Q&A with RB Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Michael Pitre

Oregon State running backs coach & recruiting coordinator Michael Pitre met with BeaversEdge.com and a handful of others via zoom to talk about the recruiting landscape the Beavers are currently navigating, how his running backs are staying in shape, the shift to digital recruiting and more...

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Q: How is recruiting going?

Michael Pitre: "It's really collaborative environment between me, (Darrick Yray), Michael Doctor and that whole support group. (Jonathan) Smith is giving us great guidance via individual and staff meetings and we're really all on the same page from a communication standpoint. From a marketing standpoint, our entire staff is going a great job of getting our stuff out there to recruits via social media. Under the circumstances, things are going quite well."

Q: How has the staff's social media prowess helped in this current landscape?

MP: "You have to identify who your target audience is and they are 15, 16, 17, and 18-year-olds and you have to know how to communicate with them. We have a great team of people who are creative and handle a ton of the social media stuff and that's huge for us. It's been a really fun process of everyone bringing unique and different ideas to the table for us to put out the best product to sell Oregon State University."

Q: Have you been sending out digital tours of campus?

MP: "That's our whole objective is how do we try and recreate the unofficial visit. A lot of what we sell here at Oregon State is the people and so we're trying to find ways to get people connected to those recruits and families. We've also been able to do virtual tours and stuff, but we're trying to take that to another level and involve a few more people to try our best to recreate that visit."

Q: How have you been keeping in touch with your RB's?

MP: "We've got a really experienced group, so it's been a smooth transition. They're doing an unbelievable job of keeping things on the up and up in the classroom. We're meeting multiple times a week trying to focus on different things from a position standpoint. Following up with a lot of the guys, the feedback has been really good. They're actually telling me that there are a lot fewer distractions right now and that it's been nice to be able to just focus on school and film. Their IPAD's are really intuitive and have all the X's and O's on them, so it's been a good transition."

Q: Can you talk a little about Artavis Pierce and what he'll bring to the next level?

MP: "When talking about what AP will bring to the next level, you have to begin with the fact that he's a great person. At the next level, it's mostly about talent, but being a good person is extremely important for the locker room. He's a great teammate, a great person, a hard-worker, and football is very important to him. Whoever takes a chance on him will see all those things about him and then his play on the field will take care of the rest. He's got a bright future at the next level."

Q: Talk a little about the individual training for the players... are there check-ins or anything like that?

MP: "You really find out which guys love ball. The workouts are voluntary. We're not asking them to send us proof or anything like that. They're adults and we have to treat them as. The guys know what we're about and where we want to go, so I have no doubt they're working their tails off. Our strength staff was able to send stuff to help and I think it's been going well. The guys are really motivated and excited to get back together."