Caleb Houser
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Ohio State’s new hires paying off with big recruiting wins
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Carlos Locklyn & Matt Guerrieri have been upgrades since their arrival.
Ohio State’s has one of the best coaching staffs in the country. A group of coaches that most programs would covet, there’s always room for growth, as even the most elite units will admit.
Over the last couple of seasons, Ohio State has seen a fair share of changes on their coaching staff. Whether it was the program moving on or the opportunity for a larger role elsewhere, this staff hasn’t been a stranger to some transition under Ryan Day.
Specifically speaking, the two newest hires for the Buckeyes include Carlos Locklyn at the running back position and Matt Guerrieri for safeties. Without skipping a beat, both coaches have come in and have already made major impacts in their recruiting efforts.
Ohio State got better by replacing Tony Alford and Perry Eliano. The former running backs and safety coaches are definitely solid staffers in their own right, but also left more to be desired in the recruiting realm. Sure, development is the ultimate goal, but it doesn’t take a lot to see that it’s a lot easier to develop supremely talented players that are ready to go as soon as they’re on campus.
Alford leaving for Michigan was a decision of his own, but you can’t ignore the fact that besides TreVeyon Henderson, the last few years weren’t great at running back recruiting. Losing out on his top targets multiple times for a myriad of reasons, fans were anxious with Alford, and him leaving for the Team Up North wasn’t the end of the world.
With Locklyn’s addition, he’s already landed in-state back Bo Jackson, and that’s music to Ohio State’s ears as it’s a battle that many times Alford would have lost. Funny enough, it’s been rumored that Alford preferred fellow Ohio product Marquise Davis in this current cycle, but even with his time in Ann Arbor, Davis ended up choosing Kentucky over the Wolverines.
On the defensive side of the ball, Eliano’s departure really wasn’t his own decision. Another position group that saw their top targets end up elsewhere more often than not, Day and Jim Knowles bringing in Matt Guerrieri is not only helpful to the schematics and teaching side of the game, but of course in recruiting too.
No slouch of his own, Guerrieri just helped land a top safety target in Faheem Delane, and it is clear he has had a ton to do with that addition to the 2025 class that boasts the best defensive secondary unit in the country.
Simply put, it was time for a change at both of these positions, and it’s looking like Day was able to find the right guys in both accounts. We’ll see the development side of things a little more in depth come fall, but if recruiting is the main goal of the summer, both coaches are crushing it, and proving to be obvious upgrades since their arrivals.
Continue reading...
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Carlos Locklyn & Matt Guerrieri have been upgrades since their arrival.
Ohio State’s has one of the best coaching staffs in the country. A group of coaches that most programs would covet, there’s always room for growth, as even the most elite units will admit.
Over the last couple of seasons, Ohio State has seen a fair share of changes on their coaching staff. Whether it was the program moving on or the opportunity for a larger role elsewhere, this staff hasn’t been a stranger to some transition under Ryan Day.
Specifically speaking, the two newest hires for the Buckeyes include Carlos Locklyn at the running back position and Matt Guerrieri for safeties. Without skipping a beat, both coaches have come in and have already made major impacts in their recruiting efforts.
Upgrades at multiple spots thanks to Locklyn and Guerrieri
Ohio State got better by replacing Tony Alford and Perry Eliano. The former running backs and safety coaches are definitely solid staffers in their own right, but also left more to be desired in the recruiting realm. Sure, development is the ultimate goal, but it doesn’t take a lot to see that it’s a lot easier to develop supremely talented players that are ready to go as soon as they’re on campus.
Alford leaving for Michigan was a decision of his own, but you can’t ignore the fact that besides TreVeyon Henderson, the last few years weren’t great at running back recruiting. Losing out on his top targets multiple times for a myriad of reasons, fans were anxious with Alford, and him leaving for the Team Up North wasn’t the end of the world.
With Locklyn’s addition, he’s already landed in-state back Bo Jackson, and that’s music to Ohio State’s ears as it’s a battle that many times Alford would have lost. Funny enough, it’s been rumored that Alford preferred fellow Ohio product Marquise Davis in this current cycle, but even with his time in Ann Arbor, Davis ended up choosing Kentucky over the Wolverines.
On the defensive side of the ball, Eliano’s departure really wasn’t his own decision. Another position group that saw their top targets end up elsewhere more often than not, Day and Jim Knowles bringing in Matt Guerrieri is not only helpful to the schematics and teaching side of the game, but of course in recruiting too.
No slouch of his own, Guerrieri just helped land a top safety target in Faheem Delane, and it is clear he has had a ton to do with that addition to the 2025 class that boasts the best defensive secondary unit in the country.
Simply put, it was time for a change at both of these positions, and it’s looking like Day was able to find the right guys in both accounts. We’ll see the development side of things a little more in depth come fall, but if recruiting is the main goal of the summer, both coaches are crushing it, and proving to be obvious upgrades since their arrivals.
Continue reading...