Is Urban Meyer’s biggest recruiting weapon at Ohio State a 19-year-old graphic designer?

“It was basically like a whole recruiting pitch. I'm a graphic guy, I don't know how big of a pull I would make. But it ended up turning into like a recruiting battle between Texas and Ohio State."

— Kenton Stufflebeam to Austin Ward (ESPN)

Urban Meyer is on record as wanting to have the best social media game in college football, so it’s good to see him putting his program’s money where his mouth is in that regard, after having done so with facilities, assistant coaches, and more.

To think that the head football coaches at the University of Texas and The Ohio State University recently got into a recruiting battle over a 19-year-old graphic designer is something that I’m sure Darrell Royal and Woody Hayes never could have imagined, but, given the importance of social media in the modern-day recruiting process, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

However, what might be a surprise is that @CoachHessler’s last name isn’t Hessler, and that even after a substantial raise, he still can’t afford a shirt.

“But as we take a closer look at how Meyer put this class together in this five-part series, the first part is about what may be overlooked this year: Winning Ohio. Again.”

— Ari Wasserman (Cleveland.com)

They say the grass is always greener on the other side, but for Ohio State football coaches dating back decades, there is nothing like homegrown talent. As Cleveland.com pointed out before the season, Ohio is fifth in terms of producing NFL talent. So, while the big fish from Florida, Texas, and Nevada might be getting most of the attention this recruiting season, it’s hard to count out “born and bread” Buckeyes.

While there are only five native-Ohioans in the current 19-player class, locking down the state’s numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, and 11 players (all maintaining a four-star rating), is a big bonus for what could potentially be regarded as the best recruiting class in school history.

“Ohio State is poised to put the finishing touches on a recruiting class that's the deepest in terms of quality prospects in school history, according to the analysts' ratings, and it appears that coach Urban Meyer and his staff have one state in particular to thank: Texas.”

— Tim May (Columbus Dispatch)

It’s clear that in setting up his program at the University of Texas, Tom Herman has begun to employ many lessons that he learned from working under Urban Meyer. However, if he hopes to have anything approaching the success that Meyer has had in Columbus, Herman will need to quickly put up the proverbial fence around his state.

As the flagship institution of Texas, the Longhorns have a decided advantage against their in-state rivals; TCU, Baylor, Texas A&M, Houston, Texas Tech, etc.; but it is the interstate interlopers that have been picking off the Lone Star state’s best talent recently. Given Herman’s recruiting success at OSU and Houston, I wouldn’t bet on that lasting too much longer.

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