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.
Carrico earns All-American invite
On Sunday, 247Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu, who primarily covers recruiting in the Midwest, texted Ohio State linebacker commit Reid Carrico telling Carrico to give him a call. The two shared a very brief phone call, but Trieu gave Carrico some news he had been waiting to hear for a long time.
Carrico was told he had earned an invitation to the 21st annual All-American Bowl, an invitation he enthusiastically accepted as he was congratulated by Trieu and gladly thanked him several times. Carrico becomes the third Buckeye commit in the 2021 class to earn an invitation to the game that will be played on Jan. 9 in San Antonio, as he joined quarterback Kyle McCord and offensive guard Donovan Jackson.
Blessed and Honored to receive an invitation to the 2021 All-American Bowl! #GoBucks #TBOD #ForTheRanch pic.twitter.com/9si5WyJC2V
— Reid Carrico (@CarricoReid) April 12, 2020
“To say it’s an honor is an understatement,” Carrico told Eleven Warriors. “It’s the best All-American game, and every player in the country wants to play in it. To have a spot in such a highly regarded event makes me proud of my hard work but also makes me want to work even harder.”
Carrico is the offensive and defensive leader of the Ironton football team that went 13-2 during his junior season and reached the Division V state championship game before a 17-7 loss to Kirtland. He was named Ohio's Division V Defensive Player of the Year by the OPSWA (Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association) in his first turn as a full-time middle linebacker, the position Al Washington and Ohio State recruited him to play as the Buckeyes' future at the position.
This is the second straight year the Buckeyes will have a linebacker recruit at the All-American Bowl, as Cody Simon and Kourt Williams II both earned the honor for the 20th game. The Buckeyes had nine total signees in that game in January: Williams, Simon, C.J. Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Gee Scott Jr., Lathan Ransom, Paris Johnson Jr., Luke Wypler and Josh Fryar.
“I imagined I would get an invite. It just seemed like it took so long,” Carrico said. “I love to represent my hometown of Ironton. Football is such a big deal in our community that I feel like I’m not in the AAB – in place of me is our whole community, but I’m the one making tackles. My job is to play ball, and theirs is to always root for us no matter what, and they never let us down.”
Like Carrico said, he is looking to use the honor of being selected as an All-American to help continue pushing to be better and come to Columbus a more polished and college-ready player – even if that mission is being put to the test with gyms being shutdown.
“Through the entire shutdown I have either been at my house doing schoolwork or going to a private place to workout,” Carrico said. “Hasn’t affected me too much, but what really sucks is not getting to be around the guys.”
Carrico was the first 2021 commit I talked to when I started this job in September, and he was the first to detail to me about how hard that class – at the time just a five-man haul in the early stages of the process – was working at recruiting fellow uncommitted guys to create the nation's top-ranked class.
“I love to represent my hometown of Ironton. Football is such a big deal in our community that I feel like I’m not in the AAB – in place of me is our whole community, but I’m the one making tackles.”– Ohio State linebacker commit Reid Carrico
That's something we've talked about plenty on here – Mark Pantoni says it might be the best class he's ever seen of doing that.
Of course, there is a caveat.
“Well, we try, but if we try every single day it’s borderline harassment,” Carrico says with a laugh.
It can be difficult to play that line of recruiting someone hard but also giving them some room to breathe, right?
“Yes, because you want them to realize how special Ohio State really is,” Carrico said. “That’s saying a lot considering I’m not even enrolled there yet.”
Burton's coach discusses difficulties of shutdown
We've discussed ad nauseam how the NCAA's nationwide shutdown of recruiting visits has affected every uncommitted football player in at least some way, big or small. In Ohio State's case, it actually helped streamline the process for the handful of five recruits who committed in March.
For guys who are not nearly as sure about their college destination, like Fredrick Douglass (Ky.) High School junior Jager Burton, one of Ohio State's priority offensive guard prospects in the 2021 class, it's providing some uncertainty and delays in the process.
Burton told Eleven Warriors he's handling the shutdown well, and we've talked about how Burton is still planning on taking his five official visits before making a college commitment – a commitment that is likely to be pushed back from the original Aug. 24 date he selected.
One of the influencers in Burton's corner, Fredrick Douglass head coach Nathan McPeek, told Kentucky's WKYT Sports reporter Alex Walker that he's continuing to tell Burton it's OK to be patient to make sure he's making the right decision for his future.
"I told them don't get in a hurry and don't get frustrated," said Douglass head football coach Nathan McPeek.
"Jager is going to take five official visits whenever they open that calendar back up whether that's June, July, August. He scheduled Ohio State for June. If that's not feasible, bump it back. Don't get in a hurry. You have to be comfortable because this is a big decision for the next 4-5 years of your life."
Burton is an athletic 6-foot-4, 270-pound junior whose strengths come as a run blocker, especially when asked to pull, which is one of the key reasons he's become a top target for Ohio State. Burton has jumped up the 247Sports rankings over the past year, as he's gone from being ranked No. 302 overall on April 15, 2019 to being ranked No. 156 overall on April 13, 2020.
The No. 8-ranked offensive guard in America, Burton is planning on taking his five official visits to Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon, Kentucky and Alabama. Penn State is another school he has mentioned in the past that he is high on, but it looks doubtful that the Nittany Lions will replace one of those five in getting an official visit from him.
