4-star LB Dylan Williams commits to Oregon: 'They got my last visit and it just felt right'

It came down to the final hours for four-star Long Beach (Calif.) Poly linebacker Dylan Williams.

On one side was Michigan State, a school he’d nearly committed to on his official visit. On the other was Oregon, a program closer to home that had been his top school for much of the spring. He took official visits to each on back-to-back weekends and has been torn between the two since.

On Friday, it was the Ducks who won out though, keeping one of the West Coast’s top prospects in the Pacific time zone.

“Player development is one major thing that set Oregon apart for me,” he told On3. “If you play defense and you go to school on the West Coast, you want to go to Oregon. Coach Dan Lanning and Coach Tosh Lupoi develop players.

… They have great backgrounds, Coach Lanning is a defensive-minded head coach and I got there to play for them knowing I am going to get developed.”

Oregon emerged as a top school in March

Williams was a one-time USC commit, but decommitted last fall from Lincoln Riley and the Trojans. He felt like he’d jumped the gun on a decision and wanted more time to check out other programs.

In January, Oregon hosted him for a junior day and the Ducks moved up his list. And it stayed that way until his first visit to Michigan State in April. After that visit to East Lansing, they got into the lead and it came down to that last visit to Oregon.

“When I say, close, I was on the verge of committing to Michigan State when I was in Coach Mel Tucker’s office on my official visit,” he said. “I had already visited Michigan State unofficially in May, so I knew I liked it a lot and I just felt at home. They showed me a lot and it was a very tough decision, but Oregon got my last visit and it just felt right.”

Added Williams: “Oregon did a great job recruiting me. Coach Brian Michalowski, Coach Lanning, Coach Lupoi, Coach Carlos Locklyn and Coach Ryan Brosnan all recruited me hard. They got to know me and they made me feel like a priority from the time they got there.”

Dylan Williams believes in what Dan Lanning is building

Arguably the two biggest points in Oregon’s favor were its proximity to home — close but not too close — and the duo of Lanning and Lupoi.

Both have coached and won at the highest levels of the sport and bring a different attitude to Eugene, in Williams’ mind.

“Coach Lanning is going to bring a natty out west very soon — I truly believe that,” he said. “The staff is bringing the players, the culture Coach Lanning is building is strong and Oregon is on the verge of doing something special. I am a believer in him and his staff. Coach Lanning is going to do big things.”

Lupoi, the former Alabama assistant, runs a system that Williams feels he be successful in, too.

“I love his style, his defense and his player development. He runs a great system for linebackers and that fits me. You have to be smart and have great instincts to play in his system and I feel I can excel in that. … There is so much that made Oregon right for me. All of the surroundings, player development, the staff and the culture are all reasons I went there.”