Ohio State Football Recruiting: Urban Meyer Pulls off Miracle with Top 10 Class

How in the world did Urban Meyer do it?

Despite being on the job for less than two months, despite receiving a one-year postseason ban and scholarship reduction and despite coming off one of the worst seasons in the history of the program, somehow, some way the Ohio State Buckeyes finished up National Signing Day with a top-10 class.

ESPNU has them ranked No. 6, Rivals has them at No. 4.

Superprep.com national editor Allen Wallace is in owe of what Meyer has been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time:

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It’s been an amazing performance by Urban Meyer who has re-emphasized his ability to attract elite, national championship-caliber talent. This class is strong across the board and from (my) perspective, the best Buckeye recruiting effort in the last 10 years. 

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From not even ranked in the top 25 to the Big Ten’s best, the Buckeyes have to be thrilled with the first 60 days of the Urban Meyer era.

For the first time since Terrelle Pryor was a wide-eyed top-five recruit, the optimism in Columbus is bubbling over. According to ESPNU, they have one 5-star player, 11 four-star and 12 three-stars heading to the Horseshoe. Rivals have them with two 5-star’s, 14 four-stars and eight 3-stars.

The headliners are on the defensive line. Adolphus Washington (6'4", 230 pounds from Cincinnati), Noah Spence (6'4", 245 out of Harrisburg, PA.) and Se’von Pittman (6'4", 260 from McKinley High in Canton, Ohio) are all ESPNU top 150 recruits, and the trio is going to give the Buckeyes one of the deadliest pass rushers in the game for the next four years.

When Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel asked Meyer about what he looks for in a recruit, it has little to do with sheer talent:

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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.

Will he choke you to win a checker game? If he does that, I’ll take him.

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Can you tell he’s talking about two-time national champion Tim Tebow?

Meyer didn’t completely pull off this class on his own. The Buckeyes landed four recruits that had originally intended on playing for Penn State. He was able to convince two Notre Dame recruits to jump ship as well.

Player’s know how hard this guy works, they respect his decision to take a year off and refresh the batteries.

Despite knowing that Michigan will be their final game in 2012, they put their faith in the program and more importantly…in Meyer.

With a full recruiting period and no more postseason ban for the class of 2013, Meyer hasn’t even hit his stride yet. The party is just getting started.