LB Austin Spitler (official thread)

[osubartender23]

Agreed...see Hawk, A.J. for further reference...:)

Congrats Austin!

This is a common misconception about Hawk. He wasnt as highly rated as the other backers in his class that year, but he still did have some solid offers. The only reason he wasnt rated as highly is that was a legendary year for LB'ers recruiting wise in Ohio. You had D'andrea who was everyones #1 backer in the nation, Carpenter who was a top 10 to 15 Lb'er nationally, Kudla who was originally ranked at LB'er but was then switced to a top 3 DE nationally. So I dont think it was the case that Hawk was overlooked, just the fact that that was a year for stud LB'ers in Ohio that talent wise will probably be hard to match ever again.

 

[BuckBackHome]

Welcome aboard, Austin. Can't wait to see you in Columbus.

 

[el mastiff]

This is a common misconception about Hawk. He wasnt as highly rated as the other backers in his class that year, but he still did have some solid offers. The only reason he wasnt rated as highly is that was a legendary year for LB'ers recruiting wise in Ohio. You had D'andrea who was everyones #1 backer in the nation, Carpenter who was a top 10 to 15 Lb'er nationally, Kudla who was originally ranked at LB'er but was then switced to a top 3 DE nationally. So I dont think it was the case that Hawk was overlooked, just the fact that that was a year for stud LB'ers in Ohio that talent wise will probably be hard to match ever again.

Recruiting is a difficult science. Anymore I think the rankings are hit or miss (except in Teddy G's case). However, I think that it is important to note what other schools are recruiting the prospects. After all, five big time programs are seldom wrong. I agree with your comments.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

school size and reputation play into rankings as well, the recruiting gurus have a tendency to favor big name schools, and may not even visit a smaller school or one without such a reputation, not to bash centerville, but look at Nickey at JA etc

 

[AceBuck]

This is a common misconception about Hawk. He wasnt as highly rated as the other backers in his class that year, but he still did have some solid offers. The only reason he wasnt rated as highly is that was a legendary year for LB'ers recruiting wise in Ohio.

IIRC, Hawk was injured for a good part of his senior year, which also hurt his rating.

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

This is a common misconception about Hawk. He wasnt as highly rated as the other backers in his class that year, but he still did have some solid offers. The only reason he wasnt rated as highly is that was a legendary year for LB'ers recruiting wise in Ohio. You had D'andrea who was everyones #1 backer in the nation, Carpenter who was a top 10 to 15 Lb'er nationally, Kudla who was originally ranked at LB'er but was then switced to a top 3 DE nationally. So I dont think it was the case that Hawk was overlooked, just the fact that that was a year for stud LB'ers in Ohio that talent wise will probably be hard to match ever again.

also a certain 'guru' kept saying he was a fullback when he got to college.

I hope he turns out to be a good one, but after watching him play in person this year, I was not overly impressed. Maybe his other 10 games were mindblowing-I hope they were and he proves to be a stud at OSU.

i had the exact same feelings about marcus freeman when i first saw him as an underclassmen. he got good pressure that game, but didn't make many tackles. then i watched the film and saw a linebacker take good angles and play within what looked like the scheme and then i understood what all the hype was about.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

i loved hearing stories of matt whilhelm questioning the coaches on schemes until they stuttered and questioned themselves and then matt not letting up, from people ive heard he was one of the better and smarter students of the game and did wonders for the coaching stafff

never underestimate a student of the game who plays within in the scheme

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Sometimes kids can have all the athletic abilility in the world, but no head on their shoulders. I believe Austin will follow in the footsteps of all the greats we have had here and we will not be dissapointed in this commitment.

 

[DaytonBuck]

school size and reputation play into rankings as well, the recruiting gurus have a tendency to favor big name schools, and may not even visit a smaller school or one without such a reputation, not to bash centerville, but look at Nickey at JA etc

Centerville is a DI program and one of the better programs in SW Ohio.

 

[DaytonBuck]

Spitler heading to OSU


Bellbrook senior Austin Spitler, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker, verbally committed to play football at Ohio State University last weekend. Spitler attended the OSU-Michigan game and was offered a scholarship last Wednesday. He also had offers from Wisconsin, Stanford and Mid-American Conference schools.

A three-year starter for the Eagles, Spitler led Bellbrook to four playoff games and three Southwestern Buckeye League titles. This season he had 122 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, seven sacks, two interceptions and three caused fumbles. In his final game, a 28-20 loss to St. Marys Memorial in the first round of the D-III playoffs, Spitler had 18 tackles. Spitler is the first football player from Bellbrook to earn a Big Ten football scholarship. He was the D-III Southwest District defensive player of the year.

Link

 

[wadc45]

This is a common misconception about Hawk. He wasnt as highly rated as the other backers in his class that year, but he still did have some solid offers. The only reason he wasnt rated as highly is that was a legendary year for LB'ers recruiting wise in Ohio. You had D'andrea who was everyones #1 backer in the nation, Carpenter who was a top 10 to 15 Lb'er nationally, Kudla who was originally ranked at LB'er but was then switced to a top 3 DE nationally. So I dont think it was the case that Hawk was overlooked, just the fact that that was a year for stud LB'ers in Ohio that talent wise will probably be hard to match ever again.

Agreed, but there is no misconception here. I wasn't looking at it from an offers standpoint, but rather a rankings standpoint. Neither of them were top 20 recruits nationally at their position. Also, Spitler's offer list is solid as well. Last time I checked, Wisconsin and Stanford still put out some solid football players. I think the point is that while Spitler may not have offers from Penn St., scUM, and other "big-time" programs, he is still a prospect that may be slightly overlooked because of the numbers, much like you state AJ was. Does this mean he will come in and finish his freshman year starting at LB, like AJ did? Of course not. But is this indicative of us losing out on some other recruits, as some people have discussed? I suggest that it is not necessarily. I agree with some of what I have read...mainly that Spitler is the type of kid, along with Hoobler, who could be that kind of great, athletic, intelligent Mike LB that Wilhelm was or that we all hope D'Andrea and Schlegel will turn out to be.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

Centerville is a DI program and one of the better programs in SW Ohio.

but its sw ohio, and not a name like cincy princeton or some other schools, all i am saying is that its not harding/a canton school or a big private school

 

[tsteele316]

There are so many intangibles that go into recruiting rankings, it's hard to really gauge much of anything.


For example, Rivals has Ryan Williams as a 4* #13 DE prospect. Insiders has him as the #49 DE. Rivals has film of Williams, Insiders does not.

Spitler shot up to a top 50 ILB in Rivals rankings before his OSU offer and before he was named DIII Defensive Player of the Year simply because he was getting osu interest. I posted what Newberg said about him on Rivals yesterday. There is still no film of Spitler on any recruiting site.

At osu camp he ran a 4.72 on a bad ankle, and looked a little undersized at 6'2'' 216. He has run a 4.6 when healthy and is up to around 225 according to some updates. He didnt dominate at camp to the point that the coaches offered him immediately. He went out, hada grat senior year and earned an osu offer. I'm willing to bet that if he maintainedan open recruitment, most of the big ten and several other schools would have offered.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Welcome aboard........

 

[jwinslow]

Glad to have you onboard at the current Linebacker U. Learning from the best LB crew in the nation for two years straight, and then having you play alongside Freeman/Lenix(hopefully)/Daniels is very exciting for us Buckeye fans. Welcome to the Ohio State tradition!