trail thanks to some of its Manatee County ties.

Raymond Woodie, a Palmetto native like Taggart, currently ranks No. 10 in 247sports.com’s National Recruiter of the Year award standings. Woodie and safeties coach Keith Heyward, who is No. 4 in the rankings, are on pace to become the two highest-ranked recruiters in program history. Former offensive line coach Steve Greatwood holds the program’s best mark with his 14th-place finish in 2011.

National Recruiter of the Year rankings are determined mathematically. Points are handed out for each prospect, based on the prospect’s ranking on the national top recruits composite ratings, a coach persuades to commit. Woodie, who was Taggart’s final hire, serves as outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. He has landed five verbal commitments for a score of 59.93 points. Heyward, who has landed six commitments, has 67.93 points. Jeff Banks, the special teams coordinator at Texas A&M, currently leads the standings with six commitments for a total of 71.29.

The final rankings are released after signing day.

Woodie, who was the head coach at both Bayshore High School and Palmetto High School before joining the collegiate ranks as Taggart’s defensive ends coach at Western Kentucky in 2010, has consistently been among the best recruiters in the nation at whatever level he’s been coaching. While an assistant to Taggart at South Florida, Woodie helped that program land the American Athletic Conference’s top recruiting classes in both 2014 and ’15.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Recruiting rankings put Woodie among nation’s best."