Ohio State recently hauled in the No. 2-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. One of the major themes from the class was the number of out-of-state prospects the Buckeyes were able to lure to Columbus, especially from the state of Texas. The point man on the Lone Star State was offensive coordinator Tom Herman. For his efforts, Rivals named Herman the top recruiter in the Big Ten:
Outside of Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska, all which finished in the top 20 nationally, the Big Ten had a lackluster recruiting season. There were, however, several impressive individual recruiting performances, making the title of the Big Ten's best recruiter hotly contested. The job that Herman, Ohio State's offensive coordinator, did by going to Texas and grabbing three of the state's top 20-ranked prospects, including five-star linebacker Mike Mitchell -- Texas' No. 1 ranked prospect -- gets the nod as this year's most impressive feat. While Mitchell was a monumental pull, convincing Rivals100 running back Dontre Wilson to leave his Oregon commitment, spurn the in-state Longhorns and come to Columbus to play slot receiver was more impressive. Add four-star quarterback J.T. Barrett to his total, and even though Herman did not get to pad his stats with in-state pickups, his was the Big Ten's best in 2013.
Not to be outdone, Mike Vrabel and Everett Withers also drew praise from Rivals:
Herman's closest competition for Big Ten Recruiter of the Year may have come from his own staff. Vrabel is the Buckeyes defensive line coach and was responsible for bringing in a six-man defensive line class that included four four-star prospects. Vrabel went into South Florida and plucked the fourth-best strongside defensive end in the country, Joey Bosa. He went into South Carolina to grab Rivals250 defensive tackle Michael Hill and North Carolina to grab four-star defensive end Tyquan Lewis. He added three-stars Donovan Munger and Tracy Sprinkle in-state. Vrabel was also responsible for flipping cornerback Gareon Conley from Michigan.
Ohio State's 2013 class held the top spot in the national team rankings briefly on National Signing Day after five-star Rossville (Ga.) Ridgeland safety Vonn Bell announced he was signing with the Buckeyes. Withers was responsible for outdueling Alabama and Tennessee to get Bell to Columbus. That was far from his only impressive pick-up in the Southeast, however. Withers bested Florida and Tennessee for Rivals250 linebacker Trey Johnson and flipped four-star safety Jayme Thompson from West Virginia.
