The Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Will Stein expressed his excitement for the addition of 2024 5-star wide receiver Gatlin Bair.
At the end of early signing day in December, there was one asterisk tacked on to the Oregon Ducks’ already historic 2024 recruiting class. Gatlin Bair, a top-30 recruit in the 2024 class, was still uncommitted, and although he was leaning towards Michigan, the Ducks were still very much in the running for the elite wide receiver.
Fast forward five weeks. The Wolverines have won the national championship, and Jim Harbaugh has left Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers, leading Bair to commit to Oregon just days before national signing day.
247 Sports ranks Bair as the 27th best player in his class, the No. 6 WR, and he is one of the Ducks’ two 5-star recruits. His commitment pushed Oregon’s 2024 class into 3rd place nationally, behind only Alabama and Georgia.
One of Bair’s best assets on the football field is his elite speed. Throughout high school, Bair competed in track and field, posting a 10.15 100-meter dash time as a junior (for reference, Oregon’s fastest player, Rodrick Pleasant, ran a 10.14 in high school). On Wednesday morning, Will Stein, the Ducks’ offensive coordinator, appeared on the Oregon Football Coaches show where he made clear that there is more to Gatlin Bair than his wheels.
“He’s not just a track kid, he’s a football player,” Stein said. “Not only is he super fast, but when you watch his tape, he’s a football player. When I first watched him I knew he was a track star. But how does that translate to the football field? He has every single movement, every single skill set that you want in a football player.”
Bair is expected to take a two-year Latter-Day Saint mission after he graduates from high school, so it will be a while before we see him on the Autzen sideline, but the Stein and the Ducks’ coaching staff have plans for where he’ll fit when he does join the team.
“He’ll probably play on the edge for us just because he can take the top off the defense,” Stein said. “He has elite hands, elite speed and toughness as well.”
It seemed the only negative Stein could think of about the 5-star receiver was the weather in his hometown, which Stein felt the impacts of on multiple recruiting visits with Bair.
“And he lives in basically the frozen tundra. We got stuck up there twice going to see him, but it was well worth it,” Stein said.
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