Ohio State Football Recruiting: Urban Meyer Is Building Championship Foundation

Urban Meyer's coaching led a flawed Buckeyes team to an undefeated season in his first year as head coach, and now his recruiting skills are setting this program up to get even stronger. 

With 23 commitments, 247Sports has the Buckeyes' 2013 recruiting class ranked fifth in the nation. While that is a lofty ranking, it gets even better for the Buckeyes on other sites.  

ESPN (behind the Insider pay wall) has the Buckeyes' class ranked fourth in the nation. Ohio State's 2013 class is held with even more regard in Scout.com's national rankings where they are ranked second.

This class is stacked, and it includes 10 players rated in ESPN's top 150 recruits and another five in their top 300. Most importantly, the majority of these guys—14 according to Scout—are on the defensive side of the ball. 

The Buckeyes' defense desperately needs game-changers on defense. They are losing seven starters from last year's squad, and that unit left something to be desired to begin with. 

Ohio State was 32nd in scoring defense and 36th in yards allowed.

So now Meyer put his recruiting prowess to work on bringing in the kind of athletes that helped him showcase his groundbreaking offense on defense. 

This class is going to make an instant impact—especially in the secondary. Three of ESPN's top 10 cornerbacks are committed to Ohio State: Eli Apple (3),Gareon Conley (7) and Cam Burrows (9).

Meanwhile, their offense is set. The Buckeyes are returning nine starters on that side of the ball and that includes Heisman hopeful quarterback Braxton Miller. 

Also, with offense, does it even really matter? As long as Meyer is there, he will allow whatever athletes he has to shine. 

Ohio State went undefeated last year, and it is going to be a more complete team next year. Urban Meyer is building a powerhouse.