“We have the best coaches and some of the best high school programs in all of America here in Ohio. And it will continue to be our first priority to recruit Ohio football players. Every young football player in the state of Ohio should dream about one day becoming a Buckeye. And it’s our staff’s responsibility to make sure we recruit them at the highest level.”
Those were the words of Ryan Day upon being named the next coach at Ohio State a couple of weeks ago, and they may as well have been addressed to Zach Harrison.
Harrison, as you probably know, is the 5-star defensive end from just up the road from Ohio Stadium in Lewis Center, Ohio. He is 6-foot-6, 243 pounds, runs a 4.47, and his silence is finally about to break.
The early signing period for college football begins on Wednesday and Harrison is set to announce his commitment to either Michigan, Penn State, or Ohio State around 12:30 pm.
For a kid from Central Ohio who most always expected to become a Buckeye, if he does end up at OSU, it won’t be the straight line down Route 23 that most would have assumed. While this has been one of the more high-profile recruitments for Ohio State over the last few years, the near media blackout on Harrison’s part has kept onlookers guessing for the better part of two years now.
Both Michigan and Penn State were once thought to be in the driver’s seat for Harrison, but of late it appears that the Buckeyes have made their move on the final lap and the experts believe Ohio State now leads.
If Harrison does end up signing with the Buckeyes, the benefits will be multi-layered.
Firstly, Ohio State would be landing an outstanding prospect at a position of need. The Buckeyes already have one defensive end committed in 4-star Mentor product Noah Potter, but as OSU has shown over the last few years, they can never have enough defensive ends.
The Buckeyes will be returning starting defensive ends Chase Young and Jonathon Cooper next year, and freshmen Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday, Alex Williams, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste will all be a year older, bigger, better, and stronger. But only two of those players are proven, and both will likely be playing their final season next year.
Secondly, as Ryan Day has said, keeping the top in-state players home is key and it would be a tough pill to swallow to watch the best player in the state leave Ohio for the second year in a row. Especially a player who lives 25 minutes from campus.
If Day is going to keep Urban Meyer’s recruiting train running, Harrison being a part of the Buckeyes’ class is a must. It won’t derail things if he heads elsewhere, but it will certainly be a black mark that won’t soon be forgotten.
When the Buckeyes lost out on 5-star in-state offensive lineman Jackson Carman last year, the wound wasn’t as deep as it could have been because Meyer went out and signed an even higher-rated lineman from out of state in Nicholas Petit-Frere. This year, there is no Petit-Frere on defense waiting to ease Ohio State’s pain.
Thirdly, signing Zach Harrison means that Michigan and Penn State will have spent time working on him, with both thinking they had won the battle, only to ultimately watch him walk away.
Many times, half the joy of a recruiting victory is because it’s a loss for your opponent. Plus, now you don’t have to play against that guy.
Do you think Jim Tressel wanted to play against Terrelle Pryor in Rich Rodriguez’s offense?
Okay, maybe that’s a bad example, but you get the idea. If Zach Harrison is a Buckeye, that means he isn’t a Wolverine and now the Wolverines have to go to Plan B.
And a team full of Plan Bs generally gets served up plenty of Ls.
Fourthly, what a statement this would be for Ryan Day — and he’s not even on the job yet.
This would be like signing a huge merger deal during a job interview.
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”
“I see me running PepsiAT&T because I just merged us.”
“Whoa. You’re hired!”
In terms of first impressions — or, technically, fourth impressions for the 3-0 coach — if Ryan Day wants to calm the Ohio State fan base down a bit, convincing Zach Harrison that Ohio State is where he needs to be would be a pretty good start.
On Wednesday, Ohio State is going to get better regardless of what Harrison does. How much better, however, will be up to him.
As of Tuesday night, things were looking good for OSU, but a lot can change in 12 hours. Just ask the two teams who once thought they were out in front.