Michigan Football Recruiting: Brady Hoke Must Beat Urban Meyer for Recruits

Brady Hoke continues to build a strong recruiting class in his first year as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, but in order to truly triumph, he must beat Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes in a battle for top-notch recruits. 

Michigan and Ohio State go head-to-head on the gridiron every year, and they also compete vigorously for some the best recruits in the country. The Midwest is full of skilled high school stars ready to shine at the college level, and a lot of them look to Ohio State and Michigan. 

Since the 2012 recruiting class is the first one for both coaches, the one who ends up on top will gain a competitive edge over the other.

Hoke beat the Buckeyes this past season on the field, and he would definitely love to stick it to them in arguably the most important part of college football, recruiting. 

Currently, Michigan is rated one spot higher in the recruiting rankings according to ESPN. However, Rivals and Scout both have Ohio State ahead of the Wolverines. 

National Signing Day is only a week away, and the decisions made on Feb. 1 will have a major impact in which Big Ten school comes out on top. 

Both schools have gained interested from a number of the same recruits, and Hoke even stole a Buckeye recruit before Meyer was named head coach. Offensive tackle Kyle Kalis, a 5-star recruit, was lured by Hoke to play for Michigan instead of the Buckeyes. 

All this did was add fuel to the fire between these two rivals, and it will continue to heat up in the next week. 

Offensive tackle Jordan Diamond and cornerback Armani Reeves have Michigan and Ohio State among their top choices, and Hoke has to make sure he edges out Meyer for these 4-star recruits. 

Reeves recently de-committed from Penn State, and according to Mike Farrell of Rivals, Michigan has the slight lead over Ohio State. 

The Wolverines already have a great group of offensive lineman, and could bring in even more talent if it lands Diamond and/or 4-star lineman Joshua Garnett. 

Reeves would be the big gain for Michigan because the Wolverines need to ensure the future of their secondary continues to get better. However, losing out to Ohio State on one or both of these players could easily come back to haunt Michigan. 

The future is very bright for both teams, but since it's well known that Meyer will always bring in top talent, Hoke has to start off with a better rated recruiting class to give him more confidence moving forward.