The Hurry-Up: Coughlin Finds OSU to His Liking, Mini-Burrell Update, Hiestand Killing the Buckeyes, and More...

By Jeremy Birmingham on September 7, 2014 at 9:00 pm
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Welcome to The Hurry-Up, which runs Sunday through Thursday, serving as your last stop for recruiting news and notes nightly. We'll recap the day as it happened and preview the days ahead while keeping our ear to the ground on the Ohio State recruiting scene.


WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's a look back at a few of the items we talked about this week on Eleven Warriors.

CARTER COUGHLIN IMPRESSED BY OHIO STATE VISIT

Making his second from to Columbus in three months, Minnesota 2016 LB Carter Coughlin was once again by impressed by Ohio State. He also was quick to point out that the less-than-desirable outcome against Virginia Tech doesn't impact his feelings about the visit.

"The visit was awesome," Coughlin told 11W. "The loss doesn't effect anything at all. I was most impressed by the 'Skull Session,' seeing all those fans filling the old basketball arena to the top. Then just seeing the game, in that stadium filled with 107,000 people? It was awesome."

Coughlin earned an offer from Ohio State just a week ago, and he says the Buckeyes are in his top group and are likely to be a contender until decision day. Why? Tradition.

"Ohio State has had so many great players in their past," he said. "I could definitely see myself as part of that."

MATT BURRELL UPDATE

Although we did not get the chance to talk with Matt directly, we were able to speak with a source very close with the Burrell family. By all indications, things went VERY well.

"The whole family enjoyed the experience," the source told Eleven Warriors. "I did not get to talk to them long, but when I did, it was all positive things. I want to reiterate how important the whole family going was. It is very important that the parents and both brothers had fun."

Ohio State is setting themselves up nicely with Burrell.

Damien Harris and Matthew Burrell
Damien Harris and Matthew Burrell are two key pieces remaining for the Buckeyes in 2015.
RECENT BUCKEYE OFFER BREAKS ANKLE

The Buckeyes fared well at Desoto (Desoto, Texas) High School in their highly-ranked 2013 class, landing Dontre Wilson from the Dallas area. Last week, they attempted to go back to the well and offered 2016 quarterback Tristen Wallace. After their offer, Demetric Warren, one of the national scouts I trust very much, "crystal balled" Wallace to Ohio State. That's the good news. The bad news?

This weekend, Wallace, the 6-foot-4, 220 pound dual-threat quarterback broke his ankle and is likely to miss the next two months of his junior season. 

FERNS BACK AT OHIO STATE

Brendan Ferns was back at Ohio State and he and his family continue to be very impressed by the attention and focus of the Buckeye staff. Ferns had another big game of his own Friday night as his St. Clairsville team rolled over Riverview, shutting them out to the tune of 36-0.

Ferns highlights for game two are pretty special on both sides of the ball. 

IRISH COMING

It was briefly discussed last week, but the big weekend for the Irish couldn't have gone better. A number of very important Ohio State recruits for 2016 and beyond were in attendance and Notre Dame's performance and atmosphere was an absolute home run in South Bend. 

Tommy Kraemer, who said just a week ago he'd not make a decision until the spring or summer, is now hedging on that statement. He's also set to return back to South Bend, making time for a trip that people hadn't counted on. The Irish also made a major impression on Jake Hausmann and Josh Myers, two of the bigger in-state prospects on Ohio State's radar over the next few years. Notre Dame has become a major threat very quickly inside of Ohio and a good reason for that is the quality of their assistant coaches, specifically offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. 

"Recruiting is all about relationships," one source told 11W. "Hiestand is killing it at Notre Dame. He's a great coach, a great coach. Kids respect a guy like that, who has come from the NFL. He's killing Ohio State right now. He's going to get Kraemer from Ohio State and I don't think Buckeyes have any shot at Liam Eichenberg, either."

Well, that's not good news.

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