Hires Made
Ohio State promotes Brian Hartline to OC and Billy Fessler to QB coach, hires Tyler Bowen as OL coach
Spring football will be the next pivotal recruiting opportunity for Ohio State, but as always, the Buckeyes are also in for a busy summer official visit season.
Some of those famed June trips are already starting to get scheduled for 2026 prospects, with four-star wide receiver Brayden Robinson scheduling a trip to Columbus for June 13 and defensive end Camron Brooks taking an official visit to Ohio State on June 20.
#Gocanes #GoBucks #Goirish https://t.co/74CoIJ9C7G
— Brayden Quick6ix Robinson (@_Quick6ix) February 4, 2025
P.S.A https://t.co/X68yEPQYaL
— Camron Brooks (@CamronBrooks32) February 5, 2025
Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Robinson is considered the No. 263 prospect and No. 45 wide receiver in the 2026 class. He picked up his Ohio State offer from Brian Hartline following a standout recruiting camp last summer.
"It means a lot to have an opportunity to be one of the best wide receivers in the country and play for one of the best wide receiver coaches in the country," Robinson told Eleven Warriors last June. "Columbus is a great place."
The 5-foot-8, 160-pound Texas wideout has also set official visits to Notre Dame and Miami this summer. In his junior year, Robinson caught 79 passes for 1,119 yards and 15 touchdowns and also returned punts and kickoffs for his team.
Meanwhile, Brooks is rated the No. 89 prospect and No. 10 edge prospect in the 2026 cycle. In addition to Ohio State, he’s set official visits to Clemson, Florida State and Cal. Brooks had a visit to Miami scheduled for June 20 but switched that date around for the Buckeyes.
Like Robinson, Brooks also picked up his offer from the Buckeyes last summer at a recruiting camp.
“Man, I love Ohio State,” Brooks said. “Larry Johnson is the best D-line coach in the nation, period. Or at least second-best. It’s a place I’d love to play at.”
Collectives anonymously discuss highest-paid players, teams with most money for class of 2025
This probably isn’t news to anybody reading this, but college football deals in the modern era from team’s collectives have gotten quite pricey. Since NIL went into effect in 2021, we’ve heard all kinds of insane dollar amounts being thrown at talented teenagers by schools’ collectives, some of them probably true and some of them far too lofty to be true, but On3’s Pete Nakos put out an article on Wednesday I found very interesting.
In short, Nakos spoke with several unnamed members who run collectives from various Power Four leagues about the 2025 class about various subjects. Namely, which schools spent the most money on their 2025 classes (Oregon, Texas and Ohio State were thrown around the most), who spent the money the smartest (Georgia), if the market was boosted because of revenue sharing (pretty much), the highest-paid paid players in the class (Bryce Underwood and David Sanders Jr.) and more.
If you’re into some informed speculation about the dollar figures that go into getting high caliber athletes to come to your school, I highly recommend giving the piece a read.
Zahir Mathis signs with Maryland
A former Ohio State commit has found a new home. Four-star defensive end Zahir Mathis, who decommitted from the Buckeyes late in the fall, signed with Big Ten opponent Maryland on Wednesday, which is actually National Signing Day in case anybody forgot.
BREAKING: Four-Star EDGE Zahir Mathis has Committed to Maryland, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 5, 2025
The 66 230 EDGE from Philadelphia, PA chose the Terrapins over Florida State
Was previously Committed to Ohio Statehttps://t.co/0XUGIckKJ4 pic.twitter.com/u4HN2X3UFY
Mathis joined Ohio State’s 2025 class in January of 2024, then decommitted in November. Speculation at the time was that Mathis would join Big Ten rival Penn State, but Mathis ultimately went in a different direction and will now play for Mike Locksley and the Terrapins.
