Why Leave Ohio to recruit?

[Carin's Dad]

5 of the top 20 teams in Cal Preps computer rankings are from Ohio. There's plenty of home grown talent.

http://calpreps.com/2010/ratings/National_all25.htm

Not only this year, but every year. Scan this list:

http://calpreps.com/National_dynasty_ratings.htm

[bearcatbret]

Is that stat for Colerain correct? Just over 8 yards per punt average? They are averaging more per rushing attempt.

[Carin's Dad]

Is that stat for Colerain correct? Just over 8 yards per punt average? They are averaging more per rushing attempt.That can't be right. I don't think they've punted 40 times in 4 years.

[Lobot]

Why leave Ohio to recruit? Example #1 : Mardy Gilyard came out of Florida.
#2 Armon Binns is from Pasadena.

[cmm27]

Connor Barwin came from Michigan.

You recruit talent, no matter where they live.

[Carin's Dad]

Why leave Ohio to recruit? Example #1 : Mardy Gilyard came out of Florida.
#2 Armon Binns is from Pasadena.It was a rhetorical question.

Obviously you get players wherever you can. The point is we have a very strong seam of talent all around us that our staff can mine. Now that UC is relevant to more and more Ohio blue chippers, recruiting should just get better.

[cmm27]

I agree with that, and I think we will see the fruits of that in upcoming classes, especially since Jones seems like a very capable recruiter.

[Carin's Dad]

Connor Barwin came from Michigan.

You recruit talent, no matter where they live.Of course, but look at Florida and Texas. There's so much local talent that even upstarts like S. Florida can succeed. Texas talent feeds UT, TTech, Houston, A&M etc., etc.

As the second best program in Ohio we deserve a fair share of the best Ohio players.

[Dannyboy]

Doctor Lou talks about this all the time. Ohio is a great place to be a CFB coach. Once you break through (and we are), the sky is the limit for talent.

[subflea]

The teams in Ohio are great, but sometimes the individual talent is better other places. Team success does not always equal the most talented players.

[cmm27]

I'm not saying that UC should NOT recruit Ohio. Ohio players can form the foundation of a solid team.

The difference between Texas and Ohio, or California and Ohio, or Florida and Ohio is population. UC does well at recruiting local talent and keeping kids here, but UC also needs to look outside the state for any talent they can get.

[bearcatd]

It doesn't hurt to have states/cities/schools to turn to if Ohio has a down year. It's also nice to have a pipeline in other states - Indy seems to becoming a nice place for us, Detroit has been good to us and we've gotten some guys from Jersey and California. It never hurts to have the Florida/Texas stereotypical size/speed combo either. Ohio is our base but having ties elsewhere for talent is why we leave the state.

[shaunsimpson]

Don't get caught up in the semantics of the post. He really doesn't think we should recruit only Ohio, but he is correct.

We are at a disadvantage when looking at Ohio though. Pitt, Michigan, WVU and MSU are closer to a lot of Ohio cities than Cincinnati is. If NorthEast kids want to stay closer to home they go to Pitt, not Cincinnati.

Not to go back on another thread, but this is why i would like to play different MAC teams than Miami OH. Get up to Akron with a 2/1 deal. Get up to Toledo with a 2/1 deal. Etc.

We need to hit Ohio hard, but it is very hard to get them off of the Big Ten since we are new to the big east and the big east is thought to be East of Ohio and not Ohio.

[Former Lurker]

It seems like OSU, UM & ND used to have the highest profile for big-time recruits from Cincy, with UC, the rest of the B10, and the MAC picking up those overlooked by the top three.

I think that's changing with the Big East membership/BCS tie-in. Now, UC is knocking on the door of the top tier, and has left the MAC completely behind. But Cincy isn't big enough to supply everything we need-it's a nice base, but you've got to get players who can contribute wherever you find them.

A plus to recruiting Cincinnati is that, over the long run, it tends to increase local fan interest in and loyalty to UC. The GMC and GCL, especially, have scads of fans, and if we've got our fair share of their former stars wearing red & black, it could easily mean 2-3k extra fans per game at the Nip, and increased demand for local TV and Enquirer publicity. I'd never suggest taking an inferior player just because he's from Cincy, but it's a nice kicker for a quality recruit you'd want anyway.

[Pruke]

The point is that Ohio must be fairly talent laden to produce such winning teams. Not only from a player perspective, but probably from a coaching perspective as well.

If you're going to trim the tree, might as well hit the truck too.

[Lobot]

Don't get caught up in the semantics of the post. He really doesn't think we should recruit only Ohio, but he is correct.

We are at a disadvantage when looking at Ohio though. Pitt, Michigan, WVU and MSU are closer to a lot of Ohio cities than Cincinnati is. If NorthEast kids want to stay closer to home they go to Pitt, not Cincinnati.

Not to go back on another thread, but this is why i would like to play different MAC teams than Miami OH. Get up to Akron with a 2/1 deal. Get up to Toledo with a 2/1 deal. Etc.

We need to hit Ohio hard, but it is very hard to get them off of the Big Ten since we are new to the big east and the big east is thought to be East of Ohio and not Ohio.

I find some fuzzy logic in here because the state with most NFL players behind Ohio is PA. NO reason why Pitt needs to recruit Ohio anymore than Ohio needs to recruit PA. Interesting dynamic. Maybe Kids just wanna get away (cue snickers commercial).

[Binturong05]

It was a rhetorical question.

Obviously you get players wherever you can. The point is we have a very strong seam of talent all around us that our staff can mine. Now that UC is relevant to more and more Ohio blue chippers, recruiting should just get better.

Let's hope so. Regardless of the quantity of in-state talent it's not secret it's here and the competition is fierce from outside forces. Obviously you have Ohio State as the flagship university and program in the state (you can pin the blame on politicians who control the purse strings if you like). You have surrounding schools such as Michigan, Michigan State, Pitt, West Virginia, Louisville, and Kentucky all coming in and raiding Ohio whenever they can and making a living doing it year in and year out - just check their rosters. Plus, you have two Catholic heavyweights in Notre Dame and Boston College pilfering not just Ohio but Cincinnati specifically with its large Catholic demographic.

UC would be smart to start trying to lock up the metro area to build its base. This would start with the more prominant non-GCL schools such as Colerain, both Lakota schools, Highlands, Holmes, Middletown, Winton Woods, Withrow, Hamilton, Anderson, etc (obviously can't include them all so forgive me if I left your team off the list).

I'd like to think building a base with these feeder schools would lead to enough success over time they could start to branch out to the GCL and other Catholic schools in the area and eventually to other parts of the state.

After all, Ohio State has made a living off Cleveland Glenville kids for years. UC needs to find an equivalent and lock it up like a junior college version of UC.