CORVALLIS – Beginning Monday in Medford, Oregon State football coach Jonathan Smith, athletic director Scott Barnes are among those kicking off a week-long trip along the Interstate 5 corridor called The Beaver State Tour.

At stops in Medford, Eugene, Salem and Portland, Smith will be selling his vision and hope for OSU football to fans. He also won’t sidestep the fact that it’s been a rough five-year stretch for Beaver football.

“I’m not trying to go and sugarcoat things,” Smith said. “We’ve got some work to do. That’s what I say a bunch. I don’t know that I’m selling as much as I’m speaking some truth and some optimism that we’re doing it the right way, that we’re headed in the right direction, and me personally enjoying the work that it’s taking.”

Smith expects questions from fans to come in all shapes and tone, from who will start at quarterback, is the defense going to improve, facilities. And well, recruiting.

It’s May, that dead time on the college football calendar between the regular season, signing days and spring football. Attention turns to recruiting and where the coaches are visiting, who is getting offers and committing.

At certain schools, the outside noise gets loud. Oregon is one of those schools that mashes the gas pedal to the floor when it comes to recruiting buzz on social media. A day doesn’t go by when Ducks coach Mario Cristobal hasn’t retweeted pictures and tweets from recruits.

The early results favor Oregon. Those following recruiting say the Ducks already have eight commitments for the 2020 class, while OSU has only one.

Under Smith, Oregon State isn’t nearly as prominent on Twitter. He hasn’t posted anything to his personal Twitter account since last October. Oregon State football has an active Twitter account, but it mostly spreads news about the current team and former players. OSU assistant coaches have personal Twitter accounts, and some use it to retweet posts from recruits.

Smith acknowledges there is value to using social media as a recruiting tool. It’s just not his style.

“Maybe I’m old school, but I’m just not on it that much,” Smith said. “I’m way more into phone calls that I can have with recruits rather than retweeting their picture. That doesn’t say I’m right for doing it and they’re wrong. It’s just a different way of doing it.

“I’m more into the authentic relationship.”

Smith pauses, and turning to Oregon, says “I’m not saying their stuff isn’t authentic. I’m really not. Sounds like (Cristobal) is all over Twitter. I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. I’m sure there are some benefits to it.”

To be fair, Alabama’s Nick Saban doesn’t have a Twitter account, and the Crimson Tide seem to do quite well in recruiting. Washington coach Chris Petersen uses Twitter, but outside of an occasional “WOOF!!” tweet, it’s rarely about recruiting.

Smith, due to NCAA rules, cannot discuss specifics about current recruits. But as Oregon is piling up commitments, it was widely publicized last weekend that the Beavers lost a pair of in-state recruits they were chasing – Lake Oswego’s Casey Filkins and Jesuit’s Andy Alfieri – to California as verbal commits. It was the latest gallon of fuel to ignite message boards and social media about Oregon State recruiting. Coming off a 2019 signing class ranked last in Pac-12, there has been precious little positive news coming from the OSU recruiting trail under Smith.

Smith knows there is outside noise about OSU recruiting, but claims it’s not going to sidetrack his mission to build a culture and consistently winning program.

“Our focus for the outside noise piece is staying consistent with our process,” Smith said. “We’re always evaluating and looking for ways to do it better. Ultimately, it always comes down to whoever you get, you’re worried about them and can they improve as players.

“It’s not who you missed out on. Every school misses on players.”

Smith said he pays attention to recruiting sites “star” ratings, but only after his staff has identified players they want to target and they’re into the recruiting process. It’s helpful to know a player’s star-ranking in Smith’s mind, because the more stars, the more competitive the chase is likely to become.

Smith says questions recruits ask are widespread, but the most popular are what it’s like to live in Corvallis, how can I get to the next level, depth chart, schedule, the resume of a position coach.

One question Smith rarely has to answer is 2-10. As in, why were the Beavers 2-10 last season. It’s not often a question because Smith says he’s proactive.

“I bring it up,” he said. “Our heads aren’t in the sand, like they don’t know it already. There are so many positives we can sell. How we’re doing it, the people we’re doing it with, the opportunity to do something really special and memorable.

“I think it’s authentic.”

--Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel

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