VICTORY
Ohio State beats Penn State, 20-13, in a thrilling top-five matchup at Beaver Stadium.
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.
Day Confident Defensive Back Class Will Remain Intact
We’re nearing the 24-hour countdown until the start of the three-day early signing period, which begins at 7 a.m. Wednesday and ends at 11:59 p.m Friday (for each athlete’s local time zone), and Ryan Day says he does not believe there will be any last-minute changes in the 2020 defensive back recruits’ commitments to Ohio State.
Though he couldn't name them due to NCAA rules, Day said on Monday that he expects all five commits – cornerbacks Clark Phillips III, Ryan Watts III, Lejond Cavazos, safety Lathan Ransom and athlete Cameron Martinez – to sign this week (that may not necessarily mean he expects them to sign on Wednesday).
Since the impending departure of co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach Jeff Hafley to Boston College was reported on Friday night, there has been an uneasy feeling that the class may partially fall apart, or at least that the class could see one or two flips or decommitments.
There appear to be no more questions marks or concerns in the commitments/early signings of Cavazos and Watts. Martinez also appears set to sign early, and Ransom confirmed Monday night that he plans to sign Wednesday, as well.
With all thats been going on I would like to say that I will be signing this Wednesday, and am still 100% COMMITTED TO THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES #GoBucks
— L8R (@L8thanRansom) December 17, 2019
With Phillips, however, there is more concern.
Phillips took an official visit to Utah this weekend, and 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong reported on Monday that Phillips’ father told him “a flip is definitely possible” and that Utah’s “system fits him well.”
I wrote on Sunday night that I don’t expect a flip to happen with Phillips or any other recruits. Day doesn’t expect that to be the case either, citing an opportunity for early playing time in the secondary (it’s very possible the Buckeyes lose their entire starting secondary to graduation/the NFL Draft after this season) and his program’s reputation.
“I talk to those guys every day for the most part,” Day said. “Response has been good. It's been great. Certainly they're disappointed that they're not going to get coached by Jeff, but they're excited to sign. They've been great. It's been really positive. They understand this is an unbelievable program that's on the rise. We have a great defensive system. There's great opportunity in the back end next year. Guys are going to be coming in with an opportunity to play.
“They're excited to be here. They'll find out who is going to coach them. They will in time. I promised them I'm going to give them the best situation possible to make sure they can reach their dreams and goals. That's the whole idea, they committed to me as the head coach, to Ohio State. They understand that. That's been the response.”
Over the weekend, Day and Buckeyes director of player personnel Mark Pantoni have been putting in work to talk to the defensive backs and reassure them that the sky is not falling. Day says the Buckeyes’ coaching situation in terms of replacing Hafley is in a good place.
“You always have a list, you always have people that you have ready,” Day said. “In this world, you go to a place like Ohio State, you do well, things like this are going to happen. You can either go hire somebody that is going to be here for seven or eight years, or go hire the best in the country. We're going to hire the best in the country.
“I told the DBs last year at this time, I am going to go get the best guy in the country. They didn't know who Jeff Hafley was, now they love him, they're going to miss him. Going to do the same thing again next year, go get the best there is. You call around to different people that you respect. But usually the people you bring in are people that you know really well and you trust.”
You can take that for what it's worth. It would not be in Day’s best interests to come out and publicly say that he expects any last-minute flips or decommitments. But if he didn’t truly think that all five would still sign early, perhaps he would have been a little more diplomatic and not quite as firm in his response.
We will find out shortly.
Phillips, Stroud set signing day dates
That will take a little bit longer in Phillips’ case, however, as Phillips’s father told Wiltfong that the nation’s No. 4-ranked cornerback will not sign until Thursday.
Signing on Wednesday, though, will be inarguably the most important currently uncommitted player on the Buckeyes’ 2020 recruiting board.
Four-star quarterback C.J. Stroud, the country’s No. 2-ranked pro-style QB, announced that he will sign his national letter of intent at 12:30 p.m. ET and it will be televised on ESPNU.
I will be announcing my commitment and signing my NLI on Wednesday December 18th at Rancho Cucamonga High Schools auditorium at 9:30 am, it will be open to the public, and it will be on ESPN U...
— S7VEN (@CJ7STROUD) December 16, 2019
Last week of High School...
— S7VEN (@CJ7STROUD) December 16, 2019
Time really flies
Stroud’s recruitment sounds like it is going to come down to either Ohio State or Georgia, with USC a player here as well. At this point, none of those would be a huge surprise, but it would be shocking if Stroud chooses to sign with Michigan.
Ohio State is still the top prediction here, though, and it’s looking likely that the Buckeyes will be whom the talented quarterback signs with shortly.
It’s critical for Day and Mike Yurcich to land a quarterback. That room will be very thin next season if they don’t, and Day again on Monday reiterated his stance that he wants four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
“I don't know, yeah, we're still working through that,” Day said when asked if he expects to sign two quarterbacks in the 2020 class. “Here is the deal. Right now, we want to make sure that we have four quarterbacks in that room, at least three. That's something that's not easy to do. So we're trying to figure that out. Like we said before, with the quarterback situation, it's tough to make sure we have that. We have to make sure that that quarterback room is solidified moving forward.”
