Recruiting Discussion #6 - Wrapping Up 2012

Urban Meyer did what many people considered impossible upon his hire back in November. The new Ohio State head coach obtained a national top-5 class ranking despite only two months on the road with an initially limited staff.

Out of the ten commitments that Meyer acquired, eight of those student-athletes were once committed to other schools. Much has been said of that lately-- some rival coaches complained that there used to be a gentlemen's agreement between coaches that prevented recruiting committed players. Meyer did not have time for niceties with coaches in the Big Ten as he saw an immediate need to improve on the quality of player that Ohio State was recruiting, and if it took going after previously committed kids, then he went for it.

However, Meyer did say that he always first asked kids who were committed if they were interested in Ohio State; if they said yes, he went forward; if they said no, he moved on. One of the first calls that Meyer made when he became the head coach was to Kyle Kalis, now a member of the Michigan Wolverines, who listened to Meyer but told him his mind was made up.

Meyer had this to say after the leagues coaches met in Chicago last week:"We had an opportunity to discuss a number of issues with each other and conference staff, including those that have arisen this week," he said. "It should be noted that my coaching staff is in full compliance with our recruiting efforts, and no one on this staff did anything illegal or unethical. We will continue to comply with NCAA rules and recruit with relentless effort, especially the great state of Ohio."

Meyer said in his discussion with assistant coaches that the most important needs were on the offensive line and the linebacking core. With that in mind, he went out and landed Taylor Decker from Vandalia Butler HS (previously committed to Notre Dame), and Joey O'Connor (previously committed to Penn State) from Windsor, CO before closing with a signing day bonus of Kyle Dodson from Cleveland Heights HS (previously committed to Wisconsin). This trio will more than help the depth on the offensive line along with earlier commits Jacoby Boren and Patrick Elflein.

At linebacker, Meyer went after David Perkins from Indiana (previously committed to Notre Dame) and Camren Williams from Massachusetts (previously committed to Penn State), and closed with Jamal Marcus from North Carolina who was deciding between Ohio State and East Carolina. They join Luke Roberts and Joshua Perry in a great linebacking class for 2012.

Not only did the Buckeyes shore up positions of need, but they also loaded up on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive line that the Buckeyes recruited this year rivals any line that I have ever seen. Adolphus Washington was the first to get the ball rolling, and he committed to Luke Fickell back in late November right before Meyer was announced. Once Meyer got to Columbus, one of his first calls he made was to Noah Spence, one of the highest rated defensive linemen in the country, who did not even have Ohio State on his radar until Meyer was hired. Meyer visited him, Spence visited Columbus and then became a member of the Ohio State family.

Before Spence gave his committment Meyer was able to sway two guys who were committed at other schools to re-look at Ohio State. Tommy Schutt (previously committed to Penn State) and Se'Von Pittman (previously committed to Michigan State) both got back into the picture when Meyer was hired, and both became Buckeyes on the same day as they verbeled in early December.

The defensive backfield was hit hard in the offseason as the Buckeyes lost DerJuan Gambrell and Dominic Clarke to team rules violations, hurting the depth at that position as both were young into their careers at Ohio State. However, before Meyer got his office set up in Columbus he already had commitments from three outstanding athletes from the state of Ohio in Najee Murray, Tyvis Powell, and De'Van Bogard. While recruiting star linebacker Camren Williams, his teammate Armani Reeves was also recruited by Meyer to help the defensive backs. Reeves waited a little longer to pull the trigger than his high school teammate, but in the end he wound up at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes also got some help on the offensive side of the ball with Warren Ball and Brionte Dunn at runningback. Dunn was leaning toward leaving when Meyer was hired, as he was not a fan of the spread offense, but after meeting with Meyer, he decided to honor his prior commitment and stay in-state for the Buckeyes.

At wide receiver, Frank Epitropoulos, Ricquan Southward and Fork Union-product Mike Thomas will help a depleted wide-receiving core who are in need of immediate play makers. With DeVier Posey gone to the NFL, the rest of the Buckeye wide outs will need to step up and become play makers as last year Braxton Miller had trouble finding a reliable target besides Jake Stoneburner. Fork Union produced another player for Ohio State in quarterback Cardale Jones. Jones committed last year but grey-shirted and went to Fork Union for a year and has already enrolled at Ohio State for the winter quarter. The Buckeyes also picked up a tight end in this class in Blake Thomas who should be able to help early as Reid Fragel seems destined to move to the offensive line.

Meyer allowed Luke Fickell coach the bowl game with his current group of assistants and hired his guys to come aboard and immediately help the recruiting effort. Being able to focus on recruiting while not game-planning for a bowl game obviously paid big dividends as the talent that is rolling into Columbus this fall is leaps and bounds above where it would have been had Meyer not been brought on to coach.

Due to the penalty of scholarship reductions and the one-year bowl ban, Meyer had a lot to work around while trying to put this class together. The bowl ban did not appear to harm the program as many thought it would, as these kids care more about getting to the next level than a bowl game. The scholarship reductions do hurt, as the team must be at 82 scholarships when fall camp starts for the next three seasons. As of right now I have the Buckeyes at 83 players on scholarship and the possibility of adding Stefon Diggs, a wide receiver from Maryland, would put them at 84. I am not sure who the two players will be that will end up on the outside looking in, but I am assuming that they are players who will not fit the system that Meyer puts in place at Ohio State.

Meyer can now focus his attention to the 2013 class, which has already gotten off to a great start with the verbals of cornerback Cameron Burrows of Trotwood Mason HS and athlete Jalin Marshall of Middeltown HS. By my count, Ohio State has 11 scholarships still open for the 2013 season with the two they already have, assuming there is no more attrition or players leaving early for the NFL Draft. It will be great to see Urban Meyer get a full year to build a class that he can call all his own while adding to the amazing ending to the 2012 class. There is a lot to look forward to as a Buckeye fan, especially after last season when we did not know what the future of the program looked like. Urban Meyer has revived Buckeye Nation, and the best is yet to come!

The 2012 Ohio State Recruiting Class

Rankings:

Scout #3

Rivals #4

ESPN #6

Quarterback (1)

Cardale Jones (Glenville HS, Glenville OH)

Running Back (2)

Warren Ball (St. Francis DeSales HS, Columbus, OH) -

Brionte Dunn (GlenOak HS, Canton, OH)

Wide Receiver (3)

Frank Epitropoulos (Upper Arlington HS, Upper Arlington, OH)

Mike Thomas (William Howard Taft HS, Woodland Hills, CA)

Ricquan Southward (Lakeland Senior HS, Lakeland, FL)

Tight End (1)

Blake Thomas (St. Ignatius HS, Cleveland, OH)

Offensive Line (5)

Jacoby Boren (Pickerington Central HS, Pickerington, OH)

Patrick Elflein (Pickerington North HS, Pickerington, OH)

Taylor Decker (Butler HS, Vandalia, OH)

Joey O'Connor (Windsor HS, Windsor, CO)

Kyle Dodson (Cleveland Heights HS, University Heights, OH)

Defensive Line (4)

Adolphus Washington (Taft HS, Cincinnati, OH)

Se'Von Pittman (McKinley HS, Canton, OH)

Tommy Schutt (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn, IL)

Noah Spence (Bishop McDevitt HS, Harrisburg, PA)

Linebacker (5)

Joshua Perry (Olentangy HS, Lewis Center, OH)

Luke Roberts (Lancaster HS, Lancaster, OH)

David Perkins (Washington HS, South Bend, IN)

Camren Williams (Catholic Memorial School, West Roxbury, MA)

Jamal Marcus (Hillside HS, Durham, NC)

Defensive Back (4)

Tyvis Powell (Bedford HS, Bedford, OH)

Najee Murray (Stuebenville HS, Stuebenville, OH)

De'Van Bogard (Glenville HS, Cleveland, OH)

Armani Reeves (Catholic Memorial School, West Roxbury, MA)