Ohio State currently holds a commitment from a composite top-70 prospect in every defensive position group with six total defensive commitments from that echelon of high school seniors.
Accumulating that much talent on that side of the ball in one recruiting class is unprecedented thus far in the Ryan Day era. Even though the Buckeyes assembled top-five classes overall in each of Day’s first five full recruiting cycles as head coach from 2020 through 2024, those classes contained zero, four, four, one and three defensive prospects ranked among the top 70 players in 247Sports’ composite rankings.
It’s no coincidence that defensive recruiting success is coming off of Ohio State’s best defensive season statistically in the past five years. As the Buckeyes rose to be a top-three outfit in points allowed, total defense and pass defense in 2023, so has their stock risen on the recruiting trail, the latest proof of which came in the form of Monday's commitment from an elite Alabama defensive end prospect Zion Grady.
“It’s one thing to talk about it, that’s theory,” Day said on June 18. “Testimony is, 'Look at this, this is what we’re doing.' I think you’re seeing a lot of guys just excited about playing in this defense. They see the capabilities, and the flexibility too.”
Ohio State’s stocking of its defensive shelves began in earnest after its 2023 defense showed the know-how of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
The Buckeyes had struggled to put such a product on the field since the departure of co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley following the 2019 season. They ranked 59th nationally in total defense and a dismal 97th in pass defense in 2021, a year that led to the departure of defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs and Knowles’ arrival, alongside other defensive staff changes.
Ohio State improved to be the nation’s No. 14 total defense (321.5 yards allowed) and No. 26 pass defense (200.5) in its first year under Knowles in 2022, but those numbers pale compared to those posted in 2023. The Buckeyes were third in total defense with 265.4 yards allowed per game last season, with a mark of 145.9 passing yards surrendered that was more than 11 yards better than the second-best pass defense in the country.
Much of those improvements came as a result of changes Knowles made in the offseason, focusing on preventing the big plays that cost the team against Michigan and Georgia in 2022. He also all but eliminated his trademark “Jack” position from the 2023 defense.
“It’s what makes him the best in the country. He’s able to adapt,” new Ohio State safeties coach Matt Guerrieri said of Knowles in March. “Some guys have a great defense, the No. 1 defense in the country and then it stays the same for a number of years and people start to catch up with it a little bit. It’s hard to get a bead on him. He spends a ton of time, he’s probably in his office right now studying what his next move is. So I would say what makes him special is the way that he can teach and be able to take a system and be able to make it very functional for the guys.”
“It’s one thing to talk about it, that’s theory. Testimony is, ‘Look at this, this is what we’re doing.’”– Ryan Day on defensive improvements helping in Recruiting
The first major defensive domino to fall on the recruiting trail came when the nation’s No. 1 cornerback, Devin Sanchez, committed to Ohio State in January. Less than a month later, the Buckeyes also secured the services of the nation’s second-ranked corner, Na’eem Offord.
For those who’ve made abodes beneath geodes for the past year and change, Tim Walton is pretty good at this recruiting thing. In addition to Sanchez and Offord – who are both five-stars – he landed five-star corner Aaron Scott Jr. and four-star corner Bryce West in the class of 2023, two of the above-mentioned three top-70 defensive prospects for the Buckeyes that cycle.
“We talked about it when Jim first came in and I think Tim Walton is doing an unbelievable job in the back end, Matt (Guerrieri)’s stepped right in and James (Laurinaitis) and Larry (Johnson), I think they’re all doing a great job (of recruiting),” Day said.
Guerrieri, Laurinaitis and Johnson have each collected a top-70 name at their own respective positions in the 2025 class. Laurinaitis landed Tarvos Alford, Guerrieri grabbed Faheem Delane and Johnson holds two in Grady and Zahir Mathis.
Those commitments pair with further four-star depth in defensive end London Merritt, safeties DeShawn Stewart and Cody Haddad and linebacker Eli Lee.
Ohio State still has a chance to add more high-end defensive talent. Ohio State is among the favorites to land edge Justin Hill and defensive back Dorian Brew, both composite top-75 prospects.
The flexibility of Knowles’ scheme is something Day pointed to as another attractor for recruits, which feels particularly apt in Hill’s case. As someone whose body is a bit in between that of a defensive end and a linebacker, he could be a standout at the Jack position, giving Knowles reason to bring it back down the road.
“The way we play right now is we have four really talented defensive linemen that are really good and bring a lot of depth at those positions,” Day said. “But there’s also a lot of flexibility with some of the things Jim has done in the past that we’re definitely looking at and some of the recruits that we’re looking at who bring some versatility, pass rusher, we have that Jack position and those types of things.”
Whatever the reasons may be, Ohio State is accruing talent on the defensive side of the football at a faster rate than any previous recruiting class in the Day era, setting the Buckeyes up to continue to have defensive success for years to come.
