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2025 tOSU Recruiting Discussion

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Ohio State’s stocking of its defensive shelves began in earnest after its 2023 defense showed the know-how of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

The Buckeyes had struggled to put such a product on the field since the departure of co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley following the 2019 season. They ranked 59th nationally in total defense and a dismal 97th in pass defense in 2021, a year that led to the departure of defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs and Knowles’ arrival, alongside other defensive staff changes.

Ohio State improved to be the nation’s No. 14 total defense (321.5 yards allowed) and No. 26 pass defense (200.5) in its first year under Knowles in 2022, but those numbers pale compared to those posted in 2023. The Buckeyes were third in total defense with 265.4 yards allowed per game last season, with a mark of 145.9 passing yards surrendered that was more than 11 yards better than the second-best pass defense in the country.

Much of those improvements came as a result of changes Knowles made in the offseason, focusing on preventing the big plays that cost the team against Michigan and Georgia in 2022. He also all but eliminated his trademark “Jack” position from the 2023 defense.

“It’s what makes him the best in the country. He’s able to adapt,” new Ohio State safeties coach Matt Guerrieri said of Knowles in March. “Some guys have a great defense, the No. 1 defense in the country and then it stays the same for a number of years and people start to catch up with it a little bit. It’s hard to get a bead on him. He spends a ton of time, he’s probably in his office right now studying what his next move is. So I would say what makes him special is the way that he can teach and be able to take a system and be able to make it very functional for the guys.”

“IT’S ONE THING TO TALK ABOUT IT, THAT’S THEORY. TESTIMONY IS, ‘LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS WHAT WE’RE DOING.’”– RYAN DAY ON DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS HELPING IN RECRUITING
 
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osuvictory1 said:
We joke about other teams having bagmen, but OSU is finally flexing and it feels great.

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Hell yeah it does! I’ve always wanted OSU admin, coaches and boosters finally somewhat get on the same page and give a middle finger to the NCAA in the same way the folks in the south do! Playing the self righteous role cost the program chips, imo. While Saban built a historic powerhouse , and pretty much the rest of the SEC built factory’s the kept the title in the conference for years while over signing yearly and stockpiling most of the nations talent.
 
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With DL recruiting possibly approaching one of the best classes OSU has had in YEARS! And landing players from the deep south, a region OSU has never had a foothold in places like AL and LA before. Some of that can be attributed to Darth Saban, but LJsr has hardly ever pulled players from there before. Not enough credit is being given to this guy: LaAllan Clark. A coach/assistant from LA, with ties in the south is big reason you're seeing OSU now in a serious mix for these southern DL who rarely ever went north.
And with the new coaching role, Clark could be the heir apparent to LJsr as the DL coach, and could allow LJsr to go on the trail less, and focus more on the coaching, development and on campus recruiting aspect. While Clark hits the road

And also, special shout out to Coach Gerren Duhart who has been a big help with the DBs. OG Walt and Guerrieri deserve a ton of praise. But if look at many of the tweets from the DB recruits(and their families), DuHart's name continually is mentioned.
 
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https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-five-star-five-programs-that-should-be-pleased

OHIO STATE​

Tavien St. Clair





Tavien St. Clair
Ohio State was one of the most represented programs in Jacksonville at the Rivals Five-Star, boasting a strong five commitments.
Five-star quarterback
Tavien St. Clair
is the clear leader of the class and will certainly be in the discussion to be the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the Rivals250 as the cycle progresses. St. Clair took home the Quarterback MVP award.

One of the St. Clair’s future targets was on hand in four-star tight end
Nate Roberts
. An old school style of tight end prospect, Roberts will surely be a weapon in the physical Big Ten, being utilized as a receiving threat, but also in line as a blocker.

There were three elite big men in the event all headed to Columbus. Five-star offensive lineman
Carter Lowe
continually got better as the day went on, repeatedly facing off against some of the top prospects in America. Some of those he faced were future Buckeye teammates
London Merritt
and
Zion Grady
, who each came out on the winning end of a majority of their 1-on-1 reps. Merritt certainly proved he is well on his way to developing into an impact player in the defensive front.
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We are! We are! On a humerous sidenote, (at least to me), Xichigan won the Nati. Well played, and deserved. However, instead of reaping a recruiting boom, tOSU is in the midst of a runaway recruiting season (to be continued in a couple of weeks). Don't know if recruits are shying away because of impending sanctions against the program, or questions about new coaching staff or just those ugly helmets. Any thoughts?
 
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calibuck said:
We are! We are! On a humerous sidenote, (at least to me), Xichigan won the Nati. Well played, and deserved. However, instead of reaping a recruiting boom, tOSU is in the midst of a runaway recruiting season (to be continued in a couple of weeks). Don't know if recruits are shying away because of impending sanctions against the program, or questions about new coaching staff or just those ugly helmets. Any thoughts?
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Xichigan won the Nati.
Well played, and deserved.

images-2.jpg
 
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calibuck said:
We are! We are! On a humerous sidenote, (at least to me), Xichigan won the Nati. Well played, and deserved. However, instead of reaping a recruiting boom, tOSU is in the midst of a runaway recruiting season (to be continued in a couple of weeks). Don't know if recruits are shying away because of impending sanctions against the program, or questions about new coaching staff or just those ugly helmets. Any thoughts?
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All of the above, and add to it, that their NIL collectives are an absolute mess. I've spoken with numerous scUM fans since their Natty, and ALL of them cry about their lack of NIL. But after the crying become smug and say they want players who play "the right way" and who "want to be *ichigan men" :roll1:. The arrogance knows no limits, they deserve this, and it sickens me when I hear someone like Wiltfong or Gorman call them "Development U", like the teams who are crushing it in recruiting and in NIL don't recruit their players. Last I checked, guys like: Olave, Dewand Jones, Gareon Conley, Denzel Ward, Parris Campbell, Sam Hubbard, etc were all lower rated, had to find the right position and/or just needed football development in order to become successful contributors in the NFL. scUM took arguably the best WR in the country(DPJ), and turned him into a 6th round pick. Hartline's resume is as prestgeous as any in the country. You can read message boards from any team in the country and read how fearful they are of Hartline if their team is recruiting the same WR
 
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Have heard it said on this board that tOSU simply cannot take all the players in Ohio. Heard and agreed. Glad to see that the players that escape the Buckeye net land elsewhere in a Power 5 school. Wish them all well, except in the case of playing against the good guys. Ohio has many universities, other than the Buckeyes, all at MAC level. Having gone to MAC school for undergrad, it used to be that we were a smidge below tOSU in starter quality, but woefully lacking after the starters got tired. Not so much anymore, as the out of state vultures are descending and snarfling up the folk that tOSU doesn't take. Now the MAC seems to be a developmental league for the Power 5 schools.
 
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calibuck said:
Have heard it said on this board that tOSU simply cannot take all the players in Ohio. Heard and agreed. Glad to see that the players that escape the Buckeye net land elsewhere in a Power 5 school. Wish them all well, except in the case of playing against the good guys. Ohio has many universities, other than the Buckeyes, all at MAC level. Having gone to MAC school for undergrad, it used to be that we were a smidge below tOSU in starter quality, but woefully lacking after the starters got tired. Not so much anymore, as the out of state vultures are descending and snarfling up the folk that tOSU doesn't take. Now the MAC seems to be a developmental league for the Power 5 schools.
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Leads to something I was wondering about in generral.

We are at 21 and still looking at Sanders, Moore, Pettijohn, Hill, Brew and a few others. Seems like we are early in the cycle to be in this kind of numbers crunch. Did the 25 limit get changed?
 
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