Impending Assistant Coach Vacancies

[TooTall]

Yeah, he’s probably an okay recruiter. Do you have any examples of kids raving about their connection with him and him being the sole reason they’re going to Ohio State like Larry Johnson consistently has?

Do analysts singularly give him credit for keeping a recruitment alive for a school against the overwhelming hometown favorite like Al Washington pulled off with Harrison?

Do Oklahoma and Indiana fans still rave about what a great recruiter he was almost a decade later liken Pitt and Rutgers fans do with Jeff Hafley?

Is he on a run of insanely good commits (with even more in the pipeline) at his primary position like Hartline?

He’s probably pretty good, but compared to those prominent and recent examples, whatever he does is relatively unknown.

I’d be very happy if all of them are super duper elite- I’m just going by what I read about on the interwebs.

According to 247, he’s the primary coach responsible for recruiting Zach Harrison, Jeremy Ruckert, and Cade Stover. Or the #1 DE, #2 TE, and #5 OLB nationally. Seems like a decent one.

Also, Tony Alford was the primary recruiter for Jaelen Gill, Tyreke Smith, Demario McCall, and some no name guy named JK Dobbins.

All seven of those recruits are either 5* or high 4* commits.

Edit: Wilson was the secondary on Ruckert, Schiano was the primary, probably due to his experience recruiting the NY area. Safe to assume Wilson played a key role, though.

 

[TooTall]

Yes. His previous most notable result without Haskins and Quincy Avery doing him a solid was national #331 QB Mathew Baldwin and national #261 QB Dwan Mathis after missing on quite a few more highly rated prospects/targets in the cycle.

Does it not count that he was the primary recruiter for Garrett Wilson and Harry Miller since they aren’t QBs? Both 5* commits.

 

[Buckeye86]

According to 247, he’s the primary coach responsible for recruiting Zach Harrison, Jeremy Ruckert, and Cade Stover. Or the #1 DE, #2 TE, and #5 OLB nationally. Seems like a decent one.

Also, Tony Alford was the primary recruiter for Jaelen Gill, Tyreke Smith, Demario McCall, and some no name guy named JK Dobbins.

All seven of those recruits are either 5* or high 4* commits.

Edit: Wilson was the secondary on Ruckert, Schiano was the primary, probably due to his experience recruiting the NY area. Safe to assume Wilson played a key role, though.

Does it not count that he was the primary recruiter for Garrett Wilson and Harry Miller since they aren’t QBs? Both 5* commits.

It’s hard to say given there is absolutely no way Wilson was the primary recruiter of Harrison (over Johnson) which throws the credibility of those lists completely out the window. You must have missed my previous post on the subject.

 

[redguard117]

Somewhat off-topic, but since we're on the topic of recruiting - I'll admit I'm spoiled, but I've been a tad "disappointed" with Alford's recruiting prowess relative to his hype coming from ND.

Don't get me wrong - he's definitely been 'solid', and we've landed some great players, but with the hype he had coming in I was expecting we would consistently be in the hunt for 5*s / Top 5 RBs.

However, from the 247 consensus rankings, it looks like we haven't landed any 5* RB recruits in his tenure thus far (Dobbins, Weber, Williams, Gill were all 4*). And a lot of those are local kids who would have ended up here anyways. To be fair, though, the results on the field have been more than satisfactory - and it's hard to compete against honey fried chicken.

Just some ramblings, not intended as a knock against Alford in any way. Recruiting is hard.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

Yes. His previous most notable result without Haskins and Quincy Avery doing him a solid was national #331 QB Mathew Baldwin and national #261 QB Dwan Mathis after missing on quite a few more highly rated prospects/targets in the cycle.

I dunno man. Saying Day is an unknown with regards to recruiting is a stretch. Harrison’s recruitment turned positive once Day was announced and look at the WRs that are lining up. And look at Harry Miller’s recruitment, his mom loves Day. There’s a lot of things directly and indirectly tied to a coach regarding recruiting and to say Day is an “unknown” is like something you would say of coaches like Davis coming from the NFL who literally have zero experience.

 

[Buckeye86]

I dunno man. Saying Day is an unknown with regards to recruiting is a stretch. Harrison’s recruitment turned positive once Day was announced and look at the WRs that are lining up. And look at Harry Miller’s recruitment, his mom loves Day. There’s a lot of things directly and indirectly tied to a coach regarding recruiting and to say Day is an “unknown” is like something you would say of coaches like Davis coming from the NFL who literally have zero experience.

There are signs to be optimistic about, but I still think there are more questions than answers regarding how successful Day will be as the head guy in charge of recruiting- especially when you consider he is replacing one of the best recruiters in the history of college football.

Is it fair for that to be the bar? Probably not, but this is Ohio State, and he is replacing Urban Meyer.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

According to 247, he’s the primary coach responsible for recruiting Zach Harrison, Jeremy Ruckert, and Cade Stover. Or the #1 DE, #2 TE, and #5 OLB nationally. Seems like a decent one.

Also, Tony Alford was the primary recruiter for Jaelen Gill, Tyreke Smith, Demario McCall, and some no name guy named JK Dobbins.

All seven of those recruits are either 5* or high 4* commits.

Edit: Wilson was the secondary on Ruckert, Schiano was the primary, probably due to his experience recruiting the NY area. Safe to assume Wilson played a key role, though.

Honestly... on harrison do you really think he had ANYTHING to do? I kept seeing pictures of Harrison with LJ but not Wilson....

this has kinda been talked about a lot but just because 247/rivals/afka Scout say “primary or secondary” doesn’t mean anything....

 

[Honor&Glory]

God, I hate the off season.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

God, I hate the off season.

what’s not to love about the off season.. beats getting in fights over who to fire and why we lost to Purdue by 4 TDs

 

[wadc45]

Really like this hire. Certainly isn't the grand slam hire that Raymond would have been but our ST were a train wreck at times this year and Barnes is elite when it comes to that. Highly thought of by DJ Durkin and was basically calling the plays at Maryland last year. Has basically been Durkin's #2 since they were at Florida and Michigan.

 

[pnuts34]

Recent buzz over what an amazing job Washington did with Harrison and the ravages of time fading my memory of any examples of Alford doing the same.

Although Steele Chambers and Marcus Crowley might be great, they are both lower than quite a few other RBs Ohio State was “in” on this cycle.

Was it regionally based and other guys on staff missed those RB prospects? Maybe.

Did we genuinely value those two over the more highly rated prospects? Maybe.

But, that is the recent history that is guiding my subjective opinion on this.

I'll just give you a few examples of the recruiting prowess of Alford:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...-top-recruiters-in-the-2018-recruiting-cycle/

5. Tony Alford, RB coach, Ohio State
Ohio State is not going to lack for running back depth or talent with Alford on staff. One year after securing freshman All-American JK Dobbins out of Texas, Alford brought in three different elite, four-star backs in this 2018 cycle. He landed Jaelen Gill out of Ohio who has slot, all-purpose type of ability. He landed Brian Snead out of the Tampa area as a guy that has as much burst as any back in the class. He also landed Master Teague out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who, if he stays healthy, has the most physical upside as all of them. For good measure, Alford also was the primary recruiter on the No. 4 weakside defensive end in the country in Cleveland-native Tyreke Smith.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...est-recruiter-andrew-chatfield-final-thoughts

Alford, meanwhile, has helped the Buckeyes a pair of top-rated running back prospects in Brian Snead and Master Teague III. But his biggest coup comes in the form of the aforementioned Gill.

Alford helped to land Gill, an athletic running back who will fit right in with what Ohio State does on offense. He also managed to secure a commitment from ESPN300 defensive back Sevyn Banks, as well as ESPN300 running backs Brian Snead and Master Teague. Alford has helped to restock the running back and H-back position for Ohio State, compiling a ton of talent in one class. Landing two ESPN300 prospects in Florida and one four-star in Tennessee is a big deal in itself, but the type of talent he has secured is also impressive.

https://247sports.com/college/ohio-state/Bolt/Tony-Alford-To-Ohio-State-The-Impact-35485168/

Outside of his ability to coach the position, an even bigger win for OSU may come in the form of Alford's ability to recruit. The coach most recently served as the Fighting Irish's recruiting coordinator, a title well-earned due to his successes on the trail.


Alford not only recruited running backs for Notre Dame, but also the state of Florida, where he has pulled in some exceptional talents the last few years, and also fills a void that Drayton left, as he recruited parts of the state.

Some players that Alford has brought to South Bend include LB Tevon Coney, RB Dexter Williams, WR Corey Holmes, RB Greg Bryant, RB Tarean Folston, TE Mike Heuerman, LB Michael Deeb, WR Justin Ferguson, DE Aaron Lynch, and DT Louis iIx III, just to name a few.

Tom Loy of Irish247 had the following to say of Alford and what the Buckeyes are getting in their newest staff member:

"Ohio State is getting an excellent coach and an even better recruiter in Tony Alford. His ability to develop relationships with the young men he is recruiting is second to none. He doesn't pull any punches and tells it like it is. Many young men respect him for his honesty and ability to be upfront regarding why they need the school more than the school needs them. He is an outstanding recruiter in the state of Florida and will be a dominant force representing the national champions. The Buckeyes are already a major player in the Sunshine State and this will take their recruiting efforts to new levels."

 

[shetuck]

Maybe this gets us a good ST coach to fill an immediate need while we wait for Raymond to cook for another year. Maybe Raymond will only make the move if he's AHC, but that title went to LJ, Raymond took a pass. Maybe...

 

[ScriptOhio]

 

[OhioState001]

 

[Dryden]

Mike Bobo is out at Colorado St. Tony Alford will get a look for that job.