COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the NCAA’s recruiting dead period ended on Jan. 19, Ohio State football’s newly assembled coaching staff headed south. Jim Knowles’ first recruiting trip as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach took him to Louisiana. Receivers coach Brian Hartline headed to Florida to pursue multiple top-30 national prospects. Head coach Ryan Day made a beeline for the Sunshine State, too, as part of a staff-wide emphasis on five-star running back Richard Young. Some of those trips did not lead to recruiting “wins.” Young, for instance, committed to Alabama in July. Yet it was not a coincidence that the staff attempted to make its first big impressions in regions perennially loaded with high-end talent. “Our foundation is still the Midwest, but we would go into the southeast and go into those pockets of the country that have really good players,” Day said. “We’ll go anywhere to go get them.”…
Continue Reading: How Ohio State football recruited its way to the title of ‘Kings of the North’ – Part 2
