Joe BoLLLLden (LB Coach Nevada)

[zwem]

I fear Michigan now that they will have 4 Ray Lewis type talents on the field at once playing 3 spots............wait.

No you are wrong. They are solid high school players but it remains to be seen if they will be good college players or not.

 

[Honor&Glory]

I can say this from a Colerain perspective...the two best LB prospects at Colerain in decades...even more highly regarded than Tyler Moeller and Cobrani Mixon...and OSU doesn't offer either of them. Both wind up at other major D-1 programs...both are best friends. I'm wondering if Joe wasn't equally bitter/upset that his best friend, Jarrett Grace, didn't get an OSU offer either. Seems like an odd time for OSU to stop recruiting Colerain when the meat of Colerian's talent is in the 12, 13 and 14 classes.
I know this...Tom Bolden does what is best for kids. I would not worry about where he 'steers' kids. Tom puts kids first and if OSU is the best fit for a kid, by God, Tom will help him get there. My concern is why OSU is back to the 'Cincinnati kids aren't as good as the rest of the state' and is turning its back on some top recruits down here?

 

[Buckeye86]

My concern is why OSU is back to the 'Cincinnati kids aren't as good as the rest of the state' and is turning its back on some top recruits down here?

Do you have any specific examples of kids that Ohio State has passed over form Cincinnati in favor of offering players from other parts of the state?

Right now Dwayne Stanford (only in-state WR with an offer) and Adolophus Washington both have offers. Only 7 players (not counting the committed ones) in the rest of Ohio have offers at the moment (with Dodson probably making it eight sooner or later). That seems perfectly in line with what you would expect to me.

Also, when you compare Bolden's offers to the linebackers that Ohio State is currently targeting, there really isn't much of a comparison. The same goes for Grace.

They both have or had offers from some major Midwest programs along with several national programs, but nowhere near the offer sheet of a majority of the linebackers that Ohio State is targeting instead.

I really don't see how you can say there is an anti-Cincinnati bias going on.

On top of everything else, Grace and Bolden both committed at the end of April before their senior seasons. If they truly wanted an offer from Ohio State you'd think they would at least camp in Columbus over the summer to show what they've got before committing somewhere else.

Recruiting is a two way street, and Bolden and Grace didn't exactly go out of their way to impress Ohio State (with offers from Notre Dame and Michigan, that is perfectly understandable, but you can't commit to another school in April and then cry that Ohio State didn't recruit you hard enough before even camping there over the summer).

 

[korchiki]

Not that this is the place for it but the "Studs" from Colerain haven't really turned out for us. Connor Smith and Eugene Clifford were both very highly ranked guys.

I know the verdict is still out on Tyler Moeller and he is looking like a very nice player but he was not a big time recruit.

Maybe the coaches haven't liked something in the development.

Just throwing it out there as I think this kid will be a player.

 

[Jaxbuck]

"Going back home and wearing the Block M and walking down the street, whether it be Cincinnati or Columbus, it just gives you a special feeling. It fills you with pride. I just love Michigan and we are going to beat the tar out of 'Ohio' and Notre Dame."

Just wanted to get this gem cut out for posterity's sake.

Can I set up an email reminder when young Mr Bolden's thread is out of the recruiting forum?

 

[OH10]

I can say this from a Colerain perspective...the two best LB prospects at Colerain in decades...even more highly regarded than Tyler Moeller and Cobrani Mixon...and OSU doesn't offer either of them. Both wind up at other major D-1 programs...both are best friends. I'm wondering if Joe wasn't equally bitter/upset that his best friend, Jarrett Grace, didn't get an OSU offer either. Seems like an odd time for OSU to stop recruiting Colerain when the meat of Colerian's talent is in the 12, 13 and 14 classes.
I know this...Tom Bolden does what is best for kids. I would not worry about where he 'steers' kids. Tom puts kids first and if OSU is the best fit for a kid, by God, Tom will help him get there. My concern is why OSU is back to the 'Cincinnati kids aren't as good as the rest of the state' and is turning its back on some top recruits down here?

With all due respect, Ohio State IS a better program than Michigan. That is a proven fact. Therefore, they can and will be more deliberate in whom they choose to recruit and how they recruit them. There have been several kids in past classes that did not receive an offer this early from Ohio State. They were patient, worked hard and ultimately impressed the coaching staff enough to warrant the offer.

Now, if Michigan is able to exploit Ohio State's deliberate nature to their benefit, more power to them. But it does Ohio State no good to offer every single player that they are considering for an offer down the line simply because said player may be indoctrinated to feel insulted about it.

If Ohio State were to begin sending out offers to every young man in the state that may be talented enough to eventually warrant an offer in the future, we may find ourselves disappointed in the result. The staff takes their time to evaluate each player before an offer is sent, of this I'm sure. They obviously have this luxury. Michigan does not. I'm confident the product on the field will justify this philosophy.

 

[Buckeye86]

I'm confident the product on the field will justify this philosophy.

9-1 and 7 Big Ten titles, the product on the field has already justified the philosophy.

 

[ScarletVader]

Could it be that Mixson, Clifford, Mr. Simpson and so on have flamed out once hitting college. Heck, I think Conner Smith is from there as well and he never panned out either.

Moeller has done well, but many of the Cincy Colerain kids have really not lived up to the hype. I watched Grace play twice last year and I would not trade him for ANY of the 4 stud LB's we signed last year.

 

[cbrian815]

tOSU cant get them all right(Chris Borland comes to mind) but the staff has done a solid job at recruiting. I doubt they have 1/3 of the offers michigan has our right now and honestly they can afford to be picky. They have been to more BCS bowls than any other team in college football. They seem to have a 10 win season every year. Bolden could very well be the next great player that we miss on...but we dont miss all that often. Best of luck to the kid but he didnt need to smear the local state university because they didnt show enough interest. Go Bucks

 

[buckeyesin07]

My concern is why OSU is back to the 'Cincinnati kids aren't as good as the rest of the state' and is turning its back on some top recruits down here?

With all due respect, I do not believe that the OSU staff would be so short-sighted as to apply such a sweeping generalization to its recruiting approach.

 

[BUCKYLE]

My concern is why OSU is back to the 'Cincinnati kids aren't as good as the rest of the state' and is turning its back on some top recruits down here?

Maybe the Cinci kids aren't as good this year. Hard to accept if you're a cinci area homer, one of the local coaches, or one of the kids...but doesn't mean it's not true.

 

[BlueSpheres]

I saw this on ESPN today

Cincinnati's Colerein team beat the nationally ranked - 24th - Cocoa High (FL).

At times, watching the game, Cocoa didn't look like they belonged on the same filed as Colerein.

How does Colerein rank instate, amongst other schools?

 

[stowfan]

Cincinnati's Colerein team beat the nationally ranked - 24th - Cocoa High (FL).

At times, watching the game, Cocoa didn't look like they belonged on the same filed as Colerein.

How does Colerein rank instate, amongst other schools?

I would consider them a public school powerhouse in Ohio.

 

[buckeyesin07]

Cincinnati's Colerein team beat the nationally ranked - 24th - Cocoa High (FL).

At times, watching the game, Cocoa didn't look like they belonged on the same filed as Colerein.

How does Colerein rank instate, amongst other schools?

Cocoa didn't belong on the same field as Colerain? I don't get that--I saw a pretty tight game that was played on Colerain's home field, where they have historically had a HUGE advantage.

 

[bucknut502]

Cocoa didn't belong on the same field as Colerain? I don't get that--I saw a pretty tight game that was played on Colerain's home field, where they have historically had a HUGE advantage.

LOL! Cocoa had 185 total yards and 85 came on one play. Colerain was more dominant than the score indicated. If I never saw a score or knew how many TD's each team had, I would have guessed Colerain won by 25+ points.