Friday Night Lights: Five Takeaways From Ohio State's Marquee Recruiting Camp

By Eric Seger on July 25, 2015 at 12:18 am
Urban Meyer learns Luke Farrell is a Buckeyes.
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Mother Nature was kind to Ohio State Friday evening, delivering perfect weather for its top recruiting camp of the summer.

Friday Night Lights resulted in a pair of commitments for the Buckeyes in Luke Farrell and Blake Haubeil but there was plenty more to take away from the event.

Here are the five biggest things you should know from Ohio State's largest recruiting camp of the offseason.


1. The commits in Ohio State's 2016 class are really, really good.

This might already be widespread knowledge based on the rankings, but those players in attendance Friday evening put on a show.

Demario McCall, George Hill and Austin Mack showed why they are superior talents at Ohio Stadium time and again, making athletic plays both before and after they got the ball in their hands.

All three, along with monster defensive end Jonathon Cooper, showed why the Buckeyes and Urban Meyer wanted them so badly. Cooper spent all afternoon at a 7-on-7 camp at Dublin Coffman High School, but still found the energy to show out and blow past his opposition often in the drills Friday night.

The class should make Buckeye fans excited for the future at Ohio State.

2. Ohio State is selling winning the national title — hard.

The jumbotron streamed constant footage of offseason workouts, highlights from the 2014 national title season and coach motivational speeches, but one video in particular stuck out.

The brief two-minute clip started with Ohio State's current players breaking and entering into the freshmen class's dorm rooms in the wee hours of the morning for a workout. It continued showing the grit, determination and sweat put forth of the work out, but then ended in more highlights of Ohio State's 2014 squad running through Michigan, Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon to win the first-ever College Football Playoff.

The trophies from each post-season victory were also on display at the end of the ramp of the tunnel where top prospects entered the field for the evening. Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

3. Competition was everywhere and it never stopped.

The entirety of Ohio State's coaching staff was in attendance Friday, getting in the faces of those players who've already giving the verbal pledge to become Buckeyes in addition to those who haven't.

It was a pleasant, but warm evening at Ohio Stadium, leading for some tempers to flair up when things didn't go well.

One example of this was when 2016 wide receiver commit Austin Mack got into it with cornerback Cobi Bryant following a play. Mack thought he was being a little too aggressive since no one had pads on, and he wasn't afraid to let him know.

That was the kind of intensity present between the lines.

4. The Ohio State brand is reaching all across the country.

It's easier to sell your program to recruits across the nation after winning the national title, but players from all over came to town to join the Friday Night Lights festivities.

Four-star Donnie Corley from Detroit, five-star Darnay Holmes from Calabasas, Calif., four-star Trey Sermon from Sprayberry, Ga., four-star Richard LeCounte from Hinesville, Ga., and four-star Bruce Judson from Cocoa, Fla. all attended.

The brand is there, and it is strong for Ohio State right now.

5. Support for Meyer's program stretches even to former Buckeyes.

A number of Buckeye greats spent their Friday night at Ohio Stadium, getting a chance to see what their alma mater's got going for the future.

Orlando Pace, Kirk Barton, Troy Smith, Christian Bryant, Jake Ballard and others caught up with each other on the sidelines often and even dished out some advice for the younger players. Even Keyshawn Johnson was there to watch his son, Keyshawn Jr., work out.

Meyer always gives those players an open invitation to return whenever they desire. It happened in droves Friday.

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