2010 tOSU Recruiting Discussion

[MaliBuckeye]

The following list indicates players we had legitimate chances at, but didn't end up with:
1. Lamarcus Joyner: Finished 2nd to FSU after coaching change. Were the leader early on.
2. Seantrel Henderson: Finished 2nd to USC after coaching change and serious possibility of recruiting sanctions. Were the leader a few times throughout the process and lost at the last moment.
3. Sharriff Floyd: Finished to 2nd to Florida after Meyer announcing he was leaving and then changed mind. Floyd switches last minute to Florida.
4. Matt James: Finished 2nd to Notre Dame after coaching switch. Familiarity with Kelly helped ND but OSU was in the lead until last minute.
5. Josh Shaw: Finished 2nd or 3rd to Florida after leading for quite some time. Started the avalanche of bad luck.
6. Jordan Hicks: Finished 2nd to Texas. Many say we had a shot, I say it was Texas since September. Either way, it's a 2nd place finish.
7. Morgan Moses: Were the obvious leader late in the game but wanted to see where the test scores were at...with missing everyone, why not take a shot? Another 2nd place finish.
8. Dominique Brown: Looked to be the odds on favorite. Why not give him a shot at QB first? Likely finished 2nd to Louisville.
9. Andrew Hendrix: We had a legit shot but it was an instate loss I would have preferred not to happen.
10. Alex Welch: Finished 2nd to ND, debatable what kind of shot we had.
11. William Gholston: Stated OSU was his leader very early on but never saw an offer until it was too late.
12. Tai-ler Jones: Visited early and we were firmly in the mix, but lost to Stanford.
13. Garrison Smith: Grew up an OSU fan and OSU had a legit shot. Never came to be.
14. C.J. Fiedorowicz: Listed OSU as a leader later on in his recruitment, but it appeared he was worried about getting passes thrown his way and picked Iowa.
15. Will Hagercup: Likely a 2nd place finish to Michigan. Definetly could have used his big leg at punter here.
16. Spencer Ware: Rumored to have strong interest in OSU, yet headed south. We were fighting an uphill battle but we had a shot.
17. Nick Montana: OSU was in great shape early on, lost out.
18. Laken Tomlinson: Rumored to be in strong position, lost to the football powerhouse Duke.

-Others offered but never had a chance: Jeff Luc, Brandon Linder, Arie Koujando, Terrence Mitchell, Nickell Robey, Chaz Green, Christian Green, Tony Grimes, Jarred Haggins, Matt Elam, Kenny Shaw, Braylon Heard, Keon Payne, Cullen Christian, Storm Johnson, Brent Benedict, James Hurst, Kharri Fort, Zach Zwinak, Dontae Williams, Kacy Rodgers, Marvin Robinson, Jim Poggi, Jaylen Watkins, Gideon Ajabe, Luke Muncie, and Ricardo Miller.

I know we never made the offer, but weren't we "leading" for Gardiner as well? My impression is/was that he was very interested, we chose not to pursue in order to honor our commitment to Montana, he got pissed and went to scUM.

Although, I also remember someone (grad?) saying we were never seriously considering pursuing him.

Anywho, my thoughts have been already posted and don't have much relevance to your point. As you were...

 

[sepia5]

All in all, this was a disappointing class. Not being cynical, just my honest opinion and if we are all honest, I think we would feel the same (i.e. look back to your projections for this class and see if it's anywhere close to what happened). Not for the most of the players we got, but the numerous players we missed. I keep seeing "Well you win some, you lose some." We lost some early and then lost some more....which did we win? The only real battles won were C. Brown and Hankins. The rest were decided before the offer or didn't have other high profile offers to choose from.

Louis, but your point is well taken. Here's my thing about the staff's soft sell approach. Up front, I'm fine with it to the extent that I find a lot of what goes on in college football recruiting--even that which takes place within the rules--to be disgusting. That said, by now the staff should realize that the soft sell approach isn't going to work very often on kids that wait until signing day. This does seem pretty obvious, and is absolutely backed up by Tressel's track record. The thing that bothers me this year, then, is that the staff put so much stock in heavily recruited kids that had stated they would make their decisions on NLOID. At some point, more schollies need to go out to cover our behind. Would you rather have someone like Donnal right now, or the extra schollie?

 

[Meyer]

I think there are some really good players in this class man. I really like Hankins, Louis, C. Brown, and basically all the guys we were in on early and really really wanted etc. A lot of speed and playmaking ability. I like the class and the players we got very much still, however it's hard to say the class was a real success based on all the top guys we had a chance on but lost to top teams (in state guys on some of them).

We are certainly a top team, but we need to continue to prove that next year and win the big games and maybe a NC. Great classes in 08 and 09 will help, and we should be set up very nicely in 11. We will be fine, but I guess no one can honestly say that the 10 class was a real true success.

 

[RB07OSU]

I know we never made the offer, but weren't we "leading" for Gardiner as well? My impression is/was that he was very interested, we chose not to pursue in order to honor our commitment to Montana, he got [censored]ed and went to scUM.

Although, I also remember someone (grad?) saying we were never seriously considering pursuing him.

Anywho, my thoughts have been already posted and don't have much relevance to your point. As you were...

Gardner would have been ours had we offered. He committed to scUM after he saw the direction we were heading.

Louis, but your point is well taken. Here's my thing about the staff's soft sell approach. Up front, I'm fine with it to the extent that I find a lot of what goes on in college football recruiting--even that which takes place within the rules--to be disgusting. That said, by now the staff should realize that the soft sell approach isn't going to work very often on kids that wait until signing day. This does seem pretty obvious, and is absolutely backed up by Tressel's track record. The thing that bothers me this year, then, is that the staff put so much stock in heavily recruited kids that had stated they would make their decisions on NLOID. At some point, more schollies need to go out to cover our behind. Would you rather have someone like Donnal right now, or the extra schollie?

Louis got snubbed by Florida twice and he would be a Gator if they gave him the go ahead for a verbal at any point. I don't consider that a "win" anymore than scUM "winning" for Jerald Robinson. Very excited to get him though.

Second highlighted part = bingo. I wondered early on if we were really going to wait on late decisions from the likes of Henderson and Joyner? With no success in that department, it was a bad strategy that was sure to backfire. Either crank up the intensity and bring up stabability issues at other schools, or don't count on so many late decisions to fill your class.

Third part...Donnal. Great points.

 

[BearBuck27]

Were there disappointments today and throughout this recruiting season? Sure.

I'll say this, though. I remember watching the ESPN coverage of the 2007 class following the Debacle in the Desert. What I remember was the most overblown analysis of a century battle-tested program in a one month's span. They literally made the 2007 class to be the downfall of the OSU program. Combining the "lousy" class and the fact that UM got Mallet, OSU's dominance over the B10 and UM was offically over, they stated. Three B10 championships and a Rose Bowl championship later, the same 2007 class will enter the 2010 season as seniors with a #2 or #3 preseason ranking.

Now, like I stated, does this mean that this class was perfect, and everything that this staff does is perfect? Absolutely not. In fact, there are definitely things that Tressel does that I disagree with. However, the fact remains, Jim Tressel and his staff are darn fine football coaches, and one "off" class is not THAT damaging to the program. With that said, we will need to hit the OL recruiting trail hard in the '11 class.

GO BUCKS!

 

[jlb1705]

Well, it's obvious that more OL would have been good and Ohio State will now be pressured to close some good ones next year.

I have a philosophy about recruits. If they don't choose Ohio State, they don't belong at Ohio State. Best of luck to them.

Ohio State doesn't have surf, southern sun, or a monopoly on tradition and good times. But, it has its own special charm and traditions, a coaching staff that is proven to help young men learn important lessons on and off the field that benefit them throughout life, and a winning tradition for putting players in the pros.

I've seen this coaching staff turn too many "three-star" players into All-Americans to buy into this "disappointing class" nonsense.

Folks, these new young Buckeyes are going to make us proud out there on the field.

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! New Buckeye players! Welcome!

Excellent post.

"...the Steve Rehring codicle..."

I can't really give that an infraction for bashing because there is no such word. Not sure what you were aiming for, but you missed.

Maybe "codpiece" is the word he was searching for?

--Larry Johnson (OSU version). OSU really doesn't have that guy on the staff that is the ace recruiter/closer. Sure Taver Johnson and Luke Fickell especially are mentioned frequently-- quite deservedly-- as very good recruiters, but there doesn't seem to be that go-to guy when the staff needs to wow recruits. Of course, guys like this might not mesh well with the current staff, and might conflict with Tressel's overall aim in recruiting for the OSU football program.

You got around to the reason at the end of that comment - there's a reason that there isn't a "Larry Johnson" on the staff, and I'm glad that Tressel runs his program in that manner.

 

[BuckeyeJon2006]

Were there disappointments today and throughout this recruiting season? Sure.

I'll say this, though. I remember watching the ESPN coverage of the 2007 class following the Debacle in the Desert. What I remember was the most overblown analysis of a century battle-tested program in a one month's span. They literally made the 2007 class to be the downfall of the OSU program. Combining the "lousy" class and the fact that UM got Mallet, OSU's dominance over the B10 and UM was offically over, they stated. Three B10 championships and a Rose Bowl championship later, the same 2007 class will enter the 2010 season as seniors with a #2 or #3 preseason ranking.

Now, like I stated, does this mean that this class was perfect, and everything that this staff does is perfect? Absolutely not. In fact, there are definitely things that Tressel does that I disagree with. However, the fact remains, Jim Tressel and his staff are darn fine football coaches, and one "off" class is not THAT damaging to the program. With that said, we will need to hit the OL recruiting trail hard in the '11 class.

GO BUCKS!

This upcoming 07 senior class certainly has their studs, but the main reason the team will be ranked so high next year is the 08 class (coupled with a nice transfer and some 06 holdovers).

 

[BearBuck27]

This upcoming 07 senior class certainly has their studs, but the main reason the team will be ranked so high next year is the 08 class (coupled with a nice transfer and some 06 holdovers).

I know that. Hence the " one "off" class is not THAT damaging to the program" comment.

 

[Taosman]

Gang, we own the Big Ten! Even with Iowa and Penn State making noise we own this league!
As long as we have a difference maker under center we will own the Big Ten! I submit to one and all that we have always had serviceable O lines and the difference between winning the Big Ten and being an also ran is the guy under center.

 

[amybuckeye]

I have no problem with this class except one thing... one offensive linemen for the entire class imho is a head scratcher. The staff is obsessed with idea of having fewer O-linemen period.....it just doesn't make sense to me. Other than that they got some good ones.

Oh one other thing....I think the staff needs to reevaluate their talent assessment of safties....

 

[BUCKYLE]

Gang, we own the Big Ten! Even with Iowa and Penn State making noise we own this league!
As long as we have a difference maker under center we will own the Big Ten! I submit to one and all that we have always had serviceable O lines and the difference between winning the Big Ten and being an also ran is the guy under center.

You have that backwards. tOSU, for the most part, has had excellent O lines with "serviceable" QB's.

For the record, I'm not the least bit concerned with anyone we didn't land.

 

[BuckeyeJon2006]

I know that. Hence the " one "off" class is not THAT damaging to the program" comment.

Agreed. 09 was great, 10 not so much, so 11 needs to be great. Only problem is o line is not exactly the strength of the 11 class is Ohio next year and that is clearly our number 1 need (behind Braxton).

 

[Mr_Burns]

After following yet another year of recruiting, I'm very pleased to see I have as much insight as those on Scout, Rivals, etc...

Their insight: ???

My insight: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLiwTZiq_pg]YouTube - Billy likes to drink soda(Billy Madison clip)[/ame]

So we're pretty much even.

At the end of the day, those of us who still decide to stick with tOSU for another season will be forced to suffer through another win over Michigan, Big Ten championship, BCS game, and potential national championship. Oh the horror.

Edit: On a serious note, thanks to Wade, Grad, 22, cjs, and the others for keeping most of us even-keel throughout the process. It's easy to ride the highs and lows, but you guys keep it in perspective for us.

 

[IronBuckI]

I was feeling pretty good about everything, until I read through most of this thread. Now I'm like; Forget it, I quit, I can't do this anymore, man. My head's about to explode. My whole life sucks. I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know where I'm going. [strike]My dad just died[/strike] Tressel can't close. [strike]We just killed Bambi[/strike] We only have one O-line recruit. I'm out here getting my butt kicked and every time I drive down the road I wanna jerk the wheel INTO A BRIDGE ABUTMENT.

 

[coryhulbert]

To me, the odd "trend" seems to be going places where there have been coaching changes. It's like kids enjoy the thought of rebuilding a program. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but it just seems like these schools thrive under new coaches. I look at Auburn, Tennessee and Florida State as a few examples. Obviously that's not always the case, like with USC & Florida just using shady recruiting tactics. No matter how the classes turn out I would still rather have Tressel then any other coach in the country. Stability and integrity are things to be proud of as an OSU fan.

For this class, I'm most excited about Turner and Smith, but I feel this class is VERY solid and I can't wait to see them in the next couple of years.