Ohio State Football Recruiting: Urban Meyer Focusing on Recruits' Character

Urban Meyer may have landed a top-10 recruiting class brimming with elite athleticism and measurables, but he's making it a point in his first recruiting season at Ohio State to find players who won't quit.

A player can have all the physical abilities, but if he doesn't bring it 100 percent he'll never meet his full potential.

Said Meyer, via Yahoo! Sports:

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I don’t believe NFL, college or high school coaches [realize its importance]. And I was guilty of it for a while. You talk about his competitiveness for a while and then you start talking about his footwork. I don’t really care about his footwork. When we coach him, we’ll go over that. We can teach that. You can’t coach competitiveness.

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Not only is Meyer's stance dead-on, it's also the perfect complement for Ohio State, which is under NCAA sanctions after numerous players received improper benefits and former head coach Jim Tressel failed to report their actions.

Part of the job at Ohio State will be building its reputation back up. At the time of the NCAA investigation last season, it appeared it would take years to restore the university's once-sterling reputation. But, honestly, after the Penn State fiasco, it doesn't seem as bad, does it?

Meyer has already exhibited his recruiting prowess this offseason, landing 5-star recruit Noah Spence and 10 4-star recruits before national signing day on Wednesday. He obviously has the recruiting swagger to get Ohio State talent, but none of that will matter if some of the players act up again, or on-field character issues disrupt the team's season.

Said Meyer:

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I don’t go out and recruit a certain player. I recruit the best player, and competitive nature, his desire to win, is without question the most important thing. I used to be into, "Is he a three-quarter [throwing motion]? Does he have four fingers on the laces or five?" I don’t care anymore.

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Meyer may not realize how beneficial this strategy will be at Ohio State, not only on the field, but off the field. He's basically trying to create a blend of talent and character. Not only does that oftentimes work out in spades on the field, it creates a corps of players who will make the university proud for who they are as individuals.

Meyer has essentially created a blueprint for the Buckeyes to not only win games, but win back America.