tOSU Recruiting Discussion

[osuvictory1]

I think recruiting will never be as dire as fans think with the Portal being in existence. And it's hard to think of both scenarios for many. Especially if guys like Igbinosun, Carter, Simmons excel. No one will worry AT ALL about the recruits OSU missed at CB, S or OT if those 3 perform well. For example, losing KVA, but then getting a former 2yr starter at a school like Memphis, or San Jose St who put up good numbers already in a college system doesn't look like a loss anymore. This is the new frontier.

I think it is going to take time for players to buy into the OSU defensive system, and unfortunately we have to be patient.

I think things are moving in a positive direction.

I think Knowles is the one with the most to lose this year and not Day.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I think recruiting will never be as dire as fans think with the Portal being in existence. And it's hard to think of both scenarios for many. Especially if guys like Igbinosun, Carter, Simmons excel. No one will worry AT ALL about the recruits OSU missed at CB, S or OT if those 3 perform well. For example, losing KVA, but then getting a former 2yr starter at a school like Memphis, or San Jose St who put up good numbers already in a college system doesn't look like a loss anymore. This is the new frontier.

At certain positions, I agree. At spots like OT and DE I remain dubious.

I keep seeing the SDSU kid's name thrown out there more and more of a success story (as fanbases are prone to do in their summertime echo chambers). I'll believe they just plug in a kid who struggled at SDSU to a starting spot at OSU and forget about all the top 100 types Stud missed on when I see it (and I mean all season, not the first 3-4 tomato cans).

The two 5 star DE's loom large as of right now imo. They can quickly direct the narrative of defensive recruiting (more specifically defensive recruiting momentum). One way or the other.

 

[pnuts34]

At certain positions, I agree. At spots like OT and DE I remain dubious.

I keep seeing the SDSU kid's name thrown out there more and more of a success story (as fanbases are prone to do in their summertime echo chambers). I'll believe they just plug in a kid who struggled at SDSU to a starting spot at OSU and forget about all the top 100 types Stud missed on when I see it (and I mean all season, not the first 3-4 tomato cans).

The two 5 star DE's loom large as of right now imo. They can quickly direct the narrative of defensive recruiting (more specifically defensive recruiting momentum). One way or the other.

I totally understand the worry at those 2 positions. And I only bring up Simmons, as he's going to be relied upon to step up. But let's not kid ourselves and think he's a surefire HR. And I think that falls on the coaches not recruiting the Portal hard enough. If they see success with these transfers, especially Simmons, I see them hitting the Portal harder next cycle for positions of need. Especially with a renewed competitiveness in the NIL arena. But there will be names who can help at both positions, as there have been numerous OTs and DE who have found success on new teams.
But I(like many of you) will be watching Simmons intently against ND. Because if he can't hold his own in that game in a hostile environment, than the Buckeyes may be screwed on his side of the ball

 

[Mike80]

We have the biggest fanbase in the country. It's going to have it's share of emotional cripples/idiots. They will all have access to the internet. Worrying about them making fools of themselves, or that it somehow reflects on others, is silly to me.

A grown up conversation could be had about defense, defensive recruiting and individual wins/losses on the recruiting trail, regardless of the ever present band of noisy children. Depending on how things continue to go, it's going to come up. It isn't like Knowles, or any part of the team he's responsible for, have been covering themselves in glory the past couple of years.

I'm going to disagree to a point - it's not just a share. It's increasingly pervasive and at some point it's going to have a negative connotation with the ones that matter. We already had idiots venmo'ing Stroud last year. I realize it's probably a losing cause, but then again, that's why I'm glad I'm on BP.

I'm all for adult conversations. I guess that's my point - that isn't what is happening, on either side of the issue. It's not happening in the fanbase much, it's definitely not happening (yet) in the Buckeye-centric media and I'm pretty sure it's also not happening at the WHAC.

 

[pnuts34]

I'm going to disagree to a point - it's not just a share. It's increasingly pervasive and at some point it's going to have a negative connotation with the ones that matter. We already had idiots venmo'ing Stroud last year. I realize it's probably a losing cause, but then again, that's why I'm glad I'm on BP.

I'm all for adult conversations. I guess that's my point - that isn't what is happening, on either side of the issue. It's not happening in the fanbase much, it's definitely not happening (yet) in the Buckeye-centric media and I'm pretty sure it's also not happening at the WHAC.

I think your points about the OSU fan base can be used for every fan base who cares about football. Social media has made players closer to fans, for the better and the worst. And many adults of these programs have no problem verbally attacking kids and hiding behind a keyboard. If you think OSU is bad, not only listen to the Finebaum show on Monday, but watch some of the social media pages of the star players. I'm sure Tyler Buchner wasn't getting motivational quotes after the OSU loss. I doubt Bryce Young got positive comments after the LSU loss and Bama no longer had a chance to win an NC.
I've lived in Austin, TX, and I can tell you first hand what delusional is, and @AuTX Buckeye can back me up on the insanity of a program that's been FAR more bad than they've been good in their history. But if you ask MANY UT fans where they're program ranks among many in the country, you'd think they rooted for Bama or UGA.
I have family who are Tennessee alum, and according to them, and all of their friends, Tennessee has never stopped being the king of the SEC if not for a few bounces of the ball, and a bad Kiffin hire.
Its known about my buddy who's a big Miami fan, and yes, if you were to ask him this minute, "Da U is almost back". After you stop laughing, just think about that. He donates to their NIL, travels from DC to Coral Gables for events, and even canvassed to get signatures for a petition for an on campus stadium.
All fanbases have their idiots. It's just funny though that the kids/recruits are the ones with the most self awareness to know that its all a game. Teenagers are able to make adults have bad days, bad weeks, etc because he didn't choose their school. Crazy times

 

[Jaxbuck]

I'm going to disagree to a point - it's not just a share. It's increasingly pervasive and at some point it's going to have a negative connotation with the ones that matter. We already had idiots venmo'ing Stroud last year. I realize it's probably a losing cause, but then again, that's why I'm glad I'm on BP.

I'm all for adult conversations. I guess that's my point - that isn't what is happening, on either side of the issue. It's not happening in the fanbase much, it's definitely not happening (yet) in the Buckeye-centric media and I'm pretty sure it's also not happening at the WHAC.

Inside the WHAC the only conversations that mean anything are between Gene Smith and Day then Day to his staff. I'm reasonably confident those are grown up in nature.

Outside the WHAC, we are all just speculating and venting stuff to some degree or another and I just chalk up what you are seeing to the dumbing down of society/giving the same amount of human stupidity a megaphone nature of the internet/social media. Feeds into the civility thread or the thread about not running over bicyclists (no matter how much the inconsiderate bastards may deserve it).

Unless I am totally misunderstanding where you are coming from which, while rare, is entirely possible.

 

[Bestbuck36]

At this point we know what we're building and so do all of these recruits. They either want to be a part of it or they don't. I feel like we've put our best foot forward for this class. Just have to perform this season to lock them in.

 

[pnuts34]

Recruits are finally realizing their power. Plain and simple, and fans don't like it, because its not like the old days. And coaches in a sense feel the same, because its made their jobs much harder, but this is something that CFB did to itself. Coaches and fans had no problem when kids were paid under the table. Then fanbases could act sanctimonious in recruiting battles, and on the field, but yet we ALL knew guys were getting perks behind the scenes. Now that everything is out in the open, and the NCAA threw their hands up and told programs to figure it out.
But to bring this back to OSU, all people want to do is blame the coaches. But the last few defensive recruiting losses weren't on the coaches. And honestly all 3 of the DEs lost in '23 weren't on them either. The coaches don't give the NIL funds, and last year it seemed like coaches weren't on the same page as the collectives. This year seems like a more coordinated effort, but it still has to be a coordinated effort with fans, think about that. The coaches who are employed by the university are needing to rely on citizens/fans to raise money for recruits, I'm sure there has to be some type of trepidation with this scenario. Especially when you're dealing with Judge Smails' grandson as the head of a collective, and don't get it confused, he is needed to help land some of these recruits. As well as keep current players happy with their own deals. It's a wild time in CFB

 

[calibuck]

Believe that RB07's take on a 'clear and distinct succession line from LJ' is spot on. LJ has always said he's happy doing what he's doing, but rival schools say, but what if? Since LJ's mostly 'hands on' with the players, need his assistant to step up, and what, train the DTs or something? Help him make his bones there, get the accolades from those players. Don't see that happening. Maybe Day's master plan is to raid one of the best accepted DL coaches in the nation? What from UGA, Bama, Clemson, Texas? Would be costly, and cause dissention among the other Asst Coaches. Point being, RB's correct, there needs to be a better line of succession to matter to these young kids. Go Bucks!

 

[Jaxbuck]

Recruits are finally realizing their power. Plain and simple, and fans don't like it, because its not like the old days. And coaches in a sense feel the same, because its made their jobs much harder, but this is something that CFB did to itself. Coaches and fans had no problem when kids were paid under the table. Then fanbases could act sanctimonious in recruiting battles, and on the field, but yet we ALL knew guys were getting perks behind the scenes. Now that everything is out in the open, and the NCAA threw their hands up and told programs to figure it out.
But to bring this back to OSU, all people want to do is blame the coaches. But the last few defensive recruiting losses weren't on the coaches. And honestly all 3 of the DEs lost in '23 weren't on them either. The coaches don't give the NIL funds, and last year it seemed like coaches weren't on the same page as the collectives. This year seems like a more coordinated effort, but it still has to be a coordinated effort with fans, think about that. The coaches who are employed by the university are needing to rely on citizens/fans to raise money for recruits, I'm sure there has to be some type of trepidation with this scenario. Especially when you're dealing with Judge Smails' grandson as the head of a collective, and don't get it confused, he is needed to help land some of these recruits. As well as keep current players happy with their own deals. It's a wild time in CFB

Yeah, I never buy into this line of thinking. I come from the belief that the person in charge is always responsible even if they don't have direct control.

In this case, coaches are responsible for acquiring talent. If a new challenge arises (like they always do) it's the responsible parties job to analyze it, adjust and find a way to succeed. If they can't, then someone else is likely to be found that can.

No different than something happening in a business that the CEO doesn't have direct control over. If that stock price dips enough, the CEO is held accountable.

When people operate with a sense of accountability, they understand that there are always reasons why things don't go exactly to plan but ultimately, there are never any valid excuses.

NIL is just a new thing that has to be figured out. Coaches are still responsible for acquiring talent.

 

[RB07OSU]

Believe that RB07's take on a 'clear and distinct succession line from LJ' is spot on. LJ has always said he's happy doing what he's doing, but rival schools say, but what if? Since LJ's mostly 'hands on' with the players, need his assistant to step up, and what, train the DTs or something? Help him make his bones there, get the accolades from those players. Don't see that happening. Maybe Day's master plan is to raid one of the best accepted DL coaches in the nation? What from UGA, Bama, Clemson, Texas? Would be costly, and cause dissention among the other Asst Coaches. Point being, RB's correct, there needs to be a better line of succession to matter to these young kids. Go Bucks!

I believe we have (or had) a good assistant DL coach that was supposedly going to be the succession plan, but I never hear his name come up anymore. We're in a bit of a lurch at DL but I would think we need to have a clear succession plan at DL internally with the recruits to not see a dip in DL recruiting.

We did hit an absolute homerun with Scott at DT and that was all LJ Sr, so he's still got it with recruiting and hands on coaching as you said. I personally think he has 2-3 more really good years in the tank, which would get most of the '24 class through to the finish line with LJ Sr as their coach. But that's not a huge runway and each year that passes other teams will bring this up, so we have to be prepared. And maybe we are already doing that behind the scenes, if we are talking about it obviously the staff is thinking about it too.

Short term it would be great to see breakout years from JT and Sawyer, and big steps from Curry, Jackson and Abor to show the DE position is still a major strength of OSU. Same goes for Tyleik, Hall, Hamilton, etc. at DT. That should assuage immediate concerns on DL, but hopefully a plan is being set forth for a new DL coach to recruits so they know if LJ Sr retires or scales back, they are in good hands.

 

[pnuts34]

An OH ‘23 LB that originally committed to Northwestern, is now hitting the portal:

Northwestern Freshman LB transfer Nigel Glover (Northmont HS) will be visiting Ohio State July 27th-29th.

Nigel Glover
Would lessen the sting of missing out on KVA, ImO.
@Jaxbuck , this would be an example of what you said:

In this case, coaches are responsible for acquiring talent. If a new challenge arises (like they always do) it's the responsible parties job to analyze it, adjust and find a way to succeed. If they can't, then someone else is likely to be found that can.

If OSU lands him, then this is another example of what I previously mentioned of why I don’t worry that much about recruiting misses, when the Portal is here.

 

[Jaxbuck]

An OH ‘23 LB that originally committed to Northwestern, is now hitting the portal:

Nigel Glover
Would lessen the sting of missing out on KVA, ImO.
@Jaxbuck , this would be an example of what you said:

If OSU lands him, then this is another example of what I previously mentioned of why I don’t worry that much about recruiting misses, when the Portal is here.

It can lessen the sting but it’s still a fall back.

This is the pattern Stud fell into.

It’s better than a complete zero but too many fallbacks means too many misses. The inflection point of “too many” is open to debate.

 

[buchtelgrad04]

It can lessen the sting but it’s still a fall back.

This is the pattern Stud fell into.

It’s better than a complete zero but too many fallbacks means too many misses. The inflection point of “too many” is open to debate.

There were tons of misses under Urban too. The only difference now is the philosophy of investing all of their time and resources into a smaller pool of recruits, which doesn’t allow them to circle back on guys like Urban did.

I’m not really a fan of it, but I’m not paid big bucks to come up with recruiting strategies.

 

[pnuts34]

It can lessen the sting but it’s still a fall back.

This is the pattern Stud fell into.

It’s better than a complete zero but too many fallbacks means too many misses. The inflection point of “too many” is open to debate.

A former 4star who has an off season in a college program is still a heck of a fall back.
Not saying he’s going to be a guaranteed All American, but could we say the same about KVA?
So are you saying that transfers are fall backs?