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Buckeyes up north



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All things considered, the Ohio State Buckeyes and their running backs coach Stan Drayton made out like bandits on National Signing Day. The Buckeyes secured a top ten class by adding commitments from K.J Hill and Isaiah Prince and Damon Arnette prior to that. However, the biggest battle the Buckeyes fought was not to add a new commitment, but to secure one of their own. Rivals100 running back Mike Weber of Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech pledged his services to Ohio State in early December and seemed entirely content to skate through quietly until signing his national letter of intent. Unfortunately for the Ohio State staff, new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was not willing to go quietly into the night on this recruitment.
"Harbaugh's presence was felt up north, no doubt about it. He went in there guns a blazing, trying to get the best player in his state, which he should. At the end of the day, it's about developing relationships. When you're late in the game with a transition that unfortunately happens all the time, it's tough to get those relationships built. I'm sure that played a little part in that," said Stan Drayton, the running backs coach at Ohio State. "Harbaugh did a great job with getting in to the home and he has a great relationship with some of those coaches in Detroit that played with him while he was a student at the Team Up North. But you know it's about developing relationships and it's about a cultural fit and I think at the end of the day, all those kids will take that over just the state where they're from."
Jim Harbaugh and the coaching staff at Michigan heavily pursued the Ohio State commit from the day he was hired until the day Mike Weber signed on the dotted line to become a Buckeye. Weber was beset on all sides by family, friends, coaches, and fans for months. Many encouraged the talented tailback to stick with his commitment and go to Columbus, but many more wanted to see Weber end up in Ann Arbor as a Wolverine. The choice was not an easy one for Weber.
"Mike Weber had probably one of the tougher decisions to make in this class. Being a kid from Michigan, he had great questions and concerns about being an Ohio State graduate and life after football and making an impact in his home state, just real stuff," Drayton explained. "I have a lot of respect for what Mike and his family had to endure during the course of that process, but I'm most importantly impressed about the information they gathered and needed to gather to be able to make a smart decision to come to Ohio State."
"The beauty of it is they found all of the resources here at Ohio State to be able to do whatever is he wanted to do," Drayton continued. "It was a very, very tough process for him, a very emotional process for him and his family. I'm glad he's a Buckeye."
A lot of the consternation and concern in Weber's decision stemmed on the pull he felt to stay loyal to his home city of Detroit and stay at home. Much of what Drayton focused on in the later stages of Weber's recruitment was trying to explain and convey that leaving the state of Michigan and still representing Detroit with pride were not mutually exclusive concepts. He preached the universality of Ohio State and its long reach.
"As I stated earlier, [Weber's concerns are] just being a Michigan kid who's going to graduate with an Ohio State degree and wants to live in the state again one day and wants to have success. He wants to represent Detroit wearing scarlet and gray," Drayton said of his newest running back. "He absolutely can do that. He absolutely will do that. I have a wife from Detroit. I sat here and told him if I coach you and don't let you represent Detroit, my wife's probably going to divorce me.
"There's no way in the world I'm not going to let you represent where you're from. Not only that, I want to help you be an impact in the society of which you come from. The beauty of Ohio State is that we cross all boundaries here," said Drayton. "That's what he realized on the back end of this deal, that we do cross all boundaries and the power of the Ohio State brand will allow him to attain whatever goals he want to attain anywhere in this country. He understood that, did a little research, and found that to be true and now he's a Buckeye."
Drayton spoke with Weber and his family members about the recent recruitment of Damon Webb to Columbus and the door that's opened for the former Cass Tech star and teammate of Weber. Former Buckeye Johnathan Hankins, who was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, is another Detroit native who found success as a Buckeye. However, the clinching example that Drayton gave was not a Michigander, but a Cleveland native.
"I used the example of Desmond Howard. I went to junior high school with Desmond Howard. He decided to go to the Team Up North and we absolutely hated that decision at the time. But when he started having success, when he won a Heisman trophy, let me tell you what, he brought some pride to Cleveland," said Drayton. "He can go in Ohio and do whatever he wants. They love Desmond Howard. It's the same thing for Mike Weber and that's what we made him realize. As long as you live right and you take advantage of your opportunities the right way, you'll have the world by the tail."
Drayton constantly preached the success of the Ohio State brand and the ability to achieve at a high level and do great things outside of your home city as a selling point to the Weber family. Despite the pull of home and a life and career as a Michigan legend pitched by Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan staff, Weber bought in to the Ohio State culture and listened to Drayton. The new Buckeye reaffirmed his pledge to Ohio State on the morning of National Signing Day after a hard-fought battle. Drayton sees a bright future ahead for Weber.
"When you are selling the Ohio State brand, you are talking about overcoming all of that (being from Detroit and battling adversity). You're talking about getting a great degree in a program that's going to make sure you're getting everything you need to be prepared for life after football. As we build leadership and manhood in this program, those are the things that you put back out into society to overcome those things and overcome those issues. He becomes a leader of a society in Detroit that is struggling right now," Drayton said. "He becomes a face for those guys. Any time you can be a guy becoming a part of something that is bigger than him, that has a brand that can support what it is he's trying to do, he can go out in any community and have success in whatever he wants and can help those people however he can. Ultimately, that's what it came down to for him and his family."
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