LEAN, MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE: Urban Meyer speaks to the media after being introduced as the new head coach of Ohio State football on November 28, 2011 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Urban Meyer has only been the head football coach at Ohio State for 52 days, yet he’s making just about every other head coach across the country sweat, particularly in the Big Ten and in the Midwest.
It’s pretty safe to assume that Meyer is not on Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly’s Christmas card list after poaching two coaches and a couple of recruits. As for Michigan’s Brady Hoke, he profusely sweats just by walking down the hall to get more donuts. Now having to contend with Meyer on the recruiting trial, Hoke is bathing in Old Spice and buying deodorant in bulk.
With less than two weeks left until National Signing Day on Feb. 1, Meyer has assembled a top 5 recruiting class. Since taking over on Nov. 28, he has received six verbal commitments that include two five-star and two four-star prospects.
Of course, Adolphus Washington, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound defensive end from Taft High School in Cincinnati and a five-star prospect, pledged his allegiance to Buckeye Nation just days before Meyer was officially introduced as the next head coach.
On the day of his announcement at Taft High, Washington said then that “he expects to play early and he believes he will be playing for Urban Meyer.”
Not only has Meyer been able to sell Ohio State to blue-chip players, but he’s also been able to retain all of the other recruits who previously committed to play for the Buckeyes at the time of his hiring which includes five-star running back Brionte Dunn.
Just this week alone, Meyer has been able to woo three recruits who had verbally committed elsewhere. Offensive lineman Taylor Decker from Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio, originally committed to Notre Dame last March, but flipped his verbal and pledged his allegiance to Ohio State on Sunday.
David Perkins, a two-way standout from Washington High School in South Bend, Indiana, who also had committed to Notre Dame last summer, verbally committed to play for the Buckeyes on Wednesday after a visit to Columbus this past weekend.
Then there was Joey O’Connor, an offensive lineman from Windsor High School in Windsor, Colorado, who had committed to Penn State only to reopen his recruitment in November following the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. O’Connor stated his intentions on Monday to attend The Ohio State University in 2012.
That doesn’t even include Tommy Schutt, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound defensive tackle from Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., who decommitted from Penn State before pledging his allegiance to Buckeye Nation last month.
For an encore, Meyer has his sights set on players like quarterback/all-around athlete Joel Caleb, wide receiver Davonte Neal, plus others that include prospects who have already made verbal commitments like offensive tackle Kyle Dodson (Wisconsin), cornerback Armani Reeves and linebacker Camren Williams (Penn State).
Caleb, a four-star recruit who hails from Midlothian, Virginia, played quarterback for Clover Hill High School. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, weighs 205 pounds and is projected as a wide receiver in college. Caleb stated last week that he will wait until Signing Day to announce his decision. Ohio State is on his short list with Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Georgia. Of those four, the only one he hasn’t made an official visit to is Georgia.
Neal, on the other hand, will not make his final decision until after Signing Day. He’s visited Ohio State and Notre Dame, so far, but also has pending visits coming up with Arkansas this weekend, North Carolina on Jan. 27, and with Arizona on Feb. 11. Neal, from Chapparal High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, had previously stated that he planned on going out-of-state for college, but met with new Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez and two of his assistants on Wednesday and will now visit the Tucson campus.
As for the others, Dodson, who originally committed to Wisconsin last June, has also taken official visits to Ohio State, Auburn and USC in the last six weeks. But since Meyer took over, the Buckeyes have been making a serious push for the 6-foot-6, 315-pound four-star offensive tackle from Cleveland Heights, and it appears that Dodson will eventually choose Ohio State over Wisconsin.
Another interesting story is Reeves and Williams, who both attend Catholic Memorial, a prep school in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and both are four-star prospects. Both are also in Columbus as we speak checking out the Ohio State campus. It’s an official visit for Armani and an unofficial visit for Camren.
Brent Williams, Camren’s father, had this to say Tuesday night to Ryan Snyder of Blue White Illustrated, a Penn State website:
“At this point, Cam probably feels more comfortable with the Ohio State coaching staff. He’s known Coach Vrabel for awhile now, Everett Withers has been around for awhile now, he coached my son at North Carolina and recruited Cam there. That being said, from that standpoint, I feel like Ohio State has that advantage there.”
With 22 commitments already on board for the class of 2012, there’s only room for two or three more. But with just 13 days left until National Signing Day, Meyer still has time to work his magic and pilfer more recruits.
