Michigan Football: Brady Hoke Right at Home Recruiting Ohio Prospects

The drive from Luna Pier's beachfront down through Toledo and over to Sandusky took about 90 minutes when we first made the trip nearly 10 years ago.

We took the same route last week while on our annual summer vacation stopping at the incredible Toft's Dairy just west of Sandusky.

While my wife battled with a triple-scoop ice cream cone sold as a single, I toyed with my smart phone, just curious to see if there were more "ugly" rumors surfacing around Columbus. After all, we were in Buckeye country.

For years, I would cringe at the sight of a scarlet and grey jersey, knowing that breaking the streak was just another pipe dream. But this day was different. We wore our Michigan gear proudly. Ever since we crossed the border, we looked for Buckeye jerseys, just as other drivers looked for their state's license plates.

We couldn't help but chuckle when I noticed the headline from, you guessed it, Bleacher Report. It read something like, the Michigan-Ohio border is still closed.

The story focused on how Ohio State would still have the upper hand in recruiting Ohio. Give my colleague credit for sticking to his guns. But I'm sorry. No longer is Jim Tressel perched at the border along side I-75. No longer does Ohio State have Ohio's best recruits in its pocket, like it did for the last five years or so.

Coaches like Brady Hoke, Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly and even Bo Pelini have set up shop in Ohio. And they haven't arrived for Luke Fickell's welcome dinner.

One of Michigan's recent recruits even acknowledged the game was changing. He's Kyle Kalis, a 5-star (scout.com) offensive lineman, who de-committed from the Buckeyes to join the Wolverines. Kalis, a 6'5", 306-pound tackle, cited Brady Hoke's involvement and Ohio State's NCAA troubles for making the switch. 

"He is the type of guy I want to play for," Kalis said. "Hoke has an incredible amount of passion. I believe the Michigan-Ohio border is now open."

Another standout prospect who could pull an identical move is 5-star running back Brionte Dunn. Rated the No. 5 running back (scout.com) in the nation, Dunn appears to be waiting for Ohio State's meeting with the NCAA in August before deciding. 

We're all familiar with tattoo-gate, auto-gate, lying-gate and simply non-compliance-gate. The Buckeyes have already suspended five players for the first five games of next season, vacated all of 2010's games and placed itself on two-years' probation. Ohio State is hoping the self imposed penalties are enough. 

Some football experts believe the NCAA will add penalties like a loss of scholarships and ineligibility for post season play. 

That would be in line with Southern Cal, who lost 30 scholarships over a three year period in addition to being ineligible for post season play for two seasons. Ohio State's athletic department believes those penalties would be too severe.

With head coach Jim Tressel forced to resign, Fickell takes over as the interim-head coach for the 2010 season. Recruiting will be no picnic, considering the NCAA skirmish, the interim tag and his lack of head coaching experience.

Scout.com recruiting analyst Bill Greene is concerned about Fickell having to face all of this at once. "Stability has been their strength at Ohio State," Greene said. "Fickell is out there fighting these battles with a squirt gun." 

And he's fighting against some tough customers.

When Hoke was hired at Michigan, he made a firm promise that he'd renew the Wolverines' recruiting presence in Ohio. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Hoke worked the state as an assistant at Michigan and then as a head coach at Ball State. He apparently worked it very well, since his final squad at Ball State had 29 Ohioans on the roster. 

If Hoke isn't enough, Dantonio (Michigan State), Kelly (Notre Dame) and Pelini (Nebraska) will be using their Ohio backgrounds to make life difficult for the Buckeyes' staff.