Rocco De La Rosa’s journey to Oregon State began long before he ever stepped onto a football field.
Growing up in a household where orange and black were the only acceptable colors, the Philomath High senior knew from an early age where his college football path would lead.
“My whole life, I’ve always kind of felt like I’d end up at OSU,” De La Rosa said. “I’ve always gone to the games and my family’s the biggest OSU fans, I mean ever. So, I don’t know, I just always kind of knew.”
De La Rosa’s favorite player growing up was Brandin Cooks, an explosive wide receiver who played for the Beavers from 2011-13 and was a first-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2014.
The family’s devotion to the Beavers was absolute.
“Wearing green and yellow wasn’t allowed — like, we hated the Ducks,” De La Rosa said about his childhood. “Our whole entire house is decorated with Beaver stuff — we’re definitely big fans.”
That lifelong dream became reality Thursday when De La Rosa announced his commitment to Oregon State as part of the Beavers’ Class of 2026. He will join the program as a preferred walk-on.
The Warriors standout first heard from Oregon State in May after participating in one of the school’s camps, with additional contact coming in September.
“I’m technically going there as an athlete but my position coach would be with the running backs,” De La Rosa said. “But they still have to figure out where I’m the best fit and how my body’s going to adjust over the next couple of months. But, I mean, we’re looking at running back, safety or inside linebacker.”
Warriors coach Alex Firth said he was happy to not only see De La Rosa’s commitment, but that he’ll be playing nearby where he can watch him compete.
“I think he’s a plug-and-play kid they can put at multiple positions,” Firth said. “I think it’s to bring him in, put him on special teams and then have him find a spot offensively or defensively.”
A bit of uncertainty hangs in the air, however, with the announcement Friday of the hiring of JaMarcus Shephard as the next OSU head coach. Shephard will come to Corvallis after serving as the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under Kalen DeBoer at Alabama.
“I think committing before they announced the new coach is good because at least he’ll be on the school’s radar and on their committed list,” Firth said. “Whoever the new staff is will obviously evaluate him. I think that when you’re coming in and you’re a new head coach in a program, you do want to take local kids.”
De La Rosa anticipates communicating with the new head coach in the near future.
Philomath High’s football program has what is unquestionably a very rare situation — two players headed to Division 1 college teams in the same year. In September, Warriors senior CD Nuño committed to Boise State.
“As I’ve said before, I think both CD and Rocco are what I call generational kids,” Firth said. “You don’t get them coming through your program that often. It’s a testament to them and the hard work they do to take their natural ability and turn it into something that translates to the Division 1 level.”
As for his development as a younger player, De La Rosa mentioned Carlos Nuño and Walker Vave as his primary influences.
“He’s (Carlos Nuño) had me working with CD since like the fifth grade,” De La Rosa said. “In the sixth grade, I started working with Vave, who also played at OSU, and they just kind of set that expectation in me young.”
With the Warriors, De La Rosa said the head coach’s approach to the offense helped him and his teammates succeed.
“In high school, Firth gave us so much freedom on offense especially,” De La Rosa said. “He gave us these route concepts that we could adjust to how we saw fit and how the quarterback saw fit. I think that allowed us to really get a lot of extra yards and gain more success on offense.”
Firth takes little credit for the development of De La Rosa and Nuño, saying they were born with those abilities. He just tried to utilize their talent in the best way possible.
“You don’t want to force fit kids into a system where you’re not highlighting their skills,” Firth said. “I think the whole staff tried really hard to put them in positions where we could highlight their skillset.”
De La Rosa, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, was primarily a wide receiver on offense and defensive back/outside linebacker on defense. He also got time in the backfield at running back and quarterback, and excelled on special teams.
He had perhaps his best-ever performance with 305 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns against Sweet Home. A threat to score whenever he touched the ball, De La Rosa finished the season with 20 touchdowns.
De La Rosa was the Oregon West Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and earned first-team honors at wide receiver and as a return specialist. He was also a second-team pick at outside linebacker.
For the season, he had 39 receptions for 629 yards and 12 touchdowns — the longest covering 80 yards in the season opener at Stayton. He also averaged 10.0 yards per carry rushing with 429 yards on 43 carries. He scored five touchdowns on the ground, including a 61-yarder in the season opener and a 72-yarder in the season finale. Plus, De La Rosa had three TDs on returns — a 72-yard interception, 52-yard punt return and 100-yard kickoff return. He even threw a 27-yard TD pass.
On the defensive side, he led Class 4A with six interceptions.
De La Rosa will play baseball this spring, graduate in June and then join the OSU football program for summer workouts. Academically, he is undecided on a college major.