U MAD BIEL-BRO?

National Signing Day: The Aftermath

With National Signing Day in the books, the finest football minds of America’s basements decided to pool their impressive brainpower and share their insights and thoughts of the day’s results. We decided to throw our $0.02 in as well.

As most of you almost certainly don’t know, I’m not one to follow recruiting all that much. I learned my lesson when I got all pumped about Erik Haw from NCAA Football ’04 or something and then never seemed to see the guy in a Buckeye uniform. Which was a damned shame because he was a BEAST in that game.

However, with a new staff taking over and going to work flipping recruits from Dantonio, Bielema, and whoever’s coaching Penn State (like it matters) it was hard to stay completely detached. When other Buckeye Bloggers started asking for thoughts, well, we couldn’t just let that opportunity pass.

  • Who are you most excited to see in the Scarlet and Gray?  – I’m curious to see how Bri’onte Dunn does in Urban’s offense. He’s a big kid and when I think of Urban’s usual backs I think of shifty little dudes like Demps or Harvin. Imagine Beanie in that system. Besides the players I’m pretty pumped about seeing Urban Meyer on the sidelines and – a little sentimentally – Fickell as well. Considering what he went through it’s amazing he stayed sane throughout the whole thing.
  • Who makes an immediate impact from the 2012 class?  Really any of the offensive linemen. Since the cupboard was pretty bare after last season that seems to be an optimal place for someone to step up. That or any of the beasts on the defensive line. B1G quarterbacks had better get used to the training room. I imagine a certain lineman who will be playing up North will spend a lot of time being tossed around come November.
  • Who do you wish that OSU hadn’t “missed” on? Honestly – and I may be the worst person to ask about this because I don’t follow recruiting as much as a lot of you clowns – I don’t have a single complaint. But it’s way too early in the process to start saying, “If only we’d gotten that guy” because none of these newbies have played a down of college football yet.

For other and potentially better perspectives from the Buckeye Bloggers Network:

 

Coach Meyer flips another recruit

Good News Penn State fans this one isn’t a loss for you guys as it appears Coach Meyer is done raiding your recruiting class. This flip is going to anger Bret Bielema and the Wisconsin Badger fans. After flipping 5 PSU recruits and 2 Notre Dame recruits Urban set his eyes on Wisconsin and one of their recruits.

Kyle Dodson is a 6’6″ 315 lbs 4 star OT recruit from Cleveland, Ohio. Dodson who always wanted to be a Buckeye but for whatever reason wasn’t recruited very much by the previous staff chose Wisconsin over OSU back in November but as soon as Coach Meyer took the HC job at OSU he started to recruit Dodson hard and got Dodson to visit OSU officially and unofficially. During the process Dodson also visited other schools and eventually choose OSU over Wisky, Michigan St., and Southern Cal. Dodson is a US Army All-American and is ranked as high as the 16th best OT prospect in the 2012 class. He has size and speed and a real nasty streak that will make him a good LT or RT but has the ability to play anywhere on the OL. This is a huge get for OSU as it helps fill a need and it takes a recruit away from a rival. Dodson becomes the 25th recruit in OSUs 2012 class.

Coach Withers brings a recruit from UNC

Flipping recruits has become a pastime for OSU coaches as they have had to make up serious ground since taking over after the regular season ended. When Coach Meyer hired his asst. coaches one of the biggest skills each of them needed was to be a good recruiter and to have a passion for recruiting. Coach Withers was hired as Co-DC and has already impressed in helping to land Armani Reeves and now he also has brought with him a recruit who was once a verbal to his old school North Carolina.

Jamal Marcus is a 6’3″ 245 lbs OLB/DL 4 star recruit from Durham, NC. Marcus is a one time commit of the tar Heels but opened up his recruiting after they named a new HC and Withers moved on to OSU. Marcus is ranked as high as the 16th best recruit at his position but all the sites agree he is a solid football player who could play either LB or DL depending on how his body continues to mature and grow. Marcus becomes the 26th commit in the 2012 OSU recruiting class.

Urbans first recruiting class

Often it is said and rightfully so that a new coaches 1st recruiting class isn’t until they have had a full year on the job recruiting all of their own players. Urban Meyer is not just any coach though and in 2 months on the job he has done more to shape a recruiting class then most guys do in a full year. Today Coach Meyer and his staff will receive the fruits of their labor as many verbal commits will send in their letter of intent and go from recruits to members of The Ohio State University Buckeyes. Of special note today for the first time ever every Buckeye will sign a 4 year agreement instead of the usual 1 year renewable the SEC chose not to do the same shocking!!!

So as the day goes along we here at MOTSAG hope to keep a running tally of signed recruits and keep you all appraised of any shocking or not shocking commits who sign with or don’t sign with OSU. So check back here all day long for up to date info and all your Buckeye recruiting Info. We might also give you some other B1G news if any of it is news worthy.


Picture via Tony Gerdeman @GerdOzone

* 6:45 A.M. – Early signers already enrolled are Tyvis Powell, Josh Perry, Bri’onte Dunn, Michael Thomas, Jaboby Boren, and Cardale Jones.

* 7:00 A.M. – Ann Arbor Community College stole a verbal commit from Cincinnati Bearcats in Dennis Norfleet a 5’7″ 170 lbs Running Back. So much for wanting big RBs in Brady Hokes Pro-Style system.

* 7:10 A.M. – Armani Reeves and Camren Williams and Blake Thomas LOIs have been received via @markPantoni

* 7:14 A.M. – Pat Elfein is a Buckeye per @MarkPantoni

* 7:40 A.M. – Warren Ball, Taylor Decker, and Riquan Southward are all officially Buckeyes per @MarkPantoni

* 7:46 A.M. – Luke Roberts and David Perkins are Buckeyes per @MarkPantoni

* 7:51 A.M. – Noah Spence is 100% a Buckeye per @MarkPantoni

* 7:57 A.M. – Najee Murray is a Buckeye per @MarkPantoni

* 8:09 A.M. – Tommy Schutt is a Buckeye and scUM fans are mad per @MarkPantoni

* 8:15 A.M. – Frank Epitropoulos is a Buckeye per @LoriSchmidt

* 8:26 A.M. – Devan Bogard is a Buckeye per @MarkPantoni

* 8:34 A.M. – Adolphus Washington has an awesome name and is a Buckeye per @MarkPantoni

* 8:51 A.M. – Se’Von Pittman is a Buckeye and Pat Narduzzi just exploded via @MarkPantoni

* 10:04 A.M. – Joey O’Connor becomes the 23rd verbal to fax in his LOI and last of the known recruits to do so per @MarkPantoni

* 10:46 A.M. – Jamal Marcus a 4 star LB from North Carolina just committed to OSU will have a post on him later per @MarcGivlerBG

* 12:48 P.M. – Kyle Dodson a 4* OT from Cleveland has flipped from Wisconsin to Ohio State I will post on him later as well per @SYRmotag

That takes the class to 25 players fully committed with Coach Meyer and Ohio State still chasing 2 big time WRs in Stefon Diggs and Davonte Neal. Rumors are swirling he may land both of them and since he has landed every other player he has gone after who are we to doubt him. At this point this is a insanely great class that 2 months ago was poor at best. What this staff has done in 2 months in unimaginable. We will have more later on the entire class as well as write ups on Dodson and Marcus. We will keep you updated on where we are with Diggs and Neal as well.

Whatever Urban Wants

In anticipation of tomorrow’s National Letter of Intent day, we Buckeye fans would like to remind the rest of the college football world that Whatever Urban Wants, Urban Gets.

(h/t to sportsMonkey for the idea)

Urban Meyer lands another 5 star for 2013

With signing day just one day away for the 2012 OSU recruiting class and with the way Coach Meyer has finished out this class it should surprise no one that in the last week he has landed his first 2 recruits for the 2013 class and both of them are 5 star prospects.

Jalin Marshall is a 6’1″ 190 lbs 5 star athlete from Middletown, Ohio. Marshall who is a Dual Threat QB in high school has just committed to play at Ohio St. and will join the Buckeyes as an athlete. He is ranked as one of the top 3 recruits in Ohio. When rankings are released soon expect him to be in the top 10 nationally. He is on the ESPN 150 watch list and will certainly be on the UA or US Army All-American game watchlist. Together with Cam Burrows who committed 2 weeks ago Urban Meyer has put a tight grip on the best talent in Ohio. Two recruits for 2013 and both are 5 star and ranked in the top 3 recruits in Ohio by everyone.

Armani Reeves is a BUCKEYE

In what has become a right of passage this year Urban Meyer has stolen another heralded member of the Penn St. 2011 recruiting class and at the same time beat out scUM for his services. Going into today Ohio State was battling TTUN on the Basketball court and the recruiting trail. They won both challenges and continued their domination on the court and recruiting trail.

Armani Reeves a 5’11” 185 Cornerback from West Roxbury, MA. He is rated as a 4 star CB by every scouting service. He is rated as high as the 6th best CB prospect by Scouts. Reeves is the HS teammate and best friend of fellow OSU commit Camren Williams. Reeves is also a 1st cousin of NBA HOFer Charles Barkley. Reeves fits an area of need in CB and has the speed and skills to impact early at OSU.

Camren Williams chooses the real LBU

Dear Penn St. fans, Urban Meyer may have at one point been a candidate to replace JoePa and he may or may not have used his time on campus interviewing for the job to secretly check out all your recruits and your strategies to land those recruits. What we do know for sure is Coach Meyer has a real affinity for your 2012 recruiting class and has stolen yet another member of it.

Camren Williams is a 6’2″ 215 lbs 4* Linebacker from West Roxbury, MA. Camren was committed to play LB at PSU until he switched his commitment to Ohio state today via Twitter. Camren Williams was the heart and soul of the 2012 PSU recruiting class and Penn St. fans are none to happy to see his flipping. What many PSU fans fail to realize is that although at one point in time their school was known as LBU times have changed and I and others will argue that OSU has had a much better history of LBs. Camren brings speed and size and intelligence to the LB position that Urban Meyer needs. He becomes the 23rd member of the 2012 recruiting class. PSU fans should worry because urban may not be done as Camrens HS teammate and God brother Armani Reeves was on OSU campus the last 2 days and has an offer to join this OSU class as well. So the news may only get worse for PSU and better for OSU.

Coach Meyer lands first recruit for 2013 class

A lot has been made of the fact that Ohio St. doesn’t have any members of the 2013 class. Some say its a whole year away and it isn’t a big deal others think the previous staff didn’t want to get any commitments knowing they wouldnt be the staff in 2013 and wanted the new staff to have a clean slate. Whatever the reason was the wait is over. Today at a highly publicized press conference at Trotwood Madison High School in Trotwood, Ohio OSU landed its first recruit for the 2013 class.

Cam Burrows a 6’2″ 205 lbs 5* DB has become recruit no. 1 in the class that will bring us back to a bowl game and to national prominence. Cam is considered the top recruit in the state of Ohio and is a five star recruit by every recruiting service. He is a ESPN 150 member and will no doubt be All-American as a senior next year. He won a HS state championship as a junior and can play either Safety or Cornerback at the next level. He had offers from every top tier school in the country and choose OSu over scUM and Bama and LSU and Tennesee and Wisky.