Oregon tight end Jayden Fortier pledges to the Sun Devils
Jayden Fortier is no stranger to Tempe, having visited the Arizona State campus under the previous coaching staff as well as the current one. And living in the Beaver State, the 6-5 215-pound Tualatin (Ore.) standout was already familiar with ASU’s first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham and the manner that he utilized his tight ends at the University of Oregon last year, when was the Ducks’ offensive coordinator. Therefore, the decision to commit to Arizona State certainly felt like the right decision for Fortier to make.
“I just love the culture out here,” Fortier said. “I like how Coach Dillingham was running the offense back when he was at Oregon, especially with the tight ends. He gets them involved a lot. And my guy (ASU tight ends) Coach Mohns comes from a high school background, so he really understands the recruiting process and everything that goes into it. And he understands that this ain’t no joke. You see young people’s minds getting played with and stuff like that, but he was straightforward and honest with me from the start.
“I just knew this was home and that I wanted to be a Sun Devil. I know we’re about to flip the program around, and you’ll see us back in a bowl game and hopefully the College Football Playoff.”
As a junior for the 10-3 Timberwolves, Fortier hauled in 25 receptions for 342 yards and three touchdowns and also played linebacker for his high school team.
“Coach Mohns sees me as a big athlete with a big catch radius,” Fortier described, “someone who has good hands. He loves how I play with my aggression because I play defense too. So, he knows I can do all that stuff, too, if necessary. He’s super excited for me to be there. When I committed, I made sure to call him first and let him know. And after I got off the phone with him, I called Coach Dillingham while I was out golfing. He was excited to have me too.”
The tight end was offered by the Sun Devils last October under the previous coaching staff and did visit at that time as well as unofficially last January when he met Dillingham and Mohns in person.
“I really liked the atmosphere there,” Fortier remarked. “The weather excites me because it’s beautiful down there every day of the year. The campus itself was beautiful, and I loved the dorms. I’ve been down there a lot of times, and my family is moving there (to the Phoenix metropolitan). So, this decision wasn’t really hard for me. My family was planning on moving there anyway, and now they can watch all of my home games.”
Fortier is ASU’s first tight end commit in the 2024 class and is the Sun Devils’ 14th overall commit in the 2024 recruiting class.
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