Rewind: No. 1 prospect Beanie Wells headlined OSU's 2006 class
Early season losses to Texas and Penn State in 2005 took Ohio State out of the running for the national championship that season.
But coach Jim Tressel rallied the Buckeyes with seven straight wins to cap that season, including back-to-back triumphs over recruiting rivals Michigan and Notre Dame to cap the year. Tressel and the Buckeyes turned the calendar to 2006 with a ton of momentum.
And a lot of that momentum was borne out of getting early verbal commitments from Ohio’s top three prospects in Akron Garfield RB Chris “Beanie” Wells, Euclid DE Thaddeus Gibson and Coldwater LB Ross Homan.
The 6-1, 225-pound Wells, considered the nation’s top overall prospect by Scout.com, verbaled to the Buckeyes on Feb. 6, 2005. He ended his four-year high school career with 5,232 yards and 61 touchdowns. He eclipsed the 2,100-yard mark as a senior at Garfield. He picked OSU over USC and Michigan.
Homan verbaled to Ohio State a day later on Feb. 7, 2005. Playing at running back and linebacker, Homan helped lead Coldwater to the Division IV state championship.
Gibson verbaled to Ohio State on Jan. 23, 2006, picking OSU over Michigan and Tennessee. The 6-3, 220-pound Gibson boasted 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.
Those three were among 10 Ohio signees for the Buckeyes.
“Ohio is always going to be our point of emphasis,” Tressel said on signing day. “This was a very good year in-state and we believe we got the 10 best players. At the same time, we got players from six other states, really in all parts of the country.
“It says a lot about the national reputation of Ohio State, both athletically and academically.”
Below, we look at how Ohio State’s 2006 recruiting class came together. Plus, we look at how it played out on the field.
THE SETTING
* 2005 Season: 10-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten (tied for first), ranked fourth
* Meeting Michigan: Playing as the No. 9 team, defeated Michigan 25-21 in Ann Arbor to clinch a share of the Big Ten championship.
* Bowl Game: Playing as the No. 4 team, defeated No. 5 Notre Dame 34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
CLASS DATA
* Ranking: Tied for ninth nationally with Michigan in consensus poll of recruiting services; tied for second in the Big Ten behind Penn State (fourth overall); Florida won the poll title.
* Number Of Signees: 20
* Top Signees: Seven Ohio State signees were among the nation’s top 100 prospects, according to Scout.com. They were RB Chris “Beanie” Wells (ranked No. 1 overall nationally), OL Connor Smith (30th), DL Robert Rose (52nd), DE Thaddeus Gibson (58th), LB Mark Johnson (74th), LB Ross Homan (86th) and WR Ray Small (98th).
* Other Signees: TE Jake Ballard, OL Bryant Browning, DB Chimdi Chekwa, DB Kurt Coleman, DE Walter Dublin, DB Aaron Gant, LB Larry Grant (JUCO transfer), QB Antonio Henton, DL Dexter Larrimore, TE Andy Miller, LB Tyler Moeller, FB Aram Olson, DB Grant Schwartz.
* Key Misses: Ohio OL Aaron Brown (Virginia Tech), Ohio OL Justin Boren (Michigan), Ohio OL Joe Thomas (Pittsburgh).
THE SKINNY
This was a class with a ton of star power and a ton of potential. And that was shown in the years that followed. In some cases, these players were backups as the Buckeyes played for the national championship in 2006. Four of them were starters when OSU played for the title again after the 2007 season.
In their four seasons, the Buckeyes defeated Michigan four times and won or shared four Big Ten championships. They set a new four-year school record for wins by going 44-8. That eclipsed the previous record of 43 wins set by the recruiting classes from 1995, 2002 and 2005.
RB Beanie Wells was the nation’s top prep prospect in 2006. He was a USA Today first-team All-USA pick for the 2005 season. He delivered on his promise with a 1,600-yard season as a sophomore in 2007. A foot injury put a crimp in his 2008 season, but he still eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark before opting to leave school early for the NFL. He played four seasons for the Arizona Cardinals before his career was cut short due to injury.
Likewise, safety Kurt Coleman earned the starting job as a sophomore at strong safety and held that job again in 2008. He was a team captain and team MVP as a senior in 2009. Coleman has played 10 seasons in the NFL. He goes into 2020 as a free agent after playing for the Buffalo Bills last season.
Unheralded CB Chimdi Chekwa (late offer) came from nowhere to become the nickel back in 2007 and took over as a starter in 2008. He, too, was a three-year starter.
LB Ross Homan got his first taste of action at linebacker in 2006, but was injured much of 2007 and redshirted. He was also a three-year starter through his fifth year in 2010, when the Buckeyes went a robust 12-1.
DE Thaddeus Gibson, from Euclid, Ohio, was a USA Today second-team All-USA pick for the 2005 season. He broke into the lineup as a starter at end in 2008 and enjoyed a strong year in 2009 before opting to leave school early for the NFL.
TE Jake Ballard was a contributor for four seasons, including two years as a starter.
QB Antonio Henton transferred out of the program to Division I-AA Georgia Southern after the 2007 season.
OL Bryant Browning took over a vacant tackle position in 2008 and also ended up as a three-year starter. WR Ray Small became the third wide receiver and also worked in as a key return man in both 2007 and ‘08.
Browning and Small were among three signees from Cleveland Glenville as they were joined by DL Robert Rose. They pushed the total of signees in the Glenville pipeline to 10 in the five classes between 2002 and ’06.
Ohio had a pair of blue chip offensive linemen who got away in Pickerington North’s Justin Boren and Cincinnati Princeton’s Aaron Brown. Boren, ranked 50th overall nationally, played two seasons at Michigan. He made the unprecedented move to transfer home and play for Ohio State, however, in 2009-10.
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