The Big Ten Network: 2010 Ohio State Recruiting Class Analysis

They mention Scott McVey of Cleveland St. Ignatius prominently, and I also enjoyed Glen Mason discussing how both Michigan and Notre Dame targeted Ohio talent this year. Enjoy...

Jim Tressel: 2010 Recruiting Class Press Conference Video

I personally like it when he talks about how reads everything put out there around 6 minutes into it...

Ohio State's 2010 Recruiting Class: Puzzling Offensive Line Decisions

Before addressing my concerns over Ohio State's 2010 recruiting class, I want to congratulate the eighteen players who have signed with Ohio State. Ohio State had a limited number of scholarships this year, and I believe were able to secure players who will be able to contribute over the next few seasons.

Ohio State's offensive line recruiting is perplexing to me. While I respect the effort of trying to land players such as Seantrel Henderson, Matt James, and Morgan Moses, I question why Ohio State did not make signing other offensive linemen besides Andrew Norwell of Cincinnati Anderson.

For example - offensive tackle Skyler Schofner , offensive tackle Andrew Donnal, and offensive guard/center Christian Pace were not offered by Ohio State, yet all three are from Ohio and headed to Big Ten teams.

Considering Ohio State will lose Justin Boren and Bryant Browning after the 2010 season, it will make offensive line the top recruiting concern for the 2011 recruiting class.

Ohio State Recruiting: Did Tressel Let Rodriguez Have Ohio Talent?

Throughout its historic rivalry with Michigan, Ohio State fans have watched Ohio players leave the state to don the maize and blue for the hated Wolverines. Bo Schembechler made Ohio a key recruiting target throughout his tenure as Michigan’s head coach, signing 21 Ohio players for his first Michigan team beginning in 1969.

During the 1980s, the name John Kolesar became synonomous with Ohio State heartbreak, helping Michigan to defeat Ohio State in 1985 and 1988. Kolesar played high school football in Westlake, Ohio.

Think back to the 1990s ~ Ricky Powers (Akron Buchtel), Elvis Grbac (Cleveland St. Joseph), Desmond Howard (Cleveland St. Joseph), and Charles Woodson (Fremont Ross) all left Ohio behind to become Wolverines. Is there an Ohio State fan who does not believe John Cooper’s dreadful record against Michigan (2-10-1) may have been different if he had any of those Ohio-born Wolverines on some of his teams?

Jim Tressel was hired as Ohio State’s head coach in 2001 and has made it a priority throughout his tenure to secure the top Ohio talent for Ohio State. Michigan has been able to secure some Ohio players since 2001, such as Prescott Burgess, Shawn Crable, and Justin Boren (briefly), but for the most part, Jim Tressel has been able to win head to head recruiting battles with Michigan for Ohio high school football talent.

With National Letter Of Intent Day approaching on February 3^rd, a quick look at Michigan’s verbal commitments for this year’s recruiting class will show 11 players from Ohio. What I find most interesting about these Ohio players is that not one of these players received a scholarship offer from Ohio State.

While I subscribe to the theory that high school recruiting rankings are overrated, I do believe it is a noteworthy exercise to see which other teams recruited a player. For example, Terrelle Pryor selected Ohio State over teams such as Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon back in 2008. Using Shawn Crable as an example, Crable was offered by both Ohio State and Michigan, as well as Miami (FL), Pittsburgh, and USC.

Let us look at the schools who offered Courtney Avery, a defensive back from Lexington, Ohio, who will sign with Michigan: Stanford (where Avery was originally verbally committed before switching to Michigan), Army, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, and Louisville – in other words, only Indiana from The Big Ten offered Courtney Avery besides Michigan. Jake Ryan of Cleveland St. Ignatius selected Michigan over Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo.

I am not suggesting that attending any of those other schools I listed up above would have been bad choices or schools for Courtney Avery, Jake Ryan, or anyone else that Michigan has recruited from Ohio high schools. I do believe it is something Ohio State fans may wish to make a mental note of as it relates to future Ohio State/Michigan games to see if any of these Ohio-bred Wolverines inflict any damage, or if Ohio State completely missed the boat in their evaluations of these players and let Michigan steal some more of Ohio’s top players as they have in seasons past.

ESPN College Gameday video: Post Rose Bowl Jim Tressel

I enjoyed the zingers on Oregon and its tequilla tradition (check out Herbstreit after he says it), plus his zinger on Herbstreit's class versus the outgoing seniors. Enjoy.

Update On Duron Carter

I found this interview with Duron Carter and thought it would be something anyone who reads the blog would enjoy.

Good Article On Colt McCoy

Congratulations to Alabama on winning the mythical national championship for 2009. I write "mythical" due to the fact that college football votes on its champion, but I digress.

I found this article on Colt McCoy that I enjoyed, so I wanted to post it to the blog. Personally, I do not believe Texas would have won if Colt McCoy had played, but the first half would certainly have been better for Texas if he did.