We've seen it before.
It was Dec. 19 of 2018 when four-star Florida safety Jordan Battle flipped his commitment and signed with Alabama instead of Ohio State. One year to that very day, California cornerback Clark Phillips III backed off his own Buckeye pledge and sided with Utah.
Both moves were at least partially due to changes in the coaching staff. The Battle news came shortly after Urban Meyer's departure. Jeff Hafley was named Boston College's next head coach just days before Phillips made his intentions known.
Kerry Coombs arrived back in Columbus following the 2019 season and was faced with a depleted, young room. The losses of Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette, and Jordan Fuller were clearly felt during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign as the pass defense finished No. 122 in the nation. Cameron Brown's injury didn't help matters, and neither did some of the previous years' misses on the trail.
Would Jordan Battle and Clark Phillips have changed the outcome of the Alabama game or stopped Michael Penix Jr. from tearing the secondary to shreds? Probably not. But some added talent and depth certainly would have helped Coombs in his first season as defensive coordinator.
Jeff Hafley was a hell of a recruiter and an even better coordinator. The Ohio State pass defense (and total defense) finished No. 1 in the country in 2019. It was tough to see him go after just one season at the helm.
Fast forward to August of 2021.
All eyes are on the Buckeye secondary as there's no way the team can win a national title if the defensive backfield puts together a performance like it did in 2020. Coombs has proven to be an elite recruiter. He now has to prove that he can get it done as a coordinator as well.
Ohio State is fresh off another decommitment in the secondary. Five-star Jacksonville corner Jaheim Singletary opened things up last weekend after spending some time on Miami's campus. He had been the 2022 class's top-rated defensive commitment and was behind only Quinn Ewers in terms of overall star power.
It's never easy to lose a lengthy corner who's one of the very best at his craft. However, Coombs has the secondary in a fine place, and this shouldn't sting quite as much as the Battle and Phillips fiascos.
"Whether it's on special teams, whether it's in the secondary—somewhere, somehow—they're gonna be on the field for the Buckeyes."– Kerry Coombs on his true freshmen corners
The true evaluation will come this fall and beyond, but the talent in the room is undeniable. Jakailin Johnson and Jordan Hancock were both rated as top-five corners in the 2021 class. Despite neither one of them arriving early in January, the expectation is for them to contribute in some capacity as true freshmen. Scottsdale, Arizona athlete Denzel Burke got a leg up on the competition thanks to his early arrival and participation in spring practices.
As it pertains to the class that Singletary departed, the Buckeyes still have three really good corners committed. The group had easily been the nation's best at the position. After the latest five-star decommitment, Ohio State still has one of the country's best as it's right up there with what Clemson, Miami, and USC are working with.
Jyaire Brown was the first commitment of the 2022 class, and the West Chester corned is ranked No. 16 at the position. Hollywood, Florida's Ryan Turner is rated as a three-star but holds offers from Clemson and just about all of the SEC powers. Little Elm, Texas's Terrance Brooks may turn out to be one of the more important commitments of the entire cycle. Coombs beat out Bama for the country's No. 9 corner. He's got average size at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, but his ridiculous 80-inch wingspan more than makes up for it.
500 pic.twitter.com/GYXt3qE6OS
— Terrance Brooks (@Brooks3one) August 7, 2021
We've been discussing Ohio State's top remaining targets for the 2022 class. In the defensive backfield, that discussion has been focused on a pair of safeties in Iowa's Xavier Nwankpa and Las Vegas's Zion Branch (Bishop Gorman). Florida's Kye Stokes is already in the fold, and he's being looked at as a safety who could also play corner if needed.
The natural question after the Singletary news was whether or not the Buckeyes will look at another corner. We've been told that "four" is the magic number, but that may have only been the case if Singletary were a part of it.
Still, if the unstable coaching situations at USC or Michigan lead to some turnover, the Buckeyes could be the beneficiary. Five-star Wolverine legacy Will Johnson briefly seemed to be leaning toward Columbus prior to his Michigan pledge. Trojan commitment Domani Jackson is planning to make a number of official visits this fall as well. There's no reason for optimism on either front, but they're both at least worth watching. The same can be said for St. Louis native and Clemson commit Toriano Pride.
Ryan Day's plans may ultimately hinge on the trio of 2021 signees and how they look over the next few months. Players like Ryan Watts, Lejond Cavazos, and Cameron Martinez will also have an opportunity to make their mark as second-year players.
A five-star decommitment is never ideal, but some situations can be far more impactful than others. Ohio State has a deep young room that is now looking to get things back on track. In what's been a far more typical offseason, Kerry Coombs has the opportunity to make 2020 nothing more than a blip on the radar.
