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.
By this time next week, Jack Miller will be settled into a dorm room on the Ohio State campus and preparing himself for college life along with 13 fellow early enrollees whom the Buckeyes signed in mid-December.
He will also be adjusting, of sorts, to a new quarterbacks coach.
As reported Wednesday, Corey Dennis is replacing Mike Yurcich as Ohio State's new full-time quarterbacks coach. Dennis, Urban Meyer’s son-in-law, started as an intern in 2015 and served as a senior quality control coach the past two seasons.
While Miller had expected to be coached by Yurcich, he will still have a familiar voice in the room. He and Dennis have known each other for several years.
“Initially, (Dennis) recruited Jack with Coach Meyer and Coach (Ryan) Day. Always around the QB room when we visited,” Miller’s father, Jack Jr., told Eleven Warriors. “He and Jack have a great relationship. He knows the position; he played the position, has been coaching under Coach Meyer and Coach Day, and he will utilize that knowledge to hone the elite skills Jack already has, physically and mentally.”
The elder Miller was pleased with what he labeled a “great hire” as he says Dennis is “smart, experienced at the position. Knows the position and how to coach and relate to players. Has been a part of Jack’s Ohio State experience from the beginning. … Young, but incredibly mature and has a fantastic football IQ.
“Jack is looking forward to learning and being coached by Coach Dennis.”
Miller will have to find a way to adjust to the weather change in his move from Arizona to Ohio (although the weather in Phoenix last week may have helped him get a snapshot of what Columbus will be like).
When speaking with Eleven Warriors last Thursday, Miller said that “it’s been awesome getting to know (the Ohio State coaches) on a personal level, not just a football level.
“Being able to really develop our relationship before even getting there. I’m just super excited to get up there.”
When Miller arrives, he hopes to move up the depth chart quickly and says that in order to do that, he will “really just study the playbook and learn as much as possible my first two weeks there. And, really, just the whole time I’m there, keep learning and growing as much as possible as a person and player.”
Buckeyes a finalist for top-five guard
When offensive lineman Jager Burton received his Ohio State offer in March, he was ecstatic and referenced one of the reasons for his enthusiasm being the fact that the Buckeyes are always in the national championship hunt.
On Saturday, Ohio State fell in a heartbreaker to Clemson, but the program was still in prime position to pull it out and earn a trip to New Orleans to face LSU for some hardware.
The Buckeyes came up short, but nonetheless, the 6-foot-4, 270-pound four-star offensive guard from Lexington, Ky., has remained impressed by the scarlet and gray, and on Tuesday night, he placed Ohio State in his list of final seven schools.
The nation’s fifth-ranked offensive guard in the 2021 class, who is Kentucky’s top-rated player and is a top-200 overall recruit, has the Buckeyes pitted against Clemson, Alabama, Kentucky, Penn State, Texas and Oregon.
OFFICAL TOP 7
— Jager Burton (@jager_burton) January 1, 2020
Texas #HOOKEM
Oregon #SCODUCKS
Kentucky #BBN
Penn State #WEARE
Ohio State #GOBUCKS
Alabama #RTR
Clemson #ALLIN
pc:@davidfrom_ky @ClemsonInsider
(No order) pic.twitter.com/UcMGAbdu8T
In August, Burton told Eleven Warriors he was planning on visiting for the Penn State game, saying, “I think this next recruiting part, going to games and seeing those atmospheres, will play a big part in me limiting down where I want to go.”
Burton followed through with that plan, visiting Nov. 23 for the Buckeyes’ win over the Nittany Lions, and he apparently came away impressed.
Burton is one of several extremely talented 2021 offensive linemen the Buckeyes are in good position for as they look to build another O-line as strong as the 2019 group.
Donovan Jackson, JC Latham, Tristan Leigh and Rocco Spindler are just some of the guys Ohio State is hopeful it will be able to pair with commit Ben Christman, who has the potential to be one of the Buckeyes’ next all-conference players.
Johnson vs. Bresee
Saturday saw one-on-one showdowns between Ohio State and Clemson offensive and defensive linemen go down in the trenches, and Wednesday's All-American Bowl practice in San Antonio provided a glimpse into potential future battles between the Buckeyes and Tigers.
The nation's No. 1-ranked offensive tackle, Buckeye signee Paris Johnson Jr., and the No. 1-ranked overall player, Clemson defensive lineman signee Bryan Bresee, went head-to-head in a lineman drill.
Paris Johnson vs Bryan Bresee pic.twitter.com/G6UXVTD2rn
— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) January 1, 2020
It was a pretty cool look, albeit a very brief one, into a potential battle the two class of 2020 stars could be headed for down the road.
