COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tim Walton had to be recruited to play at Ohio State once.

Sitting at a table on the edge of a practice field where he was once developed as a cornerback, the Buckeyes’ new secondary and cornerbacks coach reminisced, remembering only a few out-of-state players on his teams in the early 90’s.

He remembered Ohio State as a brand, a national brand even. But now it's one that has only grown, stretching across the country through his numerous coaching stops since.

“The brand is the brand, but it is next level,” Walton said.

This is a brand Ohio State’s new assistant coaches were thrust into from the moment they signed the dotted line of their contract.

Walton, assistant head coach of the offensive and offensive line coach Justin Frye, safeties coach Perry Eliano and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jim Knowles have been around the country, helping Ohio State finish out its 2022 class, meeting members of the class for the first time, while also getting a head start on 2023 and beyond.

To head coach Ryan Day, all these four needed were attributes he already knew they had, things he hired each of them for: their relationship building and development skills; aspects translate from program to program, no matter what logo a coach is wearing on a polo shirt in a high school or a living room.

When recruiting, those are the only two things Frye focuses on: showing recruits how he will develop them and showing families and those around the recruit how he will take care of him off the field.

It is that simple. Frye’s approach is bare bones, focusing on the foundations and the basics.

All recruiting is to Ohio State’s offensive line coach is relationships, identifying the kids he knows can play for the Buckeyes and uphold the standard it has, and figuring out how to get those players to Columbus.

“For me, it’s not with cool Instagram edits or dancing or music or whatever that stuff is. You have to go in and hit the ground running with the high school coach, the parents, the mentors, with whoever is helping the kid make a decision,” Frye said. “Does this logo help? Absolutely. You are going after a higher-caliber kid. But at the same time, he’s still a kid you have to build the right way.”

If anything, the logo gives Eliano more juice that he was already building.

In Cincinnati last season, Ohio State’s new safeties coach had the 2021 Jim Thorpe Award winner in his room — Coby Bryant — along with another potential first-round NFL Draft choice in Ahmad “Sauce" Gardner.

All recruits want, Eliano said, is the chance Bryant and Garner had, to be that guy: the Jim Thorpe Award winner, the All American, the first-round draft pick.

With Ohio State, Eliano now has the confidence and the resources to preach that message to recruits across the country, that they can develop into that kind of player with the Buckeyes.

“To have the resources, The Ohio State, behind you, to go into any home and any school and say ‘If you want to play at the best school in the country and play for national championships year in and year out and get a quality education and live your dreams and goals,’ that’s hard to turn down,” Eliano said.

“And get developed. That’s a key component. It's not only going to a great school like this and getting the opportunities on the field, but having opportunities to be the best and maximize your God-given ability.”

On paper and as an idea, this was why it was a no-brainer for Frye to make the jump from UCLA to Ohio State, to advocate for Day: a friend and a former colleague, working together at Temple and Boston College

But it was never easy. It’s the product of relationship building and development.

“In recruiting and development and a lot of those things, that’s why college football is so awesome because it’s so intimate with those kids,” Frye said on why the decision to leave UCLA was so difficult. “And so you are in the living room with their parents, you’re recruiting them, you’re talking about what you are going to do and you have four years with those guys, like you take ownership of your room. You’re the general manager of the room, so those are your guys.”

Knowles was just honest with those he had built relationships with in his time at Oklahoma State, taking a self-described unconventional approach to his departure.

Instead of sweeping his departure under the rug, the former Cowboys defensive coordinator kept communication open, being honest about what his next steps were, keeping those bonds strong.

“I really shared with them everything that was going on like they were my sons: contract negotiations, things like that stuff,” Knowles said. “I think there’s too much of coaches slipping away in the middle of the night. I involved my players at Oklahoma State, the leadership group there. We talked so that when I made a decision, they understood why.

“I think it’s that gut feeling you talk about with recruits: how will you know? Well if you talk with enough people, you have an open mind, you have a lot of respect for where you are at, I think it comes to you. That’s how this opportunity fell to me.”

The opportunity now for Knowles, Frye, Eliano and Walton is to recruit, to go out and build trust and relationships with recruits and their families around the country.

While the brand and the logo may get those coaches in the door, it’s the relationships that will secure the success inside the school or the living room, which never really changed from Cincinnati, UCLA or Oklahoma State.

“It’s a relationship business,” Frye said. “College football has become more and more of a business and our business is still people.”