Ohio State trying to find balance between two worlds on recruiting front

COLUMBUS — It may feel like déjà vu all over again for Ohio State fans and in some ways it is.

When five-star safety KJ Bolden picked Florida State over the Buckeyes on Saturday night, there were no doubt a number of different emotions that everyone associated with the program was feeling.

Anger, frustration, exasperation and bewilderment among them.

Bolden's mother is Perry Eliano's cousin. There is a serious need for elite safeties at Ohio State, one of the country's premier programs, and this is a two-year-long recruitment that has seen the Buckeyes at or near the top the entire time. If this isn't a winning recipe for one of the most historic brands in all of sports, then what is?

A year ago, Ohio State was rudderless on the name, image and likeness front and knew that any recruitment centered on NIL was a surefire loss. That informed how the Buckeyes were approaching the 2024 cycle according to Ohio State football General Manager Mark Pantoni.

"What's going to make this kid make his decision? Is it going to be NIL?" Pantoni said in February. "Is it going to be development and brotherhood and culture and winning? And all the great things this place has to offer? Or is it going to be strictly because of money? Those are conversations we have. The worst thing we can do is waste a lot of time and effort on kids knowing that and then lose them at the end of the day."

"[The 2023 cycle] is the learning curve of feeling it the hard way. But you know, now that we've been through a full cycle, I think we'll go into this class with a better mindset of spending our time and resources in certain areas versus others.”

For the most part, things have felt different this time around for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have the country's No. 2-ranked recruiting class but a series of recent recruiting losses have changed the tenor of conversations and has fans around the country wondering if anything is truly different from a year ago.

And to be clear, things are different. There is zero doubt that Ohio State is being more aggressive when it comes to NIL and the program is much, much better positioned than it was a year ago on that front. It's probably why the Buckeyes landed a commitment from Justin Scott in early July over Michigan and Notre Dame. But even in the case of KJ Bolden, a player that fits Ohio State so very well in nearly every facet, there comes a point where the ask is just too much. When the risk becomes greater than the reward.

But the uncomfortable truth is that in today's college football, every recruitment between top-15 programs, or involving top-100 type of players, at some point seems to become strictly about NIL.

That leaves Ohio State, even with an evolving strategy about deploying it, in an uncomfortable place. The Buckeyes are seeking a balance between the old world of college football — a world where personal relationships and player development, combined with championship-level football and extensive life-after-the-game opportunities, mattered more than anything — and the new. The new world is one where all those things get talked about during a prospect's interviews with the media but in the end, are nothing more than lip service in the pursuit of the biggest check. Those old-school matters are used to build a brand and for public relations purposes during the course of multiyear recruitments but get summarily dismissed as players and their families chase the biggest check.

What makes this particularly vexing for Ohio State is that, in the big picture, it's hard to blame the kids and their families for doing so. No one would ask these families to forgo financial gains that previously required an NFL contract to obtain. No one.

But for the Buckeyes, what is the answer? That's the puzzle that needs to be sorted out.

Ohio State refuses, rightfully, to work out NIL deals with high school students that would jeopardize the chemistry and culture within the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. NIL is 100 percent being used as inducements in recruiting and the NCAA has done nothing about it and the Buckeyes, along with every other program, have to navigate that on their own terms. So far that navigation has been rocky.

The Buckeyes absolutely believe that KJ Bolden is a difference maker and would have improved the roster in the 2024 season and beyond. But should an unproven prospect, any unproven prospect, be promised an amount that would dwarf the NIL opportunities for a player like Sonny Styles? Is there a Buckeyes fan anywhere that would make that trade? Those are the types of discussions that now, incredibly, are part of college football's landscape.

Long-term, Ohio State's approach is almost certain to be proven right. This reins-free model isn't sustainable for college football and everyone knows it. Programs like Florida State see an opening to get back to relevancy and are taking huge risks to get there quickly. But this year's two-million-dollar inducements, er NIL deals, will turn into three, then four, and with each mega-deal comes more risk that the old things that mattered fall to the wayside. Eventually, the college game will probably suffer a bit for it. The horse is out of the barn and there's no one at a national level that seems interested in getting it back in there.

The frustration and pain in the short term make it nearly impossible to care that the long-term vision may be correct. College football is a "what have you done for me lately" business and though Ohio State has been the game's most recession-proof program in the last 100 years, repeated recruiting losses to lesser programs gives a sharp reminder that in the new world, things could change quickly if the Buckeyes don't thread this needle perfectly.

But no one is going to cry for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are one of the game's true bluebloods and, after another disappointing end to a truly vital recruitment, must continue to adapt and adjust or they will get left behind.

The NCAA being asleep at the wheel, or in this case, abandoning the car altogether is not an excuse that will save Ohio State if it doesn't start winning some of these very in-the-muck recruitments.

Whether that happens because of the old way or the new way, Ohio State will adjust.

The Buckeyes always have and always will.