The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
Kyle McCord confident in Ryan Day, ready to recruit
Since Philadelphia four-star quarterback and newest Ohio State commit Kyle McCord visited Ohio State in February, he said the Buckeyes seemed like the best fit for him. The combination between head coach Ryan Day and quarterback coach Mike Yurcich and the recent success Ohio State has found in its passing game really swayed him toward committing as early as he did.
“There’s no other program or coaching staff I’d rather play for, so why wait when I know it’s the one?” McCord told Eleven Warriors on Tuesday.
McCord received his offer from Ohio State in January and visited in February. Then he visited again for Ohio State’s spring game April 13 with teammate Marvin Harrison Jr., who is also very high on the Buckeyes.
The No. 8 quarterback in the 2021 class said he mostly talked with Yurcich during his recruitment and felt comfortable with him as a coach. As a duo, McCord said he feels completely confident in both coaches.
“Given the background they have with NFL and college quarterbacks, I feel like they are going to give me the best coaching and preparation to play at the next level,” McCord said.
Buckeye Legend. @dh_simba7 pic.twitter.com/zpTZ4xJkIW
— Kyle McCord (@kylemccord16) April 13, 2019
After winning a state title as a sophomore last season, McCord saw his head coach at St. Joseph’s Prep, Gabe Infante, take a defensive assistant job at Temple. Now, he and his teammates are adjusting to their former offensive coordinator, Tim Roken, taking over as the head coach.
McCord said he’s been able to draw some parallels between his situation there and the one happening now at Ohio State with Day.
“The situation at Ohio State is very similar to the one at our school,” McCord said. “So I have no problem committing to a first-year head coach, and I have complete confidence in Coach Day.”
The four-star quarterback said he and Harrison talk about their recruitments a lot and that the four-star wideout is his “best friend on and off the field.” It wouldn’t be inconceivable to see these two commit to the same place.
Harrison said Ohio State is at the top of his list and that it’s “not really close,” but he wants to take a visit to Clemson, where the Tigers are expected to offer, to see what it has to offer as a program.
McCord said that the two would be on a service project near Clemson for five weeks but that he wouldn’t be on any visits by himself moving forward.
“We are doing a service project as a team down in Clemson, South Carolina,” McCord said. “So I’ll be down there no matter what, doing service, but I’m not going to go on a visit by myself to any other school.”
Moving forward, McCord said he will be recruiting hard to get the best guys he can in Columbus. Some of the first recruits he’s hoping to sway include Harrison, No. 1 2020 wideout Julian Fleming and No. 5 2021 offensive tackle Landon Tengwall. He also said he will be reaching out to more soon.
Julian Armelia Talks recent Ohio State offer, Bosas' legacy at St. Thomas Aquinas
Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline was at St. Thomas Aquinas High School on Wednesday, and he left after watching practice and offering 2022 offensive tackle Julian Armelia.
That offer adds to a very impressive list for the 6-foot-6, 292-pound freshman that includes Oregon, Florida State, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, Michigan and Mississippi State.
“It feels surreal because of the fact that I grew up watching big schools like Florida, FSU and Ohio State,” Armelia told Eleven Warriors on Wednesday. “Now I’m blessed to have an opportunity to go to all these amazing schools.”
Armelia said he is the first freshman to start at St. Thomas Aquinas since former Buckeye defensive end and recent No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick Nick Bosa, and he is the only freshman starting on the team now.
“It’s awesome knowing I have a chance to be great if I stay on my path, as did the Bosa brothers,” Armelia said.
Armelia said his coach told him that Hartline likes the way he moves and that he is typically the first one in drills during practice. Hartline also wants Armelia to visit this summer with a few teammates, including No. 6 2020 receiver Marcus Rosemy and three-star offensive tackle Marlon Martinez.
Jimmy Christ commits to Virginia
Four-star Virginia offensive tackle and Ohio State target Jimmy Christ decided Wednesday to stay close to home and committed to Virginia.
Committed!!! #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/9LHJerfHCz
— Jimmy Christ (@Jimmy_Christ66) April 30, 2019
The No. 318 overall prospect has made official visits to Notre Dame and Oklahoma in April, and just a few days after his April 26 official visit to Virginia, he committed to the Cavaliers.
It wasn’t much of a surprise that he committed to Virginia, and Ohio State wasn’t banking on his commitment by any means. Christ had offers from Clemson, Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and others.
