Football: Ohio State suffers wins and losses during early signing period
When he took the podium as the incoming head coach at Ohio State on Dec. 4 after head coach Urban Meyer had announced his retirement, Ryan Day’s focus was already on Dec. 19.
Meyer ceremoniously passed the baton to Day, who will not officially be the head coach at Ohio State until Jan. 2. But from the moment he left the Fawcett Center on that Tuesday, the recruiting process was his, the team building process was his.
Meyer still had the current Ohio State team, preparing for his final game as a head coach against Washington in the Rose Bowl.
Day held the future.
And on Dec. 19, the future began at Ohio State as the Buckeyes added 15 signees from the 2019 recruiting class on the first day of the early signing period.
Ohio State retained the two five-star recruits from the 2019 class that Meyer helped secure.
Garrett Wilson, the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports composite rankings, signed his letter of intent. The 6-foot, 181-pound receiver comes from Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, the same high school 2018 four-star recruit and Ohio State freshman quarterback Matthew Baldwin went to, and signed with the Buckeyes after verbally committing on April 29.
Five-star center Harry Miller, the No. 2 center in the 2019 class, also made his commitment from June 10 official, signing with Ohio State out of Buford, Georgia.
But even as the first two five-star recruits in the 2019 class, neither Miller nor Wilson would be the defining player in Ohio State’s recruiting class.
That was five-star defensive end Zach Harrison, who, as the No. 1 recruit in the state of Ohio out of Olentangy Orange High School and the No. 4 recruit in the country, committed to the Buckeyes on Wednesday, choosing between what many believed to be Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan.
Even with the change in leadership, Meyer said, in the press conference announcing his retirement, Day is a perfect fit to continue the trend he created during his tenure at Ohio State.
“Once those players know that you have that genuine love and care for them they’ll move mountains for you,” Meyer said. “And I saw that with Ryan Day.”
Day did see some unforeseen change in Ohio State’s 2019 recruiting class.
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2018/12/...-wins-and-losses-during-early-signing-period/
Football: Ryan Day finds trust in 2019 recruiting class
The recruitment of five-star defensive end Zach Harrison came down to the last minute for Ryan Day and Ohio State.
For Day, Harrison was a good representation of what the recruiting process has been like for him transitioning into the head coaching role after Urban Meyer announced that he would retire after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
“We had a home visit last week, was really important to sit down in the home and talk to the family about the direction of the program and having some communication on just some of the leadership changes that comes with the change of the head coach,” Day said.
This was a conversation Day had with many recruits in this two-week span following Meyer’s announcement, a needed conversation that the state of the program, despite the transition of leadership, was very strong and would be consistent.
For many, the decision on whether to choose to come to Ohio State was much simpler. Day said the decision comes down to families trusting that their son would be taken care of.
Harrison trusted Day. So did 14 other recruits, giving Ohio State the No. 3 2019 recruiting class in the Big Ten and No. 12 in the nation, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Day knew from the moment Meyer handed him the reins of Ohio State recruiting that it would be a difficult process in securing the 2019 class during the period of transition, which he started immediately after the Big Ten Championship.
Day had connected with many of the of the 2019 recruits in August and through the first three games of the season when he was named the acting head coach during Meyer’s suspension. He said this helped him have a closeness with the families.
In the two-week span, what he considered to be a whirlwind, Day said it took a level of trust for the families to commit to a program with a brand new head coach.
“I think there was some faith right here because I’ve only been on the job here really for a couple of weeks,” Day said. “When you connect with people, you look them in the eye and you sit in their homes, there’s a connection to be made there, I thought that happened.”
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2018/12/football-ryan-day-finds-trust-in-2019-recruiting-class/
