Just a day after hearing that Meyer and Herman had offered a second quarterback for 2014, two more potential Buckeye signal callers were offered yesterday.
Yes, that's right: start the forum topic, "Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust Urban's Quarterback Recruiting Plan."
Zach Darlington and Brandon Harris were the lucky pair to be offered following Kyle Allen, and each one looks like a fine potential addition.
Harris has expected an Ohio State offer for a little while now, but Darlington was caught by surprise. Even as a surprise, it's one that he has been hoping for: "That’s the one I’ve really been working for, Ohio State."
Herman obviously came away impressed by his 4.43 speed and arm strength in person, but Urban was so impressed by his film that he approved the offer from afar:
“He hasn’t seen me in person yet, but he said from what he’s heard and seen on film that I remind him a lot of [Tim] Tebow because of my willingness to work and my will to win,” Darlington said. “He’s coached Heisman Trophy winners and numerous national champions and coached numerous guys to the NFL and for him to say that … it’s a pretty big compliment.”
Harris, meanwhile, possesses arm strength and athleticism that are off the charts, but he needs the usual college level work in his mechanics and footwork.
HEY, THAT'S OUR PRIVATE COACH. Harris isn't the only one to get some quarterback coaching, as Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner picked up some training time with noted QB coach George Whitfield Jr.
Gardner received similar sounding instruction as Braxton, focusing on footwork, throwing motion, and chaos mechanics.
#Michigan QB Devin Gardner spent 3days in Chicago working w George Whitfield on refining footwork & becoming more consistent in his motion
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) May 2, 2013
Hopefully he's painting a "kick me" sign on Gardner here:
I understand the excitement of #Michigan fans for 2013! Devin Gardner is electric. Rolled thru the Chaos training! twitter.com/georgewhitfiel…
— George Whitfield Jr. (@georgewhitfield) May 2, 2013
Just saying, there have only been two guys that Whitfield has described as having both intense, Type A personalities and superhero physical capabilities: Braxton Miller and Cam Newton.
DING DONG, DEREGULATION IS DEAD. After more than 75 override requests, the coaches did it: "The Division I Board of Directors on Thursday suspended the rule that would have allowed coaches to communicate with recruits in new ways – including through text messaging – and lifted restrictions on numbers of contacts."
Additionally, the Board shelved the potential rule changes that would have eliminated defined recruiting roles and allowed both earlier contact with recruits and unlimited printed materials.
These proposed rule changes have been in the news for months now because of the increased potential for coaches to get worked to death recruiting and for schools to engage in recruiting arms races without a defined amount of contact to limit them.
Meyer has been one of the biggest critics of the rule changes, saying recently:
"Three rules that were passed would have changed the livelihood of every football coach in the country," said Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. "I have a problem with that, and so do a lot of coaches, that these committees don't have coaches on them. People who recruit should be making recruiting decisions."
You'll be seeing a lot of this THE SEC NETWORK COMETH. Ending CBS' long time window of exclusivity, ESPN has announced that the SEC Network will debut in 2014.
The network, unlike the pioneering Big Ten Network with a 51/49 split with Fox, will be wholly owned by ESPN, which may or may not mean less money long-term. That remains to be seen.
CBS will stake first dibs over conference games, but ESPN will now broadcast approximately 45 games per season in a deal that is sure to make everyone a great deal of money.
This means that you may see a good deal more of Kentucky-Vanderbilt on Saturdays this fall as the Big Ten Network's rival has truly emerged.
Describing the SEC Network as the Big Ten Network's rival is only half true – there are few fans that will really make a decision to buy one or the other. Most consumers will be fans of just one school or conference, and there's always the option to just watch both.
However, some will argue that the expected $28.5 million in television revenue per SEC school is the key here, especially in the conference expansion war.
THAT'S BOLD, WISCONSIN. It's hard for me to be a fan of almost anything Wisconsin does, but I am very impressed by their daring football scheduling.
After trying to work something out with Alabama in 2015, Wisconsin has reportedly reached a deal to play the other SEC West powerhouse, LSU, in 2014.
While the details of the venue are still being worked out, Houston is the likely winner. Nice work by Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez and new coach Gary Andersen for making this matchup happen.
HIT THE LINKS. Barry Sanders' high school highlight tape has been unearthed, and it's fantastic... Goes to show that it's probably a good idea to look up from your phone every once in a while... Not cool, Muschamp... Here's some news that hopefully won't be important to Meyer's Buckeyes... Michigan is looking for a Director of Football Ops... Catching up with the 2009 QBs... More players graduating early.
