Ohio State Buckeye Recruiting ’08-'09: New Strategy or Aberration?

The summer of 2008 has only just begun, and already the Buckeyes have 22 verbal commitments for the class of ’09—not to mention a transfer in Justin Boren. 

In the annals of football recruiting we’ve never seen anything like it.  Yes, Texas has pulled in a lot of verbals each spring for the past few years, but never has so much talent been assembled so quickly as what we witnessed this year from Tressel and his staff.

All of which begs the question—is this the product of a new recruiting strategy or simply good fortune?  Is the Scarlet and Gray Recruiting machine set to make this happen each year or is this a once in a lifetime thing?

I’ve always liked the loaded question, “Are leaders born or made?” 

And the wise answer is, of course, “Both!” 

I think the same could be said about this year’s recruiting frenzy.  In my opinion, we are seeing a new style of going after high school athletes, but I also think that the pieces have fallen together perfectly for this particular class.

Obviously, volumes of threads have been written about the “Zook Effect.” The fact that Illinois has offered a plethora of top Ohio talent so early in the game, seemed to force Tressel’s hand a little bit, and cause him to send out more early offers. 

In the past he would extend official offers to a number of out of state players at an early date, but tender very few to young men from Ohio until later in the season. 

Without doubt more Ohio players received early offers this year thanks to the Zookster. 

The fact that we had more spots to fill than in the past few years didn’t hurt, either. We didn’t have to be quite as selective, were able to pass out more offers, and once a few guys began committing, the train started steaming down the hill, and recruits realized that they better jump onboard sooner rather than later.

I think we are also seeing the “Pryor Domino Effect.”  I mean: that once Terrelle signed on the bottom line for the Bucks, a whole bunch of great players sat up, took notice, and considered the possibilities of playing with a potential superstar, to say nothing of the rest of the Brew Crew.

No doubt the class of ’08 ended with a flurry and there was a ton of momentum going into this recruiting season.  And once the ball gets rolling, sometimes it just keeps on picking up steam.

But there is one more factor that I would throw into the mix.  Call it the “National Championship Fallout Effect.” 

JT is nothing if not a competitor and he didn’t take kindly to seeing his boys get their butts handed to them two years in a row. 

Going back to his YSU days, he has usually won when his team reached the championship game, and he fully intends to reverse the fortunes of the past two years. 

So I think he and his staff have possessed a new resolve and hunger for recruiting this year, particularly in respect to speed. 

Admittedly the whole southern speed argument has been overplayed, but the fact is, we need more guys with quicks to handle spread offenses, and to win national championships. 

So, I think Tress and crew have recruited this year with a passion never seen before.

Put it all together and the results are spectacular.  Yes, I think there is a bit of a new strategy being deployed, but no, I don’t think we’ll always see 20-plus verbal commitments by the end of June.  So enjoy it while it lasts. 

These are the good old days for Buckeye football and recruiting.

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