Ohio State Football Recruiting: Meyer's NFL Pipeline Will Still Lure Talent

When Urban Meyer signed on to become Ohio State's head coach, I can't imagine that he was aware of the NCAA slapping more sanctions on the program that include a one-year bowl ban and the loss of more scholarships. But even with that setback, the Buckeyes will still rule the roost in the Big Ten. 

High school football players want national exposure and an opportunity to play in BCS games because it will make things easier when they become eligible for the NFL draft.

Ohio State is the premiere program in the Big Ten and will have plenty of nationally televised games to make up for not playing in a bowl game in 2012. 

According to Jared Shanker of ESPN.com, the Buckeyes are going to be fine because the players that they are recruiting now genuinely want to play there. 

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Unlike in the spring and summer when Ohio State saw prospects wavering and committing elsewhere in the wake of a tattoo and improper benefits scandal at the school under former coach Jim Tressel, this news won't have much of an effect on the Buckeyes' 19 commitments. Most of them grew up Buckeyes fans and stuck with the program throughout the uncertainty surrounding the program. 

The recent ESPNU 150 recruits Meyer landed – Spence, Canton (Ohio) McKinley DE Se'Von Pittman, who flipped from Michigan State, and Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West DT Tommy Schutt, a former Penn State commit -- all spoke with Meyer recently and were comfortable with the situation before committing. 

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Any problems that Ohio State might have had with recruits were gone the second that Meyer was hired. He has a way of communicating with players and their families in ways that very few coaches are able to. 

The Buckeyes might not be back to their dominating ways in 2012 because there is still work to be done and to think that it will happen overnight is asking too much. They will be better than they were last season, and could win 10 games if everything breaks right for them. 

But any worries that Buckeye fans might have about the program falling on hard times for the next couple of years should evaporate when they see what Meyer is able to do this recruiting season. 

Meyer's ability to maximize the talent that he has and put his players into the NFL is going to be the allure for prospects going to Ohio State. Everything else is secondary. 

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