Ohio State recruiting: Tim Settle, '15 DT, talks OSU, his recruitment

The 2015 recruiting class is going to be a big one for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes as a big senior class will graduate following the 2014 football season and they will gain the three scholarships they lost as part of the NCAA sanctions levied a couple of years ago.

Ohio State is already in the running for many of the top players in the 2015 recruiting class as Meyer and company have been able to develop relationships with the recruits throughout the whole process, which is something they weren't able to do in the first two cycles, because they've only been with the school for two years.

One of the top players in the class is Manassas (VA) Stonewall Jackson defensive tackle Tim Settle, who is rated as the class' number 9 overall player in the 247Composite rankings. He checks in as the top defensive tackle in the rankings.

"I haven't really talked to Ohio State for in awhile," he said. "I talked to them a lot in the past, I'm sure the contact will pick back up following the dead period."

When it comes to Ohio State, Settle's main recruiting contact is OSU wide receivers coach Zach Smith, who is the recruiter for the Virginia area.

"I've talked with coach Smith a lot in the past," Settle continued. "I would say I've gotten to know him pretty well and have a pretty good relationship with him."

From talking to him, I learned that he has been taking the recruiting process very slowly and hasn't really had much contact with any schools of late for the most part. However, there were a few he mentioned having talked to over the past month or so.

"There are a lot of different schools that I've been talking to," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "Clemson, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Virginia, just to name a few."

While he didn't take many visits, he was able to check out a few of the schools located closest to his home in Virginia. Maryland is the closest school to his home, followed by Virginia and Virginia Tech. He visited all three of those schools during the football season and really liked what he saw.

"I didn't really get on many visits, but I was able to check out Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Maryland," he continued. "They were all a lot of fun. It was cool getting to check out the programs, talk to the coaches, and hanging out with other recruits who were visiting at the same time."

Over the past week, the 6-foot-3-inch, 305 pound defensive lineman has seen a couple of coaches heavily involved in his recruitment leave their schools in the likes of Mike Vrabel (Ohio State), Anthony Poindexter (Virginia), and Chris Rumph (Alabama). While it's tough to see the coaches know, Settle knows it's all part of football.

"I've talked to my dad about that and he has told me that coaches are going to leave and I would just have to build a relationship with the new coach and really all of the coaches on a staff," he said. "I would think a coach would still try to recruit me at their new school and if they're leaving for the NFL, I'm definitely going to call and wish them luck in their future."

In the current times, we see a lot of recruits commit early in the process because they simply fall in love with a school or want to get the grueling process over with as quickly as possible.

"I was thinking I would announce my decision in October, but I want to take all of my visits before deciding," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "I want to take every single one of my official visits and will push my timetable back to November or December if I need to."

In addition to having an idea of when he would like to announce he final college decision, he knows when he's going to narrow his impressive offer list down to ten teams.

"I'll know my top ten schools by July and will make the announcement then," he continued. "After that, I'll probably cut one team at a time from the list."

The standout defensive tackle would like to get back out on the road and check out a few more schools in the coming months and has a couple of things he'll be looking to see on those visits when he makes them.

"When I'm on a visit, it has to be great," he said. "I want to see what the players do, the academic side of the program, get to know some of the players, and really just get a good feel on everything the school has to offer."

Settle shares a special bond with top 2014 recruit and Alabama commit Da'Shawn Hand, who has helped mentor him in the recruiting process.

"I don't know, it really depends on how things play out over the next couple of months," he told Land-Grant Holy Land. "It's something that could happen though."

He is already a vey good football player, but there are a couple of things he would like to improve in-between now and next fall and his senior season.

"I think I'm pretty explosive already, but I would like to be even more explosive and keep my the intensity and motor," he continued. "I also want to become more fast and tough on the football field."

When it comes to Ohio State, he had very good things to say about his first trip to Columbus when I spoke with him at the NFTC last June. He will likely make another trip or two to the Ohio State campus before he makes his decision. This should be a fun race to follow.