Silver linings are hard to come by these days.
Ohio State's 2020 football season won't take place this fall. And as of now, the majority of the Power 5 will see the field by the end of September. There are plenty of doubts as to whether or not that actually happens, but the folks in Big Ten country have all sorts of questions – and rightfully so – for its new leadership.
Meanwhile, Ryan Day and the Buckeye recruiting efforts have shown no ill effects from the unexpected dead period that's now set to last at least through the month of September. Day's 2021 recruiting class is tops in the country and the 2022 haul is already shaping up nicely while trailing only LSU. Every program in America has been in a similar boat dating back to March with no visitors allowed on campuses, but teams like Ohio State and Alabama just keep chugging along.
The questions have been swirling about how the recent events may impact Ohio State's recruiting efforts. Four-star defensive end Tunmise Adeleye backed off his commitment last Tuesday just hours before the conference announced that there will be no football this fall. But those two events were completely unrelated as Adeleye had long been keeping the communication channels open with other programs like Texas A&M, Florida, and Alabama.
If other power programs are playing this fall (and it's still a big "if"), then there's absolutely zero doubt that it will be used against Ohio State, the rest of the Big Ten, and the Pac-12. We constantly hear about how "it just means more" in SEC country. Regardless of how annoying that mantra can be, the Southeastern Conference playing football oddly may help to give it some credence. And you can bet that would be relayed to the country's top high school talent.
The lack of exposure will be concerning, and I don't think too many people are all that confident on a spring (or even Januaryish) season being feasible. Those are the obvious negatives when looking at this whole fiasco from a recruiting perspective. But the optimist in me has been trying to find a silver lining or two.
Through it all Im still glad I chose Ohio state .
— Evan Pryor (@evanpryor3) August 12, 2020
Despite these strange times, Ohio State has assembled the top-ranked 2021 recruiting class and will look to fend off Alabama as things have gotten close at the top. If the Tide and a number of other top programs are taking center stage this fall, how may Day and his staff counter that while the Buckeyes are sitting at home?
Recruiting is all about comfort and relationships. And there's not a staff in the country that's better at building and cultivating those relationships than Ohio State's. Mark Pantoni has been one of the top recruiting minds for several years now, and Ryan Day hasn't allowed the program to miss a beat since he took the reins in January of 2019.
The planning and strategizing for fall Saturdays takes up an absurd amount of time. We've heard stories of college coaching staffs arriving at 6 a.m. and spending upwards of 16 hours at the facilities as they prepare for the upcoming opponents, meet with their teams and units, and put in a little work on the recruiting front as well.
Over the next three to four months, Ohio State isn't going to have to deal with the usual fall strategizing. That's obviously not something Ryan Day or the rest of us are excited about, and it's going to make a typical day at the WHAC look so much different than in a normal year.
There's a misconception that a recruiting dead period means no contact is allowed between coaching staffs and recruits. That is absolutely not the case as it simply prohibits campus visits and in-person contact. Ryan Day and Co. will be able to communicate via text message, FaceTime, and Zoom much like they have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic.
It's going to be an unprecedented fall in which the staff will have more time than ever to continue building and cultivating those relationships for the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes (and beyond). If things go as planned for the other conferences, Nick Saban, Lincoln Riley, and Dabo Swinney will be putting in countless hours to prepare for their upcoming opponents.
Silver linings are hard to find right now and there's nothing anyone can say that will make Ohio State fans feel better about the Big Ten's decision. But Ryan Day and Mark Pantoni will look to make the most of a very strange opportunity over the next several months as the Buckeyes continue to assemble two of the very best recruiting classes in the country.
