tOSU Recruiting Discussion

[BUCKYLE]

One additional fear is that the national guys just don't "get" the rivalry and despite having superior talent won't be able to match the intensity of the local kids playing for Michigan similarly to what happened in the 90's. You still have to feel pretty comfortable with Meyer > Cooper when it comes to motivation for The Game, however.

That's my one fear as far as Urban's recruiting goes. I don't care how much a coach talks about The Game, it's not the same as LIVING the rivalry your whole life. It's about finding the right mix, so to speak, amongst elite national players, and enough homegrown TSUN haters. You have to have that passion...it can be learned...but when that fire is there and has been there since their earliest childhood memories...then that kid has a leg up when it comes to The Game, imo.

All in all, I trust in Urban to bring in enough talent to overcome...but it does concern me a bit.

 

[buckeyegunners]

Seeing "Tressel/Hoke" makes me cringe. Please give our former leader a little more respect till Hoke earns the right to be compared to the greats in this rivalry. Meyer hasn't earned it either but his track record speaks for itself. Hoke had 1 great season with a ton of luck and he can recruit. It's not a large enough sample size to say he's going to be another Bo, Woody, or Tressel.

And overcome what? We didn't stop recruiting Ohio and Ohio kids don't have special powers. If Hoke wants to take marginal talents from Ohio while we take better talents from OOS then it's not going to hurt us.

 

[Jaxbuck]

That's my one fear as far as Urban's recruiting goes. I don't care how much a coach talks about The Game, it's not the same as LIVING the rivalry your whole life. It's about finding the right mix, so to speak, amongst elite national players, and enough homegrown TSUN haters. You have to have that passion...it can be learned...but when that fire is there and has been there since their earliest childhood memories...then that kid has a leg up when it comes to The Game, imo.

All in all, I trust in Urban to bring in enough talent to overcome...but it does concern me a bit.

I think this myself sometimes but then I remember the "national talent" teams of the 90's didn't struggle because the players didn't get The Rivalry.

They struggled because the coach didn't get The Rivalry.

I am very confident Urban gets it.

 

[BUCKYLE]

Seeing "Tressel/Hoke" makes me cringe. Please give our former leader a little more respect till Hoke earns the right to be compared to the greats in this rivalry. Meyer hasn't earned it either but his track record speaks for itself. Hoke had 1 great season with a ton of luck and he can recruit. It's not a large enough sample size to say he's going to be another Bo, Woody, or Tressel.

And overcome what? We didn't stop recruiting Ohio and Ohio kids don't have special powers. If Hoke wants to take marginal talents from Ohio while we take better talents from OOS then it's not going to hurt us.

No one even hinted that Hoke is in the same galaxy as Woody, Bo, or JT in terms of accomplishment in The Game, or as a football coach in general. What he said was Hoke was employing a similar strategy in recruiting plenty of Ohio kids, like JT, and unlike RR.

I don't care what anyone says, Ohio kids do have special powers. It comes from growing up watching The Game with more riding on the outcome than your rep or swag. Talent will get you plenty far in life, and I'm not knocking the oos kids one bit. I just don't think it's possible for a kid that has experienced The Game from the outside a couple times in his life to have the same desire and determination as someone that lived and breathed it with every fiber of their being since the age of six. OOS kid comes to the Shoe on a visit, loves it, thinks it's sweet...amazing even. Kid from central Ohio that has bled S&G his entire life sheds a tear his first time there.

I think this myself sometimes but then I remember the "national talent" teams of the 90's didn't struggle because the players didn't get The Rivalry.

They struggled because the coach didn't get The Rivalry.

I am very confident Urban gets it.

That's why I'm not sweating it as much. It still makes me worry a bit. You dig deep and give just a little more when you hate TSUN the way I do. I just hope Urban's philosophy of going after ultra-competitors will fill in the hate towards TSUN in the gut-check department.

 

[Buckeye86]

No one even hinted that Hoke is in the same galaxy as Woody, Bo, or JT in terms of accomplishment in The Game, or as a football coach in general. What he said was Hoke was employing a similar strategy in recruiting plenty of Ohio kids, like JT, and unlike RR.

Additionally, the strategy involves locking up said Ohio kids early in the year- possibly at the detriment of some of the bigger fish that may pop up later in the recruiting cycle or that take their recruitment down to the wire.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

The only real possible concern I can see here is if UFM continues to focus more nationally on recruiting whilst Hoke focuses more on Ohio. If Hoke can pull in more and more solid Ohio kids it can set up a mindset in other Ohio kids that Michigan is a viable option, whereas Tressel got so many top-level Ohio kids to come to Ohio State that Michigan wasn't even a thought for most under Tressel. This may take a while to materialize but in 10-12 years down the road when UFM may step down (just think how fast the 10-year JT era flew by), it could get to the point that Michigan is getting as many of Ohio's top kids as is Ohio State. That simply cannot happen, no matter what kind of national talent we are pulling in.

 

[BUCKYLE]

The only real possible concern I can see here is if UFM continues to focus more nationally on recruiting whilst Hoke focuses more on Ohio. If Hoke can pull in more and more solid Ohio kids it can set up a mindset in other Ohio kids that Michigan is a viable option, whereas Tressel got so many top-level Ohio kids to come to Ohio State that Michigan wasn't even a thought for most under Tressel. This may take a while to materialize but in 10-12 years down the road when UFM may step down (just think how fast the 10-year JT era flew by), it could get to the point that Michigan is getting as many of Ohio's top kids as is Ohio State. That simply cannot happen, no matter what kind of national talent we are pulling in.

Tress had the Ohio HS coaches in his pocket. I don't know or claim to know what kind of relationships Urban is building with them, but I really hope he is doing well. The Ohio HS coaches put JT in their HoF, placing his pic in the 'Shoe. If Urban can at least maintain those relationships, it's all good. I just worry that Ohio HS coaches are a paranoid bunch, and will be a bit vindictive if Urban does even slightly less for some of the marginal type kids that JT was so fond of.

 

[brutus2002]

IMO the 2012 class was the best class in the country last year by a considerable margin. I live in Alabama and they are not bragging up their freshmen half as much as our coaches are.

Meyer will do one thing Tressel didn't...go for the throat. When Blake Countess is your best CB and Kovacs is your best safety your in huge trouble against Meyer. Meyer is gonna embarrass Michigan this year.

Our defensive recruits from last year and this year are significantly better than anything Michigan has or is getting.

I would much rather have a dominant DL than OL...ask Alabama, LSU,and USC...heck look at our DL from 2002-2005.

They are putting all of their eggs in the Shane Morris basket...if he doesn't perform they are in serious trouble in 2013-2015.

 

[buckeyegunners]

I don't care what anyone says, Ohio kids do have special powers. It comes from growing up watching The Game with more riding on the outcome than your rep or swag. Talent will get you plenty far in life, and I'm not knocking the oos kids one bit. I just don't think it's possible for a kid that has experienced The Game from the outside a couple times in his life to have the same desire and determination as someone that lived and breathed it with every fiber of their being since the age of six. OOS kid comes to the Shoe on a visit, loves it, thinks it's sweet...amazing even. Kid from central Ohio that has bled S&G his entire life sheds a tear his first time there.

Then why are a lot of these kids going to Michigan first chance if we slow play them at all? I do see some though, I see Darron Lee coming to camp multiple times giving everything to get an offer, I see Warren Ball, Jacoby Boren, Tyvis Powell, and some others not waver 1 bit when we were getting destroyed by national media.

Truly don't think it's the norm these days, they aren't going to Michigan or Ohio State for The Game, they are going to our schools because we put them on the national scene so they can have a chance to win things and then go pro.

You can't tell me Malcolm Jenkins, James Lauranaitis, or Cameron Heyward grew up dreaming about the game but I know they put as much effort into getting ready for it and winning it as any I've seen. Eli Woodard didn't grow up in Ohio but you can tell he has as much pride in Ohio State as any recruit we've had recently. Michael Hill could have gone to any school in the country but decided he wanted to follow a dream.

I love Ohio kids and it is a state pride thing but national kids are every bit as capable of bleeding for us and putting their heart into every game as Ohio kids. Urban as Tressel did will instill into these kids what the game means and doesn't matter where they are from.

 

[jwinslow]

I don't care what anyone says, Ohio kids do have special powers. It comes from growing up watching The Game with more riding on the outcome than your rep or swag. Talent will get you plenty far in life, and I'm not knocking the oos kids one bit. I just don't think it's possible for a kid that has experienced The Game from the outside a couple times in his life to have the same desire and determination as someone that lived and breathed it with every fiber of their being since the age of six. OOS kid comes to the Shoe on a visit, loves it, thinks it's sweet...amazing even. Kid from central Ohio that has bled S&G his entire life sheds a tear his first time there.

There were very, very few of those in the 2012 class given the circumstances and that spilled over into 2013 as well (though it wasn't as widespread).

 

[BUCKYLE]

Then why are a lot of these kids going to Michigan first chance if we slow play them at all? I do see some though, I see Darron Lee coming to camp multiple times giving everything to get an offer, I see Warren Ball, Jacoby Boren, Tyvis Powell, and some others not waver 1 bit when we were getting destroyed by national media.

Truly don't think it's the norm these days, they aren't going to Michigan or Ohio State for The Game, they are going to our schools because we put them on the national scene so they can have a chance to win things and then go pro.

You can't tell me Malcolm Jenkins, James Lauranaitis, or Cameron Heyward grew up dreaming about the game but I know they put as much effort into getting ready for it and winning it as any I've seen. Eli Woodard didn't grow up in Ohio but you can tell he has as much pride in Ohio State as any recruit we've had recently. Michael Hill could have gone to any school in the country but decided he wanted to follow a dream.

I love Ohio kids and it is a state pride thing but national kids are every bit as capable of bleeding for us and putting their heart into every game as Ohio kids. Urban as Tressel did will instill into these kids what the game means and doesn't matter where they are from.

If you grow up rooting for tOSU, and they aren't all that serious about recruiting you, then, as much as it sucks, TSUN is 1. A place to exact revenge for some perceived or real slight, and 2....it's the closest to tOSU you're going to find, imo. People on here talk a lot about how kids are soooo much different these days, but I don't believe most of that to be true. Kids still worship The Game and although it is true both tOSU and TSUN offer national exposure, if you grew up playing football in Ohio, you picked a side early, and were most definitely fascinated by The Game.

When there are busts amongst the national kids...and there will be, of course, there will be some Ohio HS coaches that wonder why tOSU couldn't take their kid, who ended up standing out at another B1G school. I'm not saying they are justified in feeling that way, just that they will. As long as most of those kids that are from Ohio and perform above expectations are doing it at NW or MSU...not that big of a deal. When they do it at TSUN...it starts that ball rolling again. I'm not saying it will happen. I'm just saying I hope it doesn't. That's all.

I just don't think there are too many Bobby Carpenters out there nationally that would break down in tears on the sideline because they got hurt in their final game against TSUN. I also believe that the more of those guys you have on the team, the better it is for our side of the rivalry.

 

[jwinslow]

I just don't think there are too many Bobby Carpenters out there nationally that would break down in tears on the sideline because they got hurt in their final game against TSUN.

And I think that's a pretty ridiculous assumption.

His Iowa running mate, the Boar Hunter, lives and breathes Ohio State to this day.

His Minnesota replacement from hockey country bleeds S&G to his bones, outdone only by his Piscataway NJ classmate.

 

[BUCKYLE]

And I think that's a pretty ridiculous assumption.

His Iowa running mate, the Boar Hunter, lives and breathes Ohio State to this day.

His Minnesota replacement from hockey country bleeds S&G to his bones, outdone only by his Piscataway NJ classmate.

Ok. That's your opinion. Mine is that twenty years of intense hatred for TSUN and love of tOSU has to mean more than four years. I don't mean to imply that Malcolm or James don't love tOSU, only that their love of tOSU was built during their four years there. Bobby's was established long before he even knew he'd be good enough to attend. Agree to disagree, I guess. Then again, you grew up outside of Ohio, so it makes sense that you'd want to believe that.

 

[jwinslow]

So you think that Schlegel or Jenkins would not be emotionally invested enough to be tearful?

Ted Ginn didn't cry when he went out of the NC game and decimated the gameplan. Troy Smith was all smiles after the game. I'm not sure what those emotions mean though


But this is secondary to my primary point, people love to sensationalize the "national" nature of Meyer's recruiting. The simple fact is, a ton of Ohioans absolutely hated (broken) OSU in 2012 (and I can't blame them) and many of the top-20 Ohioans in 2013 were also not enamored. They no longer viewed it as a leper colony like the '12 recruits, but this adoration you speak of simply wasn't there.


Go look at my list:
http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/...osu-recruiting-discussion-26.html#post2193219

He's going after them. They don't want to come.

 

[Buckeye Nut]

The simple fact is, a ton of Ohioans absolutely hated (broken) OSU in 2012 (and I can't blame them) and many of the top-20 Ohioans in 2013 were also not enamored. They no longer viewed it as a leper colony like the '12 recruits, but this adoration you speak of simply wasn't there.

Can you go into what the perception of OSU was among Ohio recruits and how it got to that point? Also, is that perception going away or is it less prevalent among recruits in the '14 class and beyond. Thanks Josh!