Recruiter Rankings: Buckeyes Making Moves…Again

Ohio State football continues to be out in front of the rest of the nation in terms of 2021 recruiting, and when it comes to recruiter rankings, Buckeye assistant coaches hold the top three spots nationally, four of the top six, and five of the top 10.

Two of the three biggest jumps of the week among the top 10 were by Ohio State assistants Kerry Coombs and Larry Johnson.

With the commitment of 4-star Kentucky defensive back Jantzen Dunn, Coombs moved up two spots from No. 4 to No. 2. Coombs is now ahead of OSU receivers coach Brian Hartline by 0.04 points.

Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson had one of the larger jumps in the top 25, as he moved up four spots from No. 10 to No. 6 thanks to the commitment of IMG defensive end Tunmise Adeleye. Adeleye is the the No. 41 player nationally and the No. 4 strongside defensive end.

Johnson now has commitments from three players — 5-star defensive end Jack Sawyer, top 100 defensive tackle Michael Hall, and Adeleye. The average score of his commitment is 97.95, which is the highest among the top 25. Of note, Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa’s average of 96.83 is good for sixth in the nation.

North Carolina’s Jay Batemen jumps up three spots with the commitment of 4-star North Carolina linebacker Raneiria Dillworth. Dillworth, listed at 6-2 185, is the No. 17 outside linebacker in the nation and committed this past week over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, and others.

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown seems to reverting back to his Texas ways of landing a bunch of commitments early, as UNC’s class already stands at 14 players. His class is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The only two teams nationally with more commitments than the Tar Heels are Ohio State and Miami (Ohio), who both have 17 commits in the 2021 class so far.

Here is a look at the top 25 recruiters nationally.

The biggest jump of the week comes from USC cornerbacks coach Donte  Williams. With Williams’ help, the Trojans landed 4-star prospects Anthony Beavers and Calen Bullock, who are ranked the Nos. 10 and 13 Athletes in the state of California, respectively.

Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown also landed another commitment in the past week as 3-star Massachusetts defensive end TJ Guy jumped aboard. He committed to Michigan over offers from Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Virginia. Guy is ranked the No. 44 weakside defensive end in the nation and the No. 759 player overall.

North Carolina linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen also makes a reappearance in the top 25 with the aforementioned commitment of Raneiria Dillworth.

Minnesota safeties coach Joe Harasymiak makes his first appearance in the top 25 with the surprise commitment of 4-star cornerback Avante Dickerson. Dickerson is the No. 1 player in Nebraska, the No. 8 cornerback, and the No. 93 player overall. He committed to the Gophers over offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Georgia, Ohio State, and others.

Here is a look at the Big Ten’s top 10, where Harasymiak has not yet done enough to show up.

As you can see, there are four Ohio State assistant coaches in the top five and five in the top seven. The only OSU assistants not in the top 10 are offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, assistant secondary coach Matt Barnes, quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis, tight ends coach and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, and co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison.

Studrawa will certainly be in the top 10 — and possibly top five — with his next commitment, whoever that might be.

Mattison is currently the No. 29 recruiter in the Big Ten. He is listed as the secondary recruiter for Tunmise Adeleye, so even though he ranks 29th, his average per recruit would put him second behind Larry Johnson.

As mentioned before, Dennis isn’t given credit for Ohio State’s commitment of 2021 quarterback Kyle McCord, so he’ll have to wait a while to make his recruiting mark (even though he is still very important as it pertains to McCord’s ongoing recruitment).