theOzone.net had John McCallister (I have no opinion or other information on his reliability/knowledge) provide scouting reports for the defensive commitments that are Ohio based. The one thing that struck me is how underwhelming every single scouting report sounds. I can't seem to find one scouting report where he thinks the commit is going to be a real difference maker.
http://theozone.net/recruiting/2012_13/McCallister_DefensiveCommits.html
This is why Urban recruits nationally. Guys like Joey Bosa, Michael Hill, and Eli Woodard are all difference makers. For 2014, the Ohio defensive class is way better (Lattimore included at CB).
I thought it was interesting he sees Price as an ideal Center. Regardless, he tries to be unbiased in his evaluations, but I fully trust our staff's evaluations.
This guy doesn't seem to be fawning all over our defensive Ohio recruits, but I would say his reports on most of them are pretty favorable. Succinct, honest evaluations.
His eval was unbiased, but I couldn't take him seriously due to his short, choppy, repetitive sentences.
This is why I don't put a lot of faith into reading some of these reports. Athletes have raw talent and it is the coaching staff which defines the player. The right combination of talent and right coaching does make the difference.
Jim (cough) Bollman was a coach. JB Shugarts was a five star athlete out of Texas (if I remember correctly). Bad combination. Shugarts had the talent but the coaching was not able to produce the results.
Here is where Urban excells. He picks the raw talent, has the right coaches in place, and gets results.
I think these rankings are as much an indictment of the perceived caliber of talent in Ohio. Last time I checked Ohio still produces elite talent. Most of those rankings are based on the fact OSU doesnt have many top 20 recruits. Not all top recruits pan out, everyone knows that.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever