Ohio State is less than three weeks away from putting the finishing touches on the 2016 class, and Urban Meyer's closing ability should ease any concerns as national signing day approaches. Today, we look at some of the late-process success stories that should inspire confidence throughout Buckeye land.
It's 2016, and college football recruiting is even more of a rollercoaster ride than it's ever been before. Back in the good ole days, securing a commitment was usually a really big deal. Today, it still makes for a nice story, but the coaching staff typically has to battle for months — or even years — to hang on to these kids. Ohio State fans are in an envious position; not only do we have a coaching staff that can get a young man to commit, but more often than not they do a darn good job of keeping those warm and fuzzy feelings intact by making them feel like a priority all the way up until signing day.
Since his arrival, some of Urban Meyer's best work has come in the latter months of each recruiting cycle. Much like Michigan's September Heisman campaigns, schools like Penn State have been known to get off to a hot start on the recruiting front only to fizzle after the season ends. The Buckeyes have been blessed with a pretty absurd amount of late-cycle success, and it didn't take Meyer long to set the tone.
Kyle Dodson after pledging to Ohio State. Via
After taking over in November of 2011, Meyer only had a few months to scramble and get things turned around for the 2012 class. Coming off a December that saw commitments from five-star Noah Spence and one-time Penn State commit Tommy Schutt, the momentum carried over into January and February. A pair of four-star prospects, Camren Williams and Armani Reeves, both committed to Ohio State in late January. On signing day, Meyer secured the signature of offensive tackle Kyle Dodson, who had previously been committed to Wisconsin. While injuries prevented the trio from living up to their lofty recruiting rankings, it was an impressive feat given that the new staff had such a short time to build those relationships.
The 2013 class was especially backloaded with January and February commitments. One of the crown jewels of not only that class but the entire Meyer Era — Rossville, Georgia's Vonn Bell — made his announcement on signing day, choosing the Buckeyes over Alabama and Tennessee. In a ceremony at Burroughs High School in St. Louis, four-star running back Ezekiel Elliott announced his decision to stick with Urban Meyer's Buckeyes despite the hot pursuit from Mizzou.
It wasn't easy turning down his parents' alma mater. Via
Long-time Oregon commit Dontre Wilson made the flip to Ohio State just a few days before signing day. A pair of four-star linebackers — Plano, Texas' Mike Mitchell and Lawrenceville, Georgia's Trey Johnson — both pledged to the Buckeyes during the Under Armour All-America Game.
January of 2014 started off with a bang thanks to a pair of commitments at the Army All-American Bowl. It was a bit of a surprise that Erick Smith and Marshon Lattimore waited so long to announce their intentions, but the end result was exactly what everyone expected. Ed Warinner battled and was able to hang on to four-star offensive tackle Jamarco Jones. After flirting with the Spartans for a bit, he confirmed his Ohio State commitment right before signing day.
February of 2014 saw what was perhaps the biggest surprise of the Meyer recruiting saga. Despite having been offered in January, Darius Slade's name really wasn't being mentioned at all. The three-star defensive end was committed to the Huskers but elected to flip to the Spartan's in mid-January. On signing day, Larry Johnson convinced the Montclair, New Jersey standout to fax his paperwork to Ohio State despite having never visited the campus.
The 2015 class saw Urban Meyer and Zach Smith battling the SEC for Little Rock wideout K.J. Hill. The four-star had been committed to the Razorbacks before Ohio State and the Saban-led Crimson Tide made a push late in the process. Hill visited Ohio State in late January and an in-home visit with Meyer helped to bring the nation's sixteenth-ranked receiver to Columbus.
Gibson chose to stick with Buckeyes. Via
Isaiah Prince was the first Buckeye to lose his black stripe last season, and he was one of the last to officially announce his intention to play at Ohio State. The four-star tackle committed to Alabama in late January and elected to visit Columbus just a few days later. Larry Johnson and Ed Warinner would lead the charge as the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder went on to select the Buckeyes on signing day.
In addition to the new pledges, the 2015 class also featured a few recruiting battles that came down to the wire. The Wolverines made a late push for Detroit running back Mike Weber, but the Meyer/Coombs/Drayton trio was enough to hang on in the end. Torrance Gibson had flirted with several schools, most notably Auburn and Tennessee, before ultimately deciding to stick with his Ohio State pledge on signing day.
The last few weeks of January, after the dead period, are the most exciting days of the recruiting process. Coaches don't have hours upon hours of game film to study so they're able to focus more on securing the future stars of their programs. Under Meyer's watch, this time of year has been especially fun to follow. New names are constantly popping up and you can most assuredly expect a surprise or two. This weekend alone we've seen a handful of unexpected names show up on campus.
Of course there have been misses late in the process as well. Last year we had our sights set on players like Porter Gustin and Terry Beckner, but they ended up at USC and Missouri respectively. Regardless of that, choosing to let some of those misses alter your perception of Meyer's recruiting prowess is just silly. Instead, focus on one of the nation's top signal-callers who could pledge to the Buckeyes any day now or the other remaining targets Ohio State is looking to close with; many of whom are currently in Columbus for their official visits.
'Tis the season for in-homes, surprise visits, and flips. It's going to be a fun couple of weeks leading up to that first Wednesday in February.
