Urban Meyer: How Would He Impact Recruiting for Ohio State and Michigan?

Obviously there's been a lot of attention going toward former Utah and Florida head coach Urban Meyer about becoming the next man in charge at Ohio State.

And with Michigan making the right hire in Brady Hoke, who was an assistant for the Wolverines from 1995-2002, Ohio State needs to one-up their biggest rival.

For one, Luke Fickell may be a solid head coach, and he's been just that in 2011. The Buckeyes are only 6-5 heading into Saturday's game with Michigan, but they have solid Big Ten wins over Wisconsin and Illinois.

Now include the Buckeyes' offseason issues heading into this year, and that's pretty damn impressive. Just imagine how well Ohio State could be with Urban Meyer, who is an upgrade from Jim Tressel.

In an article by Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, the Buckeyes adding Meyer would be huge, and that's an understatement:

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"Urban Meyer could be announced as the Buckeyes' new coach as early as Monday—he's not even appearing in the ESPN studio this weekend. He publicly denies any offers made or agreements sealed, but it's more likely a smoke screen so as not to take anything away from this afternoon's game."

 

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Sharp went on to add:

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"Quite frankly, Meyer can't arrive soon enough. This game desperately needs a life preserver. It needs two coaches who 'get it.' Michigan coach Brady Hoke understands the historical and emotional importance."

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Just imagine how much of a boost this rivalry will get. In terms of recruiting, Brady Hoke has his own resume to prove his worth versus Meyer. Hoke made Ball State (MAC) and San Diego State (MWC) relevant—enough said.

And we all know about Meyer, who dominated at Bowling Green and Utah (the first BCS busters), as well as Florida (two national titles).

The recruiting would go through the roof, literally. Meyer was able to recruit and stay competitive in the SEC with the likes of Alabama, LSU, Georgia and South Carolina, all of whom have really legitimate head coaches.

In the Big Ten though, other than Brady Hoke at Michigan, Mark Dantonio at Michigan State and Bo Pelini at Nebraska are solid. However, they're nothing like what Meyer had to compete against in the SEC.

Not to mention of all those coaches just mentioned, Meyer is the only one to coach in a BCS game. Now, that may change by the end of 2011, but then there's the national title factor. And as we all know, to sustain a solid college football program, recruiting is arguably the most important factor.

When you see the nation's top teams each season, there's a strong correlation between recruiting and how future seasons turn out. At Ohio State, they were one of the few who could compete outside of the SEC and they dominated the Wolverines under Tressel.

If Meyer signs on the dotted line, he and Hoke will be duking it out for recruiting in the Big Ten and, most likely, inadvertently with the SEC.

Honestly, how intense can we expect the 2012 college football season to be? Words may not be able to describe it if Meyer does in fact become the next head coach at Ohio State.

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