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Coaches hit the road
The Buckeye coaches are on the road this week and in fact got started yesterday with Ryan Day meeting with Trey Leroux, Paris Johnson (along with Greg Studrawa) and Darrion Henry (along with Larry Johnson). Day will be in Charlotte today for Jacolbe Cowan and will be making the rounds all week (working his way West after Charlotte) to meet with committed prospects and their families ahead of the early signing window.
Coaching Carousel update
A few quick things regarding Ohio State's role in the coaching carousel right now. Jeff Hafley is of course being linked to the Boston College job. He's the top guy on BC's board and he is listening. However nothing has been finalized there at this point and he is still expected to be on the road this week recruiting for Ohio State.
In fact he is supposed to be in Southern California on Thursday to meet with Kourt Williams so certainly nothing has been finalized either way and he is going about things business as usual when it comes to his duties for Ohio State.
There is some confidence coming out of the Boston College side of things that they can get a deal done here. I've had a few OSU contacts kind of pump the brakes on that a little bit and expect him to be back so there is a lot of mixed information right now. Ultimately this will come down to whether or not Hafley wants to be a head coach and thinks this is a good fit. While he'll probably be in line for a raise at Ohio State, this will be much more about weighing the opportunity to be a head coach and whether or not Boston College is a place he feels he can be successful.
Again, he's the top guy on BC's board and the fact that he hasn't told them no yet is certainly indicative of genuine interest but things are still in a holding pattern there. I tend to think this gets sorted out in the next 5-7 days one way or another. It's just time for everyone involved, BC, OSU, Hafley, to know what the deal is so proper adjustments can be made.
Not much smoke right now surrounding Tony Alford and Colorado State. That was something that I think was almost expected to come up but hasn't really been a thing to this point. These coaching searches have a tendency to take wild left turns so something could always surface later on down the road, but right now things are pretty quiet there.
Thoughts from Canton
Spent the weekend in Canton for the OHSAA state championships. Will have more content coming from the weekend but wanted to post some of my main Ohio State-centric take aways here:
- I thought 2021 Ohio State linebacker commit Reid Carrico played really well on Saturday night in a loss to Kirtland. This was my second time seeing Reid over the past month and I felt he played better on Saturday than he did against Amanda-Clearcreek a few weeks ago. He does really well getting sideline-to-sideline and making plays out on the edge and I think he's going to be a pretty good blitzer as well. He blew up a few Kirtland runs with A-gap blitzes on Saturday.
- The Pickerington Central/Elder game featured three Ohio State commits. Joe Royer had a pretty quiet night, I think he was just targeted one time and he did make the grab. I thought Elder blocked pretty well up front, just couldn't make big plays. Moved the ball pretty well on a talented Central defense but it was kind of a bend but don't break effort. No new thoughts really on Jakob James. Reminds me a bit of Ryan Jacoby and think he's a developmental guy who needs to add size and strength but could blossom after a couple of years. Beats guys with technique and positioning, not an overpowering athlete like a Josh Myers or Wyatt Davis.
Ty Hamilton had a solid night, with a sack and a handful of tackles. I don't know what his ceiling is, but he works really hard and has improved every year so whatever his potential is, he'll reach it. His body has grown so much since his freshman year that it's a little tough to predict where it will go under Marotti, but right now I'd guess strong-side end.
- Ohio State is recruiting a ton of guys at Cincinnati La Salle right now and of course has a commitment from kicker Jake Seibert who I featured over the weekend. Of the underclassmen, I still really like Jaylen Johnson, though he was a bit more quiet in this game than the first time I saw him play this fall. I see him as a Pete Werner type of guy, don't think he stays at safety. 2022 running back Gi'Bran Payne was fantastic. I could see him being an OSU kid, but he's certainly a Big Ten kid. Great feet, runs with a lot of power despite not being the biggest kid. Should be a monster the next years at that program.
- Still love the physical talent of 2021 Massillon WR Jayden Ballard. Great run and jump athlete, big-time vertical threat. Will clean up the consistency issues and will become a better route runner, can't teach the athleticism which is A+.
Taking Inventory
Not a ton of remaining targets at this point but enough to keep the Buckeyes busy through the end of January.
Priority number one right now is landing another quarterback. C.J. Stroud is still supposed to make his official visit this coming weekend. If that goes off as expected, Ohio State is undoubtedly going to push for the commitment and signature next Wednesday when the early signing period opens. Stroud has been pretty private throughout all of this but the timing of this OSU visit and the sentiment I've gathered in talking to him and people around him is that I still think the Buckeyes are the team to beat right now.
Priority number two is Jahmyr Gibbs, the fast-rising running back out of Georgia. Gibbs won't be signing until February which is probably good news for Ohio State as it gives them more time to try and win this thing. The one-punch knockout of the unofficial visit didn't work, so best to let this one go 12 rounds at this point. Gibbs will make his official visit the weekend of January 17th. Georgia Tech remains in the lead given that they have his pledge right now and that there is a real draw to staying close to home.
Florida has probably recruited Gibbs the hardest along with Ohio State. Again, the people that I trust on this one tend to believe Ohio State is a bigger threat than Florida at this time. Alabama and Georgia remain wild cards and dependant upon how hard they push, which right now isn't particularly hard. One thing I will say about Gibbs delaying though is that it does give Bama and UGA a chance to see how the dust settles in December with their other targets, so we could see a renewed surge from one or both of them after Christmas.
Priority number three, and it's more of a "would be nice to have" than a "need" at this stage is another pass rusher. There is virtually no smoke around Tyler Baron and Ohio State right now. My sources are split on Kentucky and Tennessee being the favorite and I actually would lean toward UK right now if I had to, but either way it's not sounding great for the Buckeyes at this point. But they are going to "let this play out" as one source inside the WHAC told me this morning, so OSU hasn't thrown in the towel yet.
Xavier Carlton is going to wait until February to sign and I'm told by a very good source that Ohio State is going to wait until January to make its push in terms of the in-home visits. Much like Gibbs, it's probably better for Ohio State's chances if this one goes the distance as opposed to being wrapped up next week.
If things fall through with Stroud at quarterback, Jayden de Laura remains the next man up and he's also waiting until February to sign so Ohio State will be able to see how things play out with Stroud first.
Columbus Walnut Ridge athlete Qian Magwood remains on the periphery. Definitely a situation where we need to see how things shake out in terms of NFL early entry and the transfer portal, but still a situation that could flare up after the new year.
