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Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh admitted to spending nights at recruits’ houses and climbing a tree with a California prospect. He also hosted an elaborate signing day ceremony Wednesday that included Tom Brady and Ric Flair.
Like it or not, Harbaugh’s strategy paid off to some extent as he landed the nation’s consensus top recruit in defensive tackle Rashan Gary of New Jersey and a class that most experts ranked in the top 10 nationally.
Meanwhile in Columbus, Urban Meyer quietly polished off a class that was touted by three of the main recruiting services as the best in the Big 10.
Scout.com ranked the Buckeyes second in the national team rankings, Rivals.com had them third and ESPN.com ranked OSU fifth.
During his signing day news conference Wednesday afternoon, Meyer said he doesn’t pay a great deal of attention to recruiting rankings, but does like to see the Buckeyes mentioned among the best classes in the country.
“As long as you’re keeping score, we like to do the best we can,” he said. “What I look at, even more than the rankings, because some people have 30 in their class, some people have 25, is the average (per recruit). I think that’s kind of appealing to me to know that we’re one of the top teams in the country as far as quality of player.”
With Harbaugh’s zany strategy getting a lot of media attention, Meyer was asked whether he will change his style moving forward.
“We certainly monitor everything,” he said. “Not just (Michigan), but the (Big 10) Eastern side is one of the most competitive conference divisions in college football. So we know everything that everybody is doing.
“We monitor the best recruiting schools in the country and see what they do. I made the comment that we’re going to look at mailings and graphics. However, we have to remain true to ourselves and who are we, and who am I … Our focus is on real life and graduation life after football, and if you’re blessed enough, go on to the NFL and win some championships along the way. We’re not going to stray from that.”
Ohio State did most of its work before signing day, but did on Wednesday add massive junior college offensive lineman Malcolm Pridgeon and athlete Malik Harrison of Walnut Ridge High School in Columbus.
The Buckeyes signed 25 prospects that hailed from 11 different states. There are nine recruits from the state of Ohio in this year’s class.
The jewels of the class, at least on paper, are Nick Bosa of Florida, Dwayne Haskins of Maryland and Jonathan Cooper of nearby Gahanna Lincoln.
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St. Thomas Aquinas High School football player Nick Bosa, second from left, sits with his family, from the left, father John, mother Cheryl and brother Joey, as he signs with Ohio State on Wednesday at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP PHOTO | CHARLES TRAINOR JR., THE MIAMI HERALD) |
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