When the news broke that Oregon State and then-coach Gary Andersen were parting ways, three-star commit Isaiah Smalls was concerned about what the future would bring.
Not anymore.
The standout tight end from Los Angeles Dorsey said he remains completely committed to the Beavers, won’t take any other visits and is looking forward to an upcoming trip back to Corvallis.
“I’ll be taking an unofficial visit back to Oregon State November 18,” Smalls said. “I’m 100 percent locked in with the Beavs and will be enrolling early as well.”
There is one thing Smalls is hoping for, though. That interim coach Cory Hall, liked by many commits and other top prospects, lands the job on a full-time basis.
The Los Angeles Dorsey standout said he and many commits have talked about how they’d love to play for Hall over their careers.
“Coach Hall is the man,” Smalls said. “We talk every day and not just about football. He checks up on me, asks me how I’m feeling and how I’m doing in school. He checks up on my mom and sister. He has a good relationship with them as well and ours just gets stronger and stronger each day. There’s never a boring conversation with him, either. He’s just a good man overall.
“We all want coach Hall. When I say all I mean current players on OSU’s roster, the commits and the fans. The team is better under Hall and everyone can see it. The team feeds off of coach Hall’s intensity and it translates on to the field. Both of those games played under Coach Hall should’ve been won but we shot ourselves in the foot when it was time to finish. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure he’s our head coach.”
The three-star tight end has been committed to Oregon State since early August when he picked the Beavers over Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Fresno State, Hawaii, Oregon, Purdue and others.