Who Did the Best Recruiting Job, Ohio State's Urban Meyer or USC's Lane Kiffin?

Now that’s he’s managed to haul in another No. 1-rated recruiting class this year, Nick Saban has without a doubt solidified his status as college football’s best recruiter, as Saban has stockpiled an almost unprecedented amount of elite talent at Alabama over the past few years.

Saban may have reeled in the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class for 2012, but the truth is, he wasn’t the coach that actually did the most remarkable job on the recruiting trail this year.

Given the circumstances that they both had to deal with, you can make the case that Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and USC’s Lane Kiffin actually outperformed every other coach when it came to recruiting this year.

Meyer arrived at Ohio State in late November, and had just two months to get in contact with recruits and build his first class, but that time limit, and the NCAA sanctions that were handed down by the NCAA in early January, couldn’t stop Meyer from showing off his recruiting wizardry.

The Buckeyes absolutely dominated on the recruiting trail, plucking three five-star defensive linemen—Noah Spence, Tommy Schutt and Adolphus Washington—and a host of other recruits who were rated as some of the top prospects in the country at their respective positions, including guys like RB Brionte Dunn, CB Armani Reeves, DE Se’Von Pittman and OT Taylor Decker.

Meyer has already signed 25 recruits for the 2012 class, and the Buckeyes are still reportedly in play for two of the top uncommitted receiver prospects in the country, Stefon Diggs and Davonte Neal.

Even without Diggs or Neal, the Buckeyes’ current class is still rated as one of the five best in the country by basically every reputable recruiting service.

Meyer may rub some people the wrong away, especially some of the coaches that have to battle it out with him on the field and on the recruiting trail, but whether you like him or despise him, you have to give him a ton of credit for the job he did in Columbus this year.

Another coach who deserves accolades for his recruiting efforts this year is USC’s Lane Kiffin.

Working with limited scholarships because of the NCAA restrictions placed on the program after the Reggie Bush fallout, Kiffin still managed to pull in a recruiting class that was rated by most recruiting services as one of the Top 15 in the country.

On National Signing Day, Kiffin managed to get his hands on two of the most coveted prospects in the country—WR Nelson Agholor and DE Leonard Williams.

Agholor and Williams, who both hail from Florida, were the icing on the cake of a class that may be lacking in quantity, but is certainly high on quality.

As usual, the Trojans dominated in the state of California, as 12 of the team’s 15 recruits are staying in state to play.

All in all, Kiffin did a terrific job of plugging key holes and adding top-notch playmakers to a team that was already shaping up to be a top-ranked national title contender going into the 2012 season.

So the question has to be asked then: Who deserves more credit for the job they did on the recruiting trail this year, Urban Meyer or Lane Kifffin?

That’ll depend on what you think is the tougher task, working with limited time or working with limited resources.

Personally, I think Urban Meyer did a better job recruiting this year than any other coach in the country.

Meyer knew that he couldn’t come in with all the fanfare and hype that followed him in the weeks after he announced he would take over at Ohio State, and then follow it up by bringing in a mediocre first class.

That's why Meyer and his staff went out and worked as hard as possible to bring in the best possible class they could, and that tireless effort on the recruiting trail paid off in a big way on National Signing Day.

Meyer and Kiffin have both established themselves as two of the top recruiters in the country with their success on the recruiting trail in recent years, and their efforts this year will only serve to enhance their reputations as two of college football's best overall recruiters.