Ramos ready for opportunity with Cal Poly football team

He wouldn’t settle for doing that himself though.

The St. Bonaventure High senior called three different UC Davis coaches — men who’d been offering him a full-ride football scholarship for two years — to tell them he was committing instead to late-comer Cal Poly on Wednesday’s signing date.

“I called the head coach, and he didn’t pick up,” Ramos said. “I called another coach, told him, but then the head coach called me back. Then I had to call the recruiting coach.”

The youngest of four brothers brought up by a single mother holding down a paper route, a job with the Ventura County government and an after-hours security gig to help put her boys through school, Ramos was taught to live up to his responsibilities.

In a highly publicized case of recruiting embarrassment, however, the 6-foot, 177-pound hard-hitting safety was offered a football scholarship by Oregon last summer only to have it yanked out from underneath him days after he’d accepted.

He only heard of the decision when St. Bonaventure football coach Todd Therrien relayed the devastating message from Ducks head coach Mike Bellotti.

“They said that a guy committed a few hours or something before you did, and they didn’t have enough scholarships to admit you, too,” Ramos recalled hearing. “I didn’t hear from Oregon or anything.”

Furious — and willing to comment on the matter for media requests from Sports Illustrated among many others — Therrien still hasn’t warmed to the idea of allowing any Oregon coaches on campus to recruit any players in his back-to-back Division III state championship program.

“He was absolutely crushed,” Therrien said.

“I vented probably for 10 minutes on the phone with Bellotti. It was just me being mad with what they did with the kid.

“This is a great kid, and that’s what drove me nuts.”

And that began the story of how Ramos became one of new Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh’s first class of recruits, which was put together in less than one month of recruiting after former coach Rich Ellerson left for Army in late December.

Walsh, who was ousted as the offensive coordinator at Army as Ellerson was being ushered in as the new head coach, was able to secure 14 signees to Cal Poly on signing day after he was hired in early January.

Ramos could be the most notable of the group, if only because his treatment by Oregon resulted in plenty of negative publicity for the Ducks.

Ironically, it was Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood — the last man interviewed by Cal Poly’s hiring committee in the search to replace Ellerson — who called to let Ramos know he was being offered a scholarship.

Reached Thursday, Greatwood said he was prohibited by the NCAA from commenting on specific recruits unless they sign letters of intent with Oregon.

“He was the recruiter,” Therrien said, “but it wasn’t his call.”

Whoever’s call it was hardly matters to Ramos, and Therrien said he thinks the whole fiasco scared away other potential Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

“Other (FBS) schools that might have been looking at him might have said, ‘Hey, what’s the deal here? He’s not good enough to play for Oregon.’ They wanted to know what Oregon knew. What did Oregon see that scared them away?”

At the same time, Ramos rededicated himself to training hard, something he said he likely wouldn’t have done with the scholarship already in hand.

Because the free education, regardless of the level of competition, was the most important thing to Ramos.

Two of his older brothers are still in college. Jaime, 19, attends the University of San Diego, and A.J., 21, is at the Art Institute of California in Santa Monica.

Ramos’ mother, Ana Maria, is helping with the tuitions of both brothers, and Xavier, the first in his family to earn an athletic scholarship, was reminded of the hard work his mother had to put in when he saw her from the football field.

Ana Maria was there watching Xavier on those Friday nights in Ventura, but not from the stands. Xaviers’ 5-foot-1 mother was patrolling the stadium in security detail.

“I had to keep it professional and sneak a peek every now and then,” Ana Maria said. “Especially when I was on the other side, I had to cheer quietly.”

In light of the financial help it would give his family in a tough economy, Ramos didn’t look down his nose at offers from UC Davis, Portland State and Cal Poly — even though his name had been on a typed scholarship offer from the Pac-10.

Ellerson and the Mustangs were actually the last program to enter the fray, and Ramos’ interest in Cal Poly didn’t really heat up until the school had made the move to hire Walsh.

Walsh’s new co-offensive coordinator, Saga Tuitele, who’d also made the move over from Army, had been going after Ramos while at West Point and turned his recruitment into high gear.

After narrowing his two choices to UC Davis and Cal Poly, Ramos was sold on his official visit with the Mustangs.

San Luis Obispo is just a 2 1⁄2 –hour drive up Highway 101 from Ventura. Being close to the beach just feels right. So does Cal Poly’s team chemistry.

So he had to make those calls to turn down UC Davis. And he knew what it felt like to be disappointed.

“He did,” Ana Maria said, “because he said wherever he goes, they’ll remember that he’s the guy that they yanked the offer from.

“Man, that Xavier.”