COLUMBUS, Ohio — A week before Ohio State saw 12 of its players—including five first-rounders—picked in the NFL draft, I asked Buckeyes wide receivers coach Zach Smith what plays better on the recruiting trail: national championships or the ability to put players in the pros?
“I don’t know that either sells better,” Smith said. “They all want both.”
Having played wide receiver for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green before serving as his graduate assistant at Florida and eventually rejoining him in Columbus, Smith knows that with his boss, he has the luxury of not having to pick just one pitch.
With camp season in full force, recruiting currently rules the college football world and no coach in recent months has had more success at luring talent to his program than Meyer. On Sunday, the Ohio State head coach bolstered what was already the nation’s top-ranked 2017 class when he received a commitment from 4-star quarterback Tate Martell, the country’s No. 1 dual-threat signal-caller.
Any short list of college football’s top salesmen undoubtedly includes Meyer, who has signed four top-five classes since arriving in Columbus in 2012 and is well on his way to a fifth. But unlike his recruiting contemporaries—Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Jimbo Fisher and that might be it—the fifth-year Buckeyes head coach doesn’t have to stick to one script.
Much like his explosive spread offense, the key to Meyer’s approach on the recruiting trail is an unmatched…
Continue Reading: Why Urban Meyer Is College Football’s Most Versatile Recruiter
