The Dublin (Ohio) Coffman football program has been one of the state of Ohio's top talent producers over the years and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. Coffman boasts several Division I prospects on this year's team, including a couple receiving serious interest from Ohio State.

Class of 2021 defensive back A.J. Kirk Jr. is of course one of those prospects that the Buckeyes are highly interested in. On Friday, Kirk and Coffman earned a 45-14 win over rival Dublin Jerome with Kirk and the Shamrock defense holding Jerome scoreless in the second half after trailing 14-10 at the break.

"I feel like our performance was outstanding," said Kirk after the game. "One-hundred percent we did what we needed to do in the second half. First half we had a couple breakdowns and I talked to my defense at halftime and was just like, 'hey we need to come back out and lock it down'."

Kirk is playing a deep free safety role for Coffman. Much like his older brother, former Ohio State great Mike Doss, he loves to come down into the box and make big hits. He did that several times on Friday.

"You have to come out there and play with heart," he said. "My teammates ask me if I'm going to lay the wood and that's what I do, I lay the wood."

On the recruiting front, Kirk already holds offers from Michigan and Kentucky. He has been at Ohio State for both of the Buckeyes' games so far, and after Friday's game he discussed his first trip of the season for the Oregon State game.

"I liked it, I didn't get there at the time that I wanted to to be able to walk with the players, but watching the pre-game a little bit, I like what I see," Kirk said. "And the way they performed, it was outstanding."

Kirk was able to connect with Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford before the game. Alford, a Dublin resident, is leading the way on the recruitment of the Coffman prospects.

"I talked to coach Alford before the game," Kirk recalled. "He was just like, 'hey I'm trying to talk to you (as much as possible) so I want to see you here more and get this (relationship) established."

The long-standing relationship with Alford has the Buckeyes in a good position with Kirk early on.

"Really it's the coaching staff," he said. "Coach Alford, I know his son Rylan, and they have always been there for me. So my connection with the coaching staff and everything is very strong."

But the talented playmaker has plenty of time to worry about recruiting and coming to a decision. So in the mean time, he's going to try and take as many unofficial visits as he can.

"I would like to see Alabama, LSU, Clemson, I'm trying to get everywhere," he stated.