Eleven Warriors

Yes mullens I believe is correct, may just announce earlier. Others are speculating someone else may commit as well, maybe Gedeon? What I found interesting is Gedeon mentioned in an interview that he does not have acommitable offer from you guys.

It definitely appears as if you guys are going away from the prototypical big ten linebackers we are all used to seeing down there. Urban is emphasizing speed it seems, I am fine with not having to see an AJ Hawk or Laurinitis anymore. Should still work well with the solid D line, once we see tweeners in a 3 point stance then you guys should be worried lol.

I guess I don't understand why Love is being pursued by OSU so aggressively. He wouldn't be in my top 5 of the guys on our board. There's also a reason I'm not a college coach so some things aren't for me to understand ha. Smith and Anzalone and I'm a happy camper

And I quote Urban Meyer from the other day (where I shook his hand! He's a tall dude, btw): "We're not reaching for the low hanging fruit when it comes to recruiting".

I'm going to trust the coach with the highest active winning percentage, two national championships, and plenty of bowl wins... and his scouting staff. Okay? I think they know what they're doing.

Wow, just took a look a Anzalone's offer list . . .  yeah, I'd be pretty happy if he land him.

Smith and Anzalone. They'll take two LBs this year.

^^this

I trust that a player is a top notch recruit when essentially every major college football program in the country has offered him. And regarding Love, just gotta trust the staff if their so high on him. Also think they will take Anzalone and Smith should Love commit

@recruitbuck: what does that mean exactly? "We're not reaching for the low hanging fruit when it comes to recruiting."

Because I definitely do not feel that Michigan is, granted it really does not matter where you are now it matters where you are in February. It just seems like that comment was aimed at other teams who may have had early success so far. And in no case do I believe we have settled on any recruits in our class. I cannot speak for other teams. Also, it is philosophy, Smith and Love seem like, "low hanging fruit" to the Michigan staff. While Mccray, Levenberry, Gedeon and O'daniel are the ones at the top of the tree. It can also be dangerous waiting for the ripened fruit. All I am saying is the "low hanging fruit" can be a program changer for someone like Penn State, MSU, Iowa, etc.

Urban knows what he is doing. PERIOD. He is getting the players that will be able to do the things he wants them to do on the field. Anyone remember 41-14 and the athletic plays those Florida players made play after play on the field? That was against the best team from the B1G in years. I want to have that kind of team...and we will. Be patient. scUM loves to get any Ohio guys available so it appears they are having their way. They will get the guys we pass on. Can't count Kalis and Dymonte as they were snatched prior to Urbans arrival. Let them get those guys, let them gloat, remember 41-14 as hard as that is to say.

What kind of FUNNY are you speaking of? Do you mean funny HaHa like a clown, or some other kind of funny? I am greatly offended by that. I am wearing a white shirt, by the way. FYI

@RATIONAL - You're exactly right, both our programs are offering the best guys to fit our system.  I don't think what he said was really intended as a jab towards Michigan, but more of a reason why we're not having the early success you guys are.  You're getting ahead early, putting your foot in the door for a lot of Ohio recruits who would have been shoo-ins under the Tressel regime.  In my opinion, Meyer's slow-playing these kids (since they really don't fit his system, and he wants to see them in camp) has led a lot of them to realize that while they may have dreamed of being the next AJ Hawk, we're not looking for that anymore.  I think these kids are realizing that Michigan is moving towards the style we used to play, as we move less towards bulk and more towards speed and lean muscle--these kids understand that Michigan's quickly rising back into the cream of the conference (all I'll say is wait till we're allowed back in postseason play haha).  More than anything else, these early recruits are a testament to a recruiting prowess that frankly I didn't think Hoke had.

But I think he certainly meant his "low hanging fruit" comment about most of the rest of the Big Ten.  Too many teams go for a few "signature" prospects, and pad the rest of their rosters with 3 star guys, I can take off the scarlet and gray sunglasses long enough to realize that Hoke doesn't do that.  Meyer hasn't offered a lot of in-state kids (only the best), and is playing the slow-burn recruiting game that the bigtime prospects want to play, I think that sums up his strategy in itself.

A few points regarding recruiting for michigan and OSU:

1) Hoke's Ohio strategy is pretty clear at this point.  Identify the best players that fit his system that don't have an OSU offer yet and get in on them early.  This was first evident with Dymonte Thomas who absolutely was going to get an offer (and finally did as soon as Urban came in).  We also see it now with McCray and Gedeon who apparently said his OSU offer was not commitable.  Hoke shows them the love, and if they have any hurt feelings about being disrespected, michigan is there waiting for them.

2) The above strategy seems intended to achieve two goals for michigan. Obviously, it secures good players for michigan, but it also is meant to put pressure on OSU to make offers to --and accept commitments from-- Ohio prospects that are lower on the big board than some more highly prized OOS prospects.  In short, recruiting is a high-wire act, keeping the plan B guys happy while you pursue your plan A guys, and Hoke is trying to take away the safety net.  

3) Finally, though the ultimate effectiveness of Hoke's strategy won't be seen until LOID (and really won't be known until a couple years down the road), this strategy has a chance to be effective now because of the loss of scholarships.  Urban has to be just a little more selective with offers than Hoke, and Hoke knows it.  

@Rational--"All I am saying is the "low hanging fruit" can be a program changer for someone like Penn State, MSU, Iowa, etc." - No doubt and IF this was a board for PSU, MSU, Iowa, etc, and we were fans of PSU, MSU, Iowa, etc. we would adjust our evaluations and expectations accordingly. 

Also, in regards to " all the guys such as Gedeon, Charlton, Mccray and I believe even Butt were all given offers prior to Urban being hired."  The bottom line is Gedeon was offered when he visited at the end of January for Junior day but NONE of the other players were offered or would have been offered for '13 class. Our rival's biggest "gets" from Ohio in this '13 class (except Dymonte) were kids that were not even Plan B kids for tOSU. 

@TLL -- According to Gedeon his offer was not commitable which I'd say made him a plan B guy.  We had to miss out on a lot of guys before McCray was offered, but he might have been offered eventually.  Agree that Butt and Taco were not getting offers.

M Fan,

Urban said that when someone asked about his recruiting strategy compared to other schools (I was in attendence, see other thread). TSUN taking a bunch of 4*s without OSU offers is what he was alluding to. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Urban is good at playing "the hat game" with 5*s and higher ranked 4*s than Butt, Charlton, and McCray.

and what I am saying @recruitbuck is we are fine with taking those guys who are highly regarded that Urban does not want. Not sure how much higher it gets than a higher ranked 4 star than Mccray. I will take 15 rivals 250 players all day long, because even though they may not be always accurate the likelihood of them succeeding is pretty good. You are making it seem like Urban is going to take all 5 stars and the 4 stars that you guys take are better 4 stars than ours lol. That is what you basically just said. If that is the case, Urban is going to put the greatest class in recruiting history together. Makes sense with what you are saying though, since the rumor from his days at Florida are that he recruits off of Rivals anyways. So, maybe he only wants the rivals top 50.

Also, not sure what you were trying to say with providing the link. Were you showing we are going after the same players still? Because if that is the case a lot of the guys we are pursuing heavy are referred to as "cool" or "none." The only exceptions are Poggi, Dorian O'daniel (which is off because there was an interview yesterday and he did not even mention you guys)

My link was to show you that you were wrong again about your guessing that McCray "and even Butt" had offers at some point. Please do your research before you post.

Well the high interest was definitely there since both of those guys were at games last year. Maybe they were not given formal offers but interest was there. The interest did not just pick up once Urban Meyer came to columbus. Mccray was with Dymonte Thomas at the Notre Dame game.

You misunderstood what I said, I said they had offers from Michigan before Urban Meyer got to Columbus. Proving to some of the people on top that said we recruit Ohio to just say we are recruiting well there. Or that we are trying to prove that we are taking recruits from Urban Meyer. I doubt Brady Hoke cares who Meyer is going after. Brady goes after what he wants and what fits for Michigan. It is actually Urban Meyer who used to offer kids that Nick Saban did while he was at Florida. I do not care if a guy has an offer from you guys. It does not make him a legitimate recruit. If the coaches like him that is enough for me.

I was just using that as a source to make a point how it makes no sense what recruitbuck was saying. Just know, if you guys have any 3 stars I am going to give you crap about that lol. Because @Recruitbuck said you guys are going digging for gold and apparently gold only applies to the top 30 recruits on rivals.

FWIW I do not think all fans down there have the same mentality, there are fans who know that some 3 stars can be very valuable to your team and not what Mike Farrel believes is always true. He actually is far from being always true. Like Hodge said, those guys we took would be sure lock tressel prospects. That same recruits that would of been sure lock prospects for Tressel are simply not good enough to play down there according to what Recruitbuck is saying. I think SOME of you on here are really underestimating what Tressel did and are expecting more from Meyer.. I simply do not see it, more so because the big ten is better and simply Michigan is better. Urban Meyer will not beat Michigan 7 out of 8 times. If he does, I will swear my allegiance to you guys lol.

Rivals doesn't rank players as to how well they fit Urban's system.  Urban could look at an OL at 37 in the country and think he is too fat for what we are looking for. Look no further than Mallet in richrods offense to see just going with the highest ranked player won't get the job done.  Look at a guy like Jamal Marcus who is ideal for what we want but was only a 3*.

Hodge you sure can lol I think me and you are on the same page here and understand the differences in the two programs right now.

@statutory: Im with you man, like I said we are looking for something different. I just had a problem with recruitbuck saying the four stars you are going to get are better than ours. Or that your whole class was going to contain 5 and 4 stars that are going to be better than ours. Like I said up top it is a crapshoot trying to rank players.

I agree, most of the scouting services rank players based on how they fit pro style offenses.

I could only imagine what any of us, fellow Buckeye fans, would encounter going to a scUM board pushing info about OSU as you are your stuff here. If you think this is a pissing contest think again. Coming here and saying things like Meyer recruits by Rivals (rankings), and that he offered kids at Florida only because Saban did will cause folks to be ruffled a bit. Comes with this territory.

No one said that those players were "garbage". That is your term. He basically was saying they were not the top players at their position in the Urbanators eyes. And he was going after the cream of the crop. TTUN will be able to do nicely with the recruits they get, I am certain.

Hey if I am not wanted here all you guys have to do is tell me lol you are not going to hurt my feelings. I am not coming on here to stroke your egos or even throw our success in your face. It is debating, discussion whatever you want to call it. I did not come on here and attack anyone or call anyone names. At the same time, when someone says things that are absurd or simply not true, I am going to call him out on it.

I said this before, I enjoy talking to fans from down there. This is the best damn rivalry in sports and one saturday in November is not enough for me, excuse me for wanting a little more. If I was on here calling people names and things of that sort, I would see why people would get upset. But, why is that people can say we are taking left overs from Ohio and I cannot defend that.

I will take a little break from here, I got you PHX Buck. Go lather yourself up with some of that homemade butter.

First off, I am in full support of Rational and most of the other fans of TTUN that post on here.  I like hearing a different point of view.  As for the "low hanging fruit" thought... Urban Meyer and Jabba are after different types of fruit.  Low hanging fruit to Urban Meyer could be poisonous to Jabba and vise versa.

Good get for those guys up north in McCray, he didn't fit the mold UM wanted, so good for them. 

I'm okay with the Michigan fans so long as they don't call us Ohio and are respectful of the fact that this is a site of Ohio State fans. We don't want to see Michigan fans trolling or dedicating each post to starting arguments. I, like many here, enjoy the perspective of fans outside of Ohio State and like to participate in thoughtful debate with the well educated Michigan fan (i used to think that was an oxymoron). Rational and M Man both seem to be good members, but I've read a couple posts of Hails that irritated me. Hopefully those are just coincidence and he is bringing productive thought.

I want the OSU-Michigan rivalry to be great. It just wasn't fun and no one outside of the Big Ten cared when Ohio State was matching up against an unranked Michigan team. I hope we win every year, but I hope that Michigan can return to being a prominent team. It appears they are on their way and this rivalry is set up to be spectacular again.

Good answer Rational, I respect where you are coming from.  The only point I was trying to make is I don't expect to expect to go on marxist.com to discuss the importance of capitalism and then get amazed of the comments I get back, thats all.