Michael Wooten Recaps Oregon Visit, Previews Decision

The 3-star offensive tackle checked out Oregon and Colorado this month and will decide between the two Pac-12 schools on Thursday.

The Oregon Ducks have wrapped up a busy month of visits and are looking ahead to some of their biggest targets announcing their commitments in July. One of those targets is 3-star offensive tackle Michael Wooten, who took an official visit to Eugene this past weekend.

Wooten, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound lineman at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif., also visited Colorado earlier this month. He announced his finalists Monday and it's another Pac-12 battle: Oregon vs. Colorado.

Wooten will announce his commitment Thursday on Instagram.

He told Ducks Digest that cutting his list down to two schools "took a lot of pressure of me," seeing as he had at least seven offers — including Arizona State, Virginia, and San Diego State.

The Ducks offered Wooten in February via a group Facetime call from the coaching staff, led by Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal.

"I loved it," Wooten said of the call. "I have a great relationship with all of the coaches."

Four months later, he got to meet the coaches in person in Eugene. He arrived last week with his sister and brother-in-law, and they were immediately welcomed by Cristobal and the coaching staff at the airport.

"He's a very down-to-earth guy," Wooten said of Cristobal. "I really got that energy right off the bat from him."

The Ducks coaches took Wooten and his family out to breakfast — a daily trend that would continue through their stay in Eugene. They toured the facilities and the campus, which impressed Wooten.

"The campus is beautiful," Wooten said. "I've never really seen anything like it. It was different."

Wooten most enjoyed meeting and learning from the strength and conditioning staff, including Aaron Feld.

Aaron feld flexes and yells with Oregon commits TJ Dudley and Stephon Johnson.  / Stephon Johnson Jr

"He's my guy," he said of Feld. "The strength and conditioning staff did a great job explaining what goes into the training."

Wooten also sat down with Mirabal to analyze film and said what he saw of Oregon's game film was similar to what Sierra Canyon is implementing.

"A lot of the stuff we do now with my coach, Caleb Benenoch — he's new; he's been in the NFL for about five years — he's teaching us about the same stuff that they're doing at Oregon," he said. "I felt like I knew a good amount of stuff that they're doing."

The game film from Mirabal's three-plus years at Oregon definitely stand out, as he has helped the Ducks produce a multitude of NFL offensive linemen — most notably 2021 No. 7 pick Penei Sewell. Wooten said that Mirabal's high school teammate, Cristobal, played a role in building a culture for offensive linemen at Oregon.

"I think he does a great job of establishing what the offensive line is about," Wooten said of Cristobal. "The culture is very nice there. It is a great environment."

When asked about what sets Oregon apart from other schools, Wooten credited the coaches' ability to recruit at a high level and their authenticity.

"I loved the atmosphere and their family-type vibe," he said of the staff. "They're very caring about you. I really felt that it was thorough and that there was nothing fake about it."

Wooten's trip to Eugene was the second of two visits taken this month, the first being to Boulder to check out the Buffaloes. He told Ducks Digest that he enjoyed the sincerity from second-year Head Coach Karl Dorrell and his staff.

"They kept it real with me," Wooten said. "Dorrell is a down-to-earth coach, and they have a great coaching staff. I loved it there."

Despite being a 3-star athlete, Wooten is literally a big target for the Ducks and Buffaloes. He has the strength and athleticism to bowl over and displace defenders at multiple levels in the run game, helping Sierra Canyon average 134.7 rushing yards per game and score 16 rushing touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. 

A big factor in Wooten's recruitment in favor of Oregon is that he visited Eugene with his high school teammate, Kenji Swanson, who mostly plays right tackle at Sierra Canyon while Wooten frequents the left side of the offensive line. If Wooten commits to Oregon, expect to see some predictions for the Ducks to land Swanson as well.

Thursday will be a big day for the Ducks and their 2022 recruiting class, as fellow offensive line target Cameron Williams — who has Oregon in his top three — will announce his commitment along with Wooten. Adding one, or even both, would promote the Ducks' identity of battling in the trenches and could bring more big bodies to Eugene.

More from Ducks Digest

Ducks Digest Roundtable: Predicting Cameron Williams' commitment

Patrick Kutas Recaps Oregon Visit

5-star OL Kelvin Banks sets decision date, the latest intel

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