Why Ohio State wants to finish strong in recruiting than start strong
The Ohio State football team is hoping to get another top-five recruiting class for 2026. They haven’t started very strongly, only having four commits to this point. Still, it’s very early in the recruiting cycle. Last year, the Buckeyes started very strong when it came to recruiting.
In April of last year, the Buckeyes had multiple five-star recruits committed to the program. It looked like they were ready to pull in an all-time recruiting class. It was one of the best starts to recruiting that Ohio State has ever had. Unfortunately, they didn’t finish well.
They ended up losing some of those recruits, including five-star corner Na’eem Offord. While they kept Devin Sanchez and Tavien St. Clair, the strong start wasn’t as important as a strong finish. That’s why Ryan Day and his staff would rather have a strong finish to recruiting than a strong start.
The Ohio State football team wants a strong finish in recruiting this year
Ohio State has a long time to figure out its recruiting approach. It’s still just late February. Some recruits for the 2025 class haven’t even signed yet. They have two new coordinators who will be bringing new systems to their respective units. Each of them is going to want a certain kind of player.
While it would be nice if Ohio State could get a bunch of four and five-star recruits early in the cycle, that does them no good if they don’t stick around on Signing Day. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising to see them have a little different approach this season.
NIL is becoming a larger part of recruiting. Once the Spring transfer portal closes, the Buckeyes will put all of their NIL efforts into the 2025 recruiting class. Perhaps they wait until May or June this time to fully dole out some cash to recruits in the form of promises.
