Meyer talks National Signing Day
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COLUMBUS - With three National Championships to his name, Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer is inarguably in the top tier of coaches in the country.
But even with all of his success on the field, there are few days that highlight Meyer's talents as a coach better than National Signing Day.
As with his first three recruiting classes, Meyer brought in another highly ranked class in 2015, with 27 players joining the reigning national champs.
Highlighted by five-star linebacker Justin Hilliard, Meyer said the class filled a number of need positions heading into next season.
"Our linebackers, I'm really excited about that...You look at these three guys coming in, Nick Conner, Justin Hilliard and Jerome Baker, and they are the exact body types and kind of people you want," Meyer said. "Also the offensive line, we don't have the tall long guys...Out of those there are three or four tackles that we really need, we are really short."
But while players like Hilliard were never really in doubt, signing day did bring some intrigue for the Buckeyes.
Meyer said there was a group of five players, running back Mike Weber, wide receiver K.J. Hill, offensive lineman Isaiah Prince, quarterback Torrance Gibson and defensive end Joshua Alabi, who were still in doubt the night before signing day.
"We had five at 11 p.m. (Tuesday) night we were unsure where they were going, and that makes for a bad night for myself and a bunch of the coaches who were involved with them," Meyer said.
"In the end the five jumped in the boat."
Weber in particular, a former Michigan commit, was a nail-biter for the staff, with the running back's commitment remaining a mystery until about an hour before his announcement.
But with some help from an unexpected source, Meyer and the Buckeyes got the signature, one they will value a little extra because of the connection to Michigan.
"That's his brother now," Meyer said of running back Ezekiel Elliott's relationship with Weber during the recruiting process. "I hear them talk, and I heard the term brother. Zeke's our best recruiter. That does not happen without Zeke Elliott.
"We do keep score against the rival in everything we do and they're great recruiters, they always have been," Meyer added. "But absolutely you keep score of that one."
When it comes to drawing players to a school, there are few things that can make an impact like success on the field. But while Ohio State's championship run might be the peak, Meyer said it didn't have a huge impact on this season's recruiting class.
Meyer did say though, that the title will be a really influence the players brought in as a part of next season's class.
"Certainly 2016 you'll see a jolt," Meyer said. "That's going to help us. It was like a 30-day infomercial. We didn't really turn many (this year)."
Meyer gave the media nearly 24 minutes to talk, but he couldn't be troubled to stay for too long.
There is less than a year until National Signing Day 2016.
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