COLUMBUS, Ohio — Even before the confetti started falling and the first College Football Playoff trophy was hoisted, the knocking on the door was getting louder.
Cornerback Shaun Wade, then just a sophomore, made his pledge hours before the game kicked off in Arlington, Texas, a domino falling for a class two years down the road even before Ohio State earned one of its strongest selling points.
Armed with that momentum and riding the wave of a title, a little more than a year later the Buckeyes busted the door to the nation’s best recruits clear off the hinges. At the 2016 NFL draft, first-round pick after first-round pick from Ohio State strolled across the stage, and the class swelled to include 12 Buckeyes overall by the end of the weekend. Urban Meyer had all the ammunition he could ever need to sell a program that didn’t need all that much extra introduction in the first place.
Ohio State had the hardware. It had the proof it could deliver on draft day. With those tools at the disposal of a decorated recruiter like Meyer, it was only a matter of time before the Buckeyes were topping themselves and putting together a historic signing class like the one they inked last week.
“You think?” joked Meyer when asked if he’d been selling the recent NFL success. “I think our success maybe has helped that. First of all, Ohio State is a national brand and will always be and always has been. But I think the success we’ve had recently and the exposure that this program has had for the right reasons has really been beneficial.
“The one area, too, that they see is these kids not only leave this program and go to the NFL, they start. And we have rookie of the year [offensively in running back Ezekiel Elliott], rookie of the year [defensively in defensive end Joey Bosa]. We have [wide receiver] Michael Thomas goes in, he’s dominant. … I’m watching the Pro Bowl, a Buckeye carries the ball, a Buckeye is blocking for him and a Buckeye tackles him. You know, it’s a lot of good stuff out there.”
The Buckeyes are using all of it to pitch to five-star recruits across the country, expanding their territory from coast to coast with the recent additions that made up the No. 2 class in the country. Based solely off the initial rankings, the 2017 signings represent the best haul in the history of the program, and it’s not hard to figure out how Ohio State elevated an already strong brand.
The national championship and the NFL success aren’t the only factors, of course, and Ohio State’s Real Life Wednesday program and track record of setting up impressive internships have been key components as well. But when it comes to making an impression with the elite prospects, nothing resonates quite like winning and professional development.
“I knew I was a Buckeye from the get-go,” Wade said. “That day [of the title game], I was walking to the locker room, my coach pulled me to the side and said, ‘I think you need to commit here, this is a great spot for you.’
“Buckeye Nation, they get people in the league, I know that for sure. They talk to so many coaches, they know what they’re doing and you just have to go through the plan. There’s a plan here that you just have to follow. I knew I could go to the league here.”
For Wade and the rest of the class, though, the work to get there is only just beginning. As an early enrollee, the nation’s top-ranked cornerback recruit has something of a head start on the blueprint, though he has found out like everybody before him that executing is the hard part as he gets indoctrinated in Ohio State’s grueling winter conditioning program.
But the Buckeyes now have plenty of evidence that their plan works for those who can handle it. And odds are that’s going to keep the talent pipeline flowing and open up the possibility of even more eye-popping classes in the future.
“Since day one we always wanted to recruit guys that are not only great kids who want to do great things after football, but who want to play in the NFL,” said Mark Pantoni, director of player personnel. “Those are the kids we’re looking for from day one, and we’re going to continue to do that.
“Starting with the national championship and then almost a year ago in April at the NFL draft, seeing all those guys walk across the stage has really lifted our platform probably on a more national level to be able to open these kids’ eyes a little bit more to Ohio State.”
And the results, clearly, are easy for anybody to see.
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