In his one year at Ohio State, Jeff Hafley proved to be a tremendous recruiter, just as Buckeye head coach Ryan Day knew he would.
According to 247Sports’ recruiter rankings, Hafley is the No. 3 recruiter in the nation, having a hand in landing eight verbal commitments for OSU. He is only behind Clemson defensive line coach Todd Bates at No. 2 and OSU receivers coach Brian Hartline at No. 1.
Hafley’s work on the recruiting trail is one of the reasons why Ohio State currently has five defensive backs committed. Each of them was looking forward to being coached by Hafley, so when he announced his move to Boston College, each of those five commits had some thinking to do.
Those commits — 4-star California cornerback Clark Phillips, 4-star Arizona safety Lathan Ransom, 4-star Texas cornerback Ryan Watts, 4-star Florida cornerback Lejond Cavazos, and 4-star athlete Cameron Martinez — were all thrown for a bit of a loop.
Despite the upheaval, Ryan Day believes things will be fine with all five of the 2020 defensive backs. When asked on Monday if he expected all five to sign this week, he answered with a simple “I do.”
Of course, he wasn’t just sitting back and hoping they’d still choose Ohio State. He’s been in communication with all five commitments.
“Yeah, yeah, talk to those guys every day for the most part,” he said. “Response has been good. It’s been great. Certainly they’re disappointed that they’re not going to get coached by Jeff. But they’re excited to sign.”
Soon after Hafley’s announcement, Cavazos tweeted that he would still be signing with Ohio State. Watts eventually did the same. Then came Ransom. Martinez is also expected to stick with the Buckeyes.
Phillips, who took an official visit to Utah this past weekend, will sign with somebody on Thursday rather than Wednesday.
I will be signing this Thursday at 11 am PST. You can tune in here. Subscribe to https://t.co/zavKkPjmxk pic.twitter.com/z8iXpAB3JR
— Clark Phillips III (@ClarkPhillips28) December 17, 2019
“They’ve been great. It’s been really positive,” Day said. “They understand this is an unbelievable program that’s on the rise. We have a great defensive system. There’s great opportunity in the back end next year. Guys are going to be coming in with an opportunity to play.”
Day is absolutely correct about an opportunity to play next year. The Buckeyes could be losing their entire starting secondary to the NFL, and that’s along with losing safeties Isaiah Pryor and Brendon White to the transfer portal.
Even if inside cornerback Shaun Wade returns, there will be opportunities for the incoming class. The Buckeyes did not sign any cornerbacks in the 2019 class. Sophomores Sevyn Banks and Cameron Brown were the backup cornerbacks, but both have played a lot this season.
“They’re excited to be here,” Day said of the incoming commits. “They’ll find out who is going to coach them. They will in time. I promised them I’m going to give them the best situation possible to make sure they can reach their dreams and goals.
“That’s the whole idea, they committed to me as the head coach, to Ohio State. They understand that. That’s been the response.”