Just as a matter of note, Terrelle Pryor will be the next Better Know A Buckeye feature I do, and given his own story, it might take several weeks in order to do it right.

Height: 6′3
Weight: 190lbs
Forty: 4.5
GPA: 3.34

His Recruitment: DeVier Posey plays football in a state — and more specifically: a part of the state — that’s amenable to early offers for football prep stars. However, for a future Parade All-American, DeVier Posey ended his junior year with zero offers. Usually, the MAC schools in Ohio offer a kid like Posey in his junior year just to get their respective names out there. Further, with Brian Kelly arriving at UC, the Bearcats have been tossing out early offers to Ohio kids (especially Cincinnati kids) at half the clip of Ron Zook. However, Posey was getting no fanfare from any recruiting service after his junior year and had no offers to go along with it. Yes, not even Zook — who I’m convinced subscribes to Bucknuts and gets a preliminary list of rising sophomores (or freshmen) in the state of Ohio and offers every single one of them a scholarship — extended an offer.

However, Posey took the initiative to get his name out to college programs, investing money into getting a highlight film professionally done. Of the 25 copies made and sent, only Ohio State sent a reply saying that they had received it. Darrell Hazell — WR coach and recruiter par excellence for the Buckeyes’ staff — reviewed the film and liked what he saw enough to start recruiting Posey in earnest. At the time, DeVier was unsure, perhaps even skeptical, that an offer would follow from it, but was plenty excited that his endeavors had paid dividends from at least one program. The excitement was enough to take an unofficial visit to Columbus around this time to watch the Buckeyes’ bowl preparations for [ REDACTED ]. While on the visit, Posey met with Troy Smith and remarked about how loose and friendly everyone was, notwithstanding the upcoming game.

(L to R): Oscar Robertson, Brian Kelly, DeVier Posey (Scout.com)

A seven day interval in February 2007 proved to be pivotal in DeVier Posey’s recruitment. To be more precise: Wed February 7 2007 - Wed February 14 2007 is the seven day stretch that changed everything. February 7, 2007 was National Signing Day for the 2007 class, which by itself means nothing to a 2008 prospect like Posey. However, after signing day, it’s a common practice for college football programs to throw out several offers to who they deem to be top priority targets. Hazell, who was still in touch with Posey, was amping up interest. That weekend, DeVier Posey made his second unofficial visit to Columbus, meeting up with Jake Stoneburner² and Mike Adams in Columbus. After enjoying the camaraderie for the weekend, Stoneburner (who by that time was doing recruiting for Ohio State, even without a scholarship offer) and Adams (offered by Ohio State, heavy lean, but not yet committed) were convinced that he would be a valuable asset to the team. Posey felt the same. On Wednesday, February 14, DeVier Posey received his offer from Ohio State, a full two weeks before Stoneburner’s offer. Suffice to say, Darrell Hazell made DeVier Posey priority one at the position, which was not lost on Posey. Generally impressed by Hazell’s genuine interest and everything else from the weekend visit to Columbus, Posey was well aware of how badly Ohio State’s staff wanted him. The feeling was becoming mutual.

However, just as in December and January, Posey was reticent to do too much recruiting work to the detriment of his HS basketball team. During this time, it appears the only thing of note he did before his eventual commitment was another quick trip to UC for their Junior Day. Perhaps, though, it was probably more an opportunity to get Stoneburner and Adams to come down and requite the previous visit to Columbus as both were in attendance as well.

Unfortunately for DeVier, his HS hoops team’s title hopes came crashing down in a 55-48 defeat to Cincinnati Withrow HS in the Dayton 4 District Finals (played at the University of Dayton) on Saturday March 10, 2007. The loss precluded a trip to the Cincinnati Regionals on Xavier’s campus, but did behoove Posey (and mom) into making a trip that same night to Columbus to take another unofficial visit for the weekend of March 10-11. That same night, he hung out with Mike Adams (who was celebrating his 17th birthday) and Jake Stoneburner again, but was also introduced to Michael Brewster (who was also in town) for the first time. By this time, all four had offers and Mike Adams had just used his 17th birthday as a cover to issue his verbal. For the first time, Posey began talking with these guys regarding the possibilities of playing together in college. On Sunday, Posey made it to campus, first having breakfast with Darrell Hazell. Later, he met with Tressel where — as you’ll hear several members of this recruiting class say — he was awed by the fact that Tressel can carry on a conversation with a recruit for several hours and never once mention football. While making the trip back home to Cincitucky, Posey felt he had seen everything he needed to see.

His Commitment: While still en route to their Cincinnati home, DeVier asked his mom to pull over at a sports store so he could buy some Buckeye gear. When asked for clarification, DeVier told his mom that Ohio State is where he wanted to go. DeVier’s mom more than obliged, only asking that DeVier be sure of this decision. He was.

After arriving home, DeVier called Jim Tressel’s office, coincidentally right as Hazell and Tressel were discussing the few hours spent with him, and issued his verbal. Both Tressel and Hazell were ecstatic about the choice. Afterwards, DeVier called the Coffman boys and told them about his decision, and both were understandably pleased. Adams had already secured his spot and Stoneburner was practically a silent verbal by this point. After calling Stoneburner and Adams, Posey called Brewster and informed him, eliciting the most excited reaction of everyone.

However, Posey’s announcement was not necessarily what he wanted. Posey planned to treat himself to the same birthday gift that Mike Adams treated himself to — going public on his birthday. Posey issued his silent verbal on Sunday and planned to go public on Thursday. However, the widespread reporting of the verbal forced Posey to confirm the commitment on Tuesday, March 13th.

The commitment gave the Buckeyes their 3rd verbal of the class (Buchanan, Adams) and their first option at wideout. On DeVier’s end, he committed after only his 3rd visit to Ohio State and before he ever saw an Ohio State game in person.

Where He Excels: DeVier becomes quite a handful after the catch. His combination of size and speed gives him some explosiveness when he is afforded any kind of space to maneuver. His large frame makes him hard to tackle and his top-end speed allows him to blow right by a few people. This potential also has DeVier in the discussion for kick returns for the Buckeyes, where I’m sure his inclusion would be a significant improvement than the combination fielded in 2007. Understandably, this same combination also makes him a deep threat on a vertical route while a nice option in the small and intermediate passing games. His sure hands help him here as well. Scout.com thinks Chad Johnson is a nice comparison for him. I don’t want to fall into the cliche of overhyping everyone, because we know that not everyone lives up to their projected ceilings, but there’s a reason this 2008 class is so hyped: imagine a wideout combo of Stoneburner and Posey in the red zone, combined with Sanzy (I’m convinced he’ll shine at Ohio State, in typical under-the-radar/3-star fashion) and Flash in the slot. Throw in incoming receivers like Chris Fields, James Jackson and Duron Carter. Cooooooool.

I’m also intrigued by DeVier’s frame. Granted, my scientific understanding of the human body is limited to the Vitruvian man³, but Posey is a big wideout now. He apparently has the frame to get bigger and keep his speed. Indeed, I’ve come across the comparison to David Boston, who topped out at that 6′2 215ish area. Posey should be able to get past 200, but again, I’m not an expert on this. If he could develop into what Boston was at Ohio State, then we could only be better for it (imagine what a player like that could be on fade routes in the red zone).

I could do without the positive tests for cocaine and steroids, though.

Must Work On: Posey apparently is not a very crisp route runner… says Scout. I don’t think this is particularly valid criticism from Scout because it’s not clear to me that any HS receiver matriculates to a big time college with this skill. If it’s appropriate to say that Posey lacks this skill (and perhaps he does, I wouldn’t know for sure since wideout highlight films [I think] suffer from the most severe selection bias), he’s not alone. Posey, like most wide receiver prepstars, probably used his size and top-end speed to create separation. This will get significantly harder in college, but judging a HS receiver on his route-running skills is a little futile, I think.

One area of improvement that I’ve encountered that I can more or less agree with is on Posey’s burst. His top-end speed is among the best in the country at the position, but it takes a little while to build up momentum.

One area of concern for me is DeVier Posey’s shoulder injury that he had surgery on awhile back. Posey incurred some wear and tear during his senior season, resulting some mini tears in his labrum. He finished rehabilitation not too long ago, but images of Charles Rogers keep jumping into my head. You don’t need to worry too much, though. I’m more than overreacting since a partial tear isn’t that bad. If nothing else, it’s something to consider.

Redshirt? Doubt it. The wide receiver rotation is going to be crowded in 2008, but Posey apparently has the tools necessary to work his way into the rotation and get some snaps. Sanzy, himself a true freshman last year, opted for this route and got some good minutes in before he got sidelined with an injury⁴. Special teams is also an option. I don’t see Flash, Stoneburner or Posey redshirting, and I think all three have the potential to make an impact in their freshman year. Who actually does step up and sees time as the third wideout (Robo and Hartline will basically be every-down wide receivers) should be an interesting development in 2008.

DeVier Posey and Terrelle Pryor: I have good authority and inside information to know definitively that the Brew Crew was a team effort. Michael Brewster gets a lot of press for his efforts (and deservingly so, especially with his enthusiasm), but basically everyone was involved, making the 2008 recruiting class the fruits of a collective labor. However, DeVier Posey stands out as one of the key social butterflies that was crucial in helping develop the 2008 class.

One of the most important contributions DeVier Posey made to the class regards the crown-jewel-not-named-Mike-Adams: Terrelle Pryor. After Brewster’s commitment (and Shugarts’ corollary commitment), the “recruiting” appeared to have taken off in earnest. The first Buckeye target contacted by Posey was Terrelle Pryor. Posey and Pryor knew each other well through basketball and AAU, playing against each other while still in their middle school years. Posey had actually tracked down Pryor on Myspace before Posey’s March 11 commitment, where an exchange of messages eventually snowballed into a sincere friendship between both DeVier and Terrelle. In Posey’s version of the story, he actually gave Terrelle’s contact information to Brewster who then, in his words, “took control of the situation”. DeVier appears to be the exogenous factor in making Pryor a Brew Crew target.

However, it’s not implausible to suggest that Michael Brewster would have found his number eventually. Where Posey becomes really important in the Terrelle Pryor story is the aforementioned friendship formed between the two. It goes without saying that recruitment was very stressful on Terrelle, and it became increasingly so after his Signing Day nondecision. When Terrelle felt he needed a friend to talk to, he called DeVier. From what I’ve read, Terrelle thinks the world of DeVier and knew he could trust him with anything he told him. DeVier’s mom thinks Terrelle knew he wanted to go to Ohio State all along, and confided that in DeVier and told him that mum’s the word on that tidbit. And when DeVier is sworn to secrecy for a friend’s interest, his lips are sealed. Their friendship led to their pairing as roommates at the Army All-American Game.

Non-falsifiable counterfactual hypotheses are not in my interest, nor yours to read, but absent DeVier Posey from the picture, there’s good reason to suggest the courtship between Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor may have taken a different direction. Pryor’s admiration of Jim Tressel would have no doubt remained, but from what I’ve read, if Pryor committed for any one Brew Crew member, it was Posey. Pryor liked the bond he had developed with a future target, became more interested in Ohio State when he knew Posey was going there and genuinely appreciated the friendship above everything else. Pryor expressed in his last series of interviews with Scout that Posey’s assurances that they could remain friends even if he decided on Michigan meant alot. I look forward to seeing how this kind of chemistry develops on the field.

DeVier Posey, with Mom

In the case of DeVier, his mom — Julie Posey — appears to be the unofficial team mom for the 2008 class. At the most recent Spring Game, she gave Terrelle Pryor an extra poncho so he could keep dry in the rain. I’m not sure if that means she’ll be preparing orange slices and Capri Sun in little coolers for the boys after the game, but one can only hope.

Julie has her own odyssey that brought her from California, where DeVier was born, to Cincinnati. To be honest, given the gravity of her story, I would feel bad trying to synthesize it here. Basically, I fear any attempt to do so could be construed as a pretentious way of saying that I understand her plight or could relate to it. Simply put: I can’t. You can go here and read the story, if interested.

Highlights: ScoutingOhio will have to suffice. There’s a few things on YouTube, but none of them are particularly useful. I really wish ScoutingOhio would upload their stuff to YouTube. As it is, they’re so badly embedded on their own website that they’re hard to watch.

Miscellany:

• Posey was the State 400m champion in his senior year. He was responsible for 20 of his Lancer team’s 41 points, which was good enough for second at State. Cleveland Heights finished 3 points ahead of LaSalle.
• There’s something of a legend regarding how DeVier Posey got his offer from Ohio State. Remember I mentioned earlier about the nature of Posey and Pryor’s contact and how Posey contacted Pryor before his commitment to Ohio State. Indeed, Posey contacted Pryor before he had any real good offers of note. The nature of Posey’s first MySpace message to Pryor was having him watch his (Posey’s) highlights and asking him if he could see himself throwing to a wideout like him someday. Posey was pleasantly surprised when Pryor not only responded, but said that he could see himself having DeVier as a target. Pryor not only responded kindly but said that he would take the initiative to get Posey some better offers. Lo and behold, Ohio State offered, Michigan State offered and even Oklahoma offered. Part of this suggestion is plausible and part of it isn’t. What’s implausible is that Posey would have remained in the dark forever. Someone was going to find out about him, and Posey took early initiative to get his name out and get Ohio State involved. What is plausible, however, is that recruiting is something of a hocus pocus “science” where hype is absolutely everything. Stars, invites to advanced camps and All-this-and-that honors follow from hype first and talent second. And by golly, if Terrelle Pryor tells Rivals and Scout that you’re good, then Rivals and Scout will respond accordingly. Don’t read too much into it, but it is a pleasant anecdote.
• Will wear no. 8 to start his career. Look to Facebook for confirmation if you’re interested.
• DeVier’s older brother — Julian “Joonie” Posey — is a defensive back for the Ohio Bobcats. This of course leads to the possibility that big brother could guard little brother on September 6, with a very proud mom watching in the stands.
• His uncle, Clint Haslerig, played for the Wolvereenies in the early 1970s. Presently, his uncle appears to be a sports agent. As such, Posey admitted to being a Michigan fan growing up, joining JB Shugarts as the only other Buckeye in the class (that I know of) to admit such a youthful affection blunder. Curiously enough, DeVier also shared that being around such pro-TSUN inclinations and being familiar with several local football prospects who had nothing but bad things to say about Ohio State gave the Buckeyes quite the negative stigma for him as he approached his recruitment. Only with his initial visit to Ohio State and visit with Jim Tressel did he see how profoundly in the wrong those people were, especially the local football players. Methinks there’s a bigger story on the Cincinnati talent pool and why they don’t have the enthusiasm for Buckeye football that other good Ohioans/Americans like the Cleveland area kids have… but that’s a topic for another conversation.
• If you’re worried about DeVier Posey not hating Michigan accordingly, don’t be. A friend of mine snooping around on Facebook let me know that you’re sure to find a “Fuck Michigan” response from him to any reference of that school⁵. Further, apparently Michigan seriously botched his recruitment and unofficial visit to Ann Arbor. His exact words on the Michigan visit:

I visited Michigan after that and they treated me like a rag doll. I tried to talk to Coach [Mike] Debord but he didn’t even know who I was.

• I’m not a medical expert (far from it), and perhaps this isn’t totally bizarre, but I was still shocked after reading it. Apparently, DeVier Posey was born without an immune system. You know, that thing you need to ward off sickness? Well apparently Posey didn’t have one of those until he was three. He was in the throes of death three times before turning a year old. He had to receive some kind of treatments once every three weeks which, in essence, was akin to injecting an immune system into his body. He finally developed his immune system by time he was three. And the rest? Oh it’s just history.
• Parade All-American. US Army All-American. Maxwell Award winner for best HS wide receiver. Suck on that last one Julio Jones. For your information, Terrelle Pryor (QB), Michael Brewster (OL), and Ben Buchanan (punter… should have also won for kicker since Buchanan is light years beyond Blair Walsh in quality) also won similar Maxwell position awards.
• DeVier was a finalist for the Watkins Award. The Watkins Award seeks to honor African-American athletes (not just football players) who excel in the classroom, community and on the field. Posey’s athletic credentials speak for itself, but his 3.4 GPA and coordination of local food drives, volunteer efforts with local youths and senior citizens and spearheading a drive to beautify a forlorn cemetery earned him the nomination. In essence, being nominated for the award is tantamount to saying that DeVier Posey was deemed to be a role model for young African-Americans. Matthew Daniels ended up winning the award and will be playing his college football for the Duke Blue Devils.

Again, absent any real good way to end these: DeVier Posey, consider yourself better known… or something. I should remind the readers that you may not see the next feature for a few weeks because it will be on Terrelle Pryor, it will probably be 50 pages, and it will take forever to write.

The More You Know

1. I’m being generous with calling the Hoos a “big” offer, but alas… it’s a truism in recruiting, and I guess they play in a major conference…
2. Stoneburner and Posey appear to have known each other previously through basketball. I’m guessing it’s AAU related, which is also how Posey and Pryor knew each other before their respective recruitments.
3. History of Art FTW
4. I think… was it a concussion against Washington? I’m too lazy to look it up.
5. I have seen such an instance, but I’m reticent to post anything from Facebook because I think of it as something akin to stalking. I think I would only post something from Facebook if I knew there was shenanigans going on. Other than that, it’s just kids being kids, so I like to let them have their space.

Sack City 2008

…I think these gentlemen would like to have a word with you about how things are gonna be for the next 4 years.

Honestly, I think the real reason I posted this is to draw attention to Shawntel Rowell (#91, back row, far right).  His frame has improved dramatically from what it was around his junior year of HS at Glenville.  Granted, I’d like to see him put a lot more weight on, but with Shaq’s current frame, it’ll be so much easier for him to tack on “good weight” (if you will).  He looks to be about 280ish or so (I have a hard time judging weight), but if he can work his way back up into the 300s, he’s going to be a handful for the next couple years.

For the record, Garrett Goebel is wearing Randy Gradishar’s number.  I expect results from the Warrior accordingly.  I’ll probably get them too

Maybe it’s just me, but a higher-resolution (read: non-camera phone) version of this picture would make for an excellent Buckeye-themed Christmas card.

First, I got an e-mail from a curious reader (I keep forgetting that we have those know) wondering what we’re doing to safeguard against the possibility of the NCAA slapping us down with another penalty (and why we would bother with such a pretentious gimmick to excuse away-time or site updates). Well, we all discussed the matter privately and all came to the conclusion that we weren’t safe so long as the website was solely left to my grossly incompetent management. That’s why I contracted an ISO9001-certified Quality Assurance/Quality Control Staff to keep those NCAA compliance auditors at bay. They’re pictured below. By the looks of it, the garden gnome approves of the most recent Garrett Goebel feature while the plush Brutus Buckeye doll with built-in Buckeye Battle Cry tune in his left foot is still mulling things over.

OHD's Quality Assurance/Quality Control Staff

On the matter of linkage, here’s what I’ve been reading through the week.

• Kosta Koufos is off to the Jazz to hang loose with some Mormons. Now, just to suffix, most Mormons I know think of Salt Lake City as a bastion of sin¹, and — unrelated to the former point — I think of the NBA as almost a legitimate competitive sport as professional wrestling. But with that said, I don’t harbor any ill will for Koufos. I still maintain he should’ve come back to give BJ Mullens the opportunity to play with him that Koufos wanted to have with Greg Oden. I think he would’ve helped his stock accordingly. But given his family’s history, I don’t begrudge him. Him blindsiding Matta with the decision to quit school mid-quarter to pursue NBA camps is a kick in the jimmy (as well as the APR), but I fault the NCAA for leaving open that possibility. Godspeed, Kosta. Enjoy your millions.
• The guys at BHGP with their take on JayPa’s Obamamania. Perhaps you heard, but Jay Paterno endorsed Barack Obama. Recently, he started blogging about politics on Barack Obama’s website. If you haven’t read the comments and guests posts from the likes of zombie Woody Hayes and Rich Rodriguez, you’ll get a kick out of it. Why Obama thought he was a worthwhile candidate for an open blog or how the Obama team couldn’t see this coming is beyond me. Regardless, I agree with Black Shoe Diaries on the topic of JayPa’s Obamablogging: there’s no good that could come for Penn State University and the athletic department from Jay Paterno’s endeavors. It could only be construed as a divisive and ultimately selfish squandering of time that invariably reflects poorly on his place of employment. Fortunately, the guys at BHGP gave us their take on this, and BHGP, as I’ve said, is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I should warn you, though: if you’re at work, do not Google “lemon party”. You should know better than that. Before anyone makes a point on the matter, I’ll state openly that I’m a political atheist and would be similarly as upset if Tressel started doing this for McCain or whoever.
• Kelvin Sampson earns the Hoosiers even more potential problems. I carry no real resentment for Hoosier basketball fans, but it’s worth reiterating that you reap what you sow. Enjoy. You should’ve seen this coming.
• Brian of MGoBlog tells us that Bama is down to two. Saban needs to make two scholarship players vanish from his football team to make room for his oversized recruiting class, and peddling crack is only going to help. It’s almost July and kickoff is just over two months away. Should be a photo finish!
• On Jimmy Johns, apparently he had a pitbull-selling business… and apparently he was using his credentials as a UA football player to assist in the enterprise. This is definitely a big no-no if true. The website is supposed to be here, though I wouldn’t know of the details. For what it’s worth, his Facebook photo albums do prominently feature his pit bulls [named Brookhaven, Karma and Starr]. I have sources somewhat close to the situation that are pitching me things about his pitbull business and that there might be a bigger story of institutional control here. I’m not yet convinced. Until something more concrete comes out of it, though, a grain of salt is necessary. Indeed, I’ve learned not to trust the locals, but they’re huge Tide fans and even they think something is up. Moving on.
• BTN and Comcast reach a deal. What do I care, though? I live in Alabama. Comcast told me long ago to stop harassing them for the Big Ten Network.
• Captain’s Corner: Beware Of The Spartans? Says what I’ve been saying for awhile.

Enjoy your weekend. Now here’s a song that you’ll probably hate, but I love, so, therefore, I’m going to make you listen to it. If nothing else, it’s a sample of why my college friends stopped giving me money for the jukebox in a bar and stopped explicitly telling me “pick out something you like”.

1. It apparently falls well short of the holy glory of Provo

Height: 6′5
Weight: 280lbs
Forty: 5.0

His Recruitment: Garrett’s recruitment kicked off in earnest in late February, where he acquired offers from Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois and Vanderbilt. In just over two months’ time, he would have offers from every Big Ten school as well as Arizona State, Miami (FL), Tennessee, Notre Dame, and North Carolina State¹. Unofficial visits to both Wisconsin and Arizona State led Garrett to consider both schools in early April, though both would fall off the radar soon afterwards. However, just like most top-notch Midwest talent, the recruiting story for Garrett was a struggle among Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan, albeit two-phased in this instance. First, Notre Dame’s offer in April pitted the Irish against the Buckeyes, who probably made the first real impression on Garrett, throughout the month of June. Later, Michigan — who also offered at the end of April — emerged as a contender for Goebel once Notre Dame fell out of the running around the end of June. Garrett spent the next month reaching a decision between the two rivals before ultimately deciding on Ohio State at the end of July.

Ohio State was one of Goebel’s first offers and recruits, for the most part, respond in kind to a certain program when it is one of the first to extend an offer. Further, the name recognition and competitiveness of the program doesn’t hurt either, as Garrett knew that the Buckeyes are always a top-flight team and competing yearly for a national title. The early interest prompted Garrett’s first unofficial visit to Columbus at the end of March/beginning of April. This early visit had a profound impact on Garrett who found himself raving about the nature of the visit. Specifically, Garrett responded well to the personalized, one-on-one nature of the visit and got to meet most everyone on the staff, including Jim Tressel, and even met players like Dexter Larimore (another state champion HS wrestler) and James Laurinaitis. Ohio State was near the top of his list of offers, but the unofficial visit affirmed this ranking. Indeed, the only bad thing Garrett had to say about the visit was the length of the drive.

Michigan and Notre Dame entered the Garrett Goebel sweepstakes around the same time, Michigan on April 25 and Notre Dame on April 27. It was the Irish, though, that emerged as the first serious challenger to Ohio State’s position. Initially, it didn’t appear that Garrett was that high of a priority for the Irish, given their interest in players like Hafis Williams, who committed to the Irish on May 2, and Sean Cwynar, who will play the weakside DE in a 3-4 that the Irish wanted Goebel to play. However, Garrett became a top priority for the Irish after an impressive performance at a combine in Chicago on May 19, 2007. By the end of May, he was on campus at South Bend on an unofficial visit. On the visit, Garrett got one-on-one attention from the Notre Dame staff. The theme of the visit was largely academics, as the staff was able to instill in him the value of a Notre Dame degree relative to his other offers². While Garrett liked what he saw, he apparently didn’t feel too particularly wowed to label the Irish any type of leader for his services. Further, in the same Notre Dame-themed article aforelinked (sic), Garrett explicitly stated he felt he had to take a visit to Michigan and a return trip to Columbus.

However, by early June, Notre Dame appeared to be out of the running. The reasons why are ultimately left to inference, as Garrett Goebel is a man of few words. One possible reason is the June 4th commitment for Omar Hunter to the Irish³. The Irish were recruiting Hunter and Goebel for the same position — a weakside defensive end in a 3-4 defense. Further, the Irish were investing more in Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore, two more players for the same position. Both ended up committing to the Irish: Johnson by the end of June and Lewis-Moore on signing day in what I’m assuming was collateral for Omar Hunter decommitting and eventually signing with Florida. Whatever the reason, by June 27, the Irish were definitely out of the running. It might be a matter of coincidence, but Goebel formally informed Scout that he was no longer considering Notre Dame on the same day that Ethan Johnson committed to the Irish.

But as Notre Dame faded from the picture, Michigan next emerged as the challenger to Ohio State for Garrett Goebel. To be fair to the Wolvereenies, it doesn’t take a lot to see why a school like Michigan would interest a kid like Garrett. Their football accolades speaks for itself, Lloyd Carr always gets an endorsement from his players and, though committed to evil, the campus is nice and the university has an academic profile that probably can’t be topped among public universities. It doesn’t hurt that Garrett was aware of Alan Branch’s recent success for the Wolvereenies. After the Notre Dame visit at the end of May, Garrett was committing himself to take an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor. This visit came on June 15th. The tour of the facilities and meet-and-greet with the coaches and players impressed Garrett to the point where Garrett wanted to come back on another visit with his parents. After some delays, the return visit to Ann Arbor, with parents, eventually fell on July 20. Again, Garrett offered kind words about the trip, noting about meeting his would-be position coach, defensive coordinator, Lloyd himself and possibly being used in the same capacity as LaMarr Woodley. The visit was enough for Garrett to say that it was 50-50 Ohio State-Michigan with a few weeks left to go in his decision-making timetable. Whether or not it was courteous words to a Michigan-friendly Scout.com affiliate is beside the point; it definitely was enough to have Buckeye recruitniks sweating at this point.

But Ohio State appears to be the benchmark throughout his visits to Notre Dame and Michigan. The first impression he got of Ohio State never soured for the months after the visit. He was excited over the talent pool that Ohio State had put together on the offensive line, knowing it would be excellent competition for him should he attend Ohio State. Garrett liked Ohio State’s approach to recruiting and what they were telling him, going so far as to say that if he could only make it to one summer camp, it would be at Ohio State. Sure enough, this visit came on June 10, just five days before his unofficial visit to Ann Arbor. He was chauffeured around by Mike Adams (and spent lots of time with Jake Stoneburner and Andrew Sweat), speaking of Jim Heacock as “my position coach” (emphasis mine) and reiterating that he just wanted to see everything again. His reviews were nothing but positive, again noting how he liked the way Jim Heacock handled the drills. Further, as I noted in Willie Mobley’s feature, by mid-July, he was even doing some recruiting himself, playfully chiding Mobley into a contest of who would commit to Ohio State first. As the end of Garrett’s decision-making timetable approached, Ohio State was definitely in great shape, though this might be a case of hindsight bias. His last visit to Ohio State was followed by two unofficials to Ann Arbor, a cause of some consternation for Buckeye recruitniks. However, a quiet decision made on July 27 laid these anxieties to rest.

His Commitment: Consistent with Garrett’s mission to eschew attention from himself and commit early to focus on the tasks at hand (football and wrestling), Garrett opted for a quiet verbal on July 27 to the Buckeyes. The difference for Garrett was, well, everything. Ohio State’s academics, coaches, facilities and players (both incoming and current) were enough to make him feel more comfortable at Ohio State than at Michigan when all things were considered. Indeed, the first impression that Ohio State made on Garrett, both with the early offer and personalized visit on April 1 to Columbus, never left him as his recruitment carried on for almost four more months.

Where He Excels: If I could, I would have an entire defensive line full of state champion HS wrestlers. Wrestlers bring several comparative advantages to the trenches: leverage, aggression, balance, footwork among many others. He’s very strong even for HS considerations (where most top prospects stand out because most HS football players are terrible) and absorbs blockers and moves at the line as if they weren’t there. It didn’t look like double teams were that much of an issue for him, though I’m sure it would be in Big Ten play (just because college football is a significant step up from HS play). He possesses a great motor (though that term “motor” is often overused) and surprising speed at the point of attack and even elsewhere on the field. Indeed, there are clips of him running down skill players.

The fun part about Garrett is his demeanor, and I find myself fascinated more with his words than I am with his actions (and don’t get me wrong, I like his highlights). Reading Garrett Goebel’s words in interviews and seeing his highlights has me conjuring up images of that Lance Armstrong commercial from a year or two ago. You know the one I’m talking about: that Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial with the “Feed the Warrior” line. Every time I read Garrett’s words as he discusses his play or his athletic endeavors, that line keeps popping into my mind. If Garrett shines at Ohio State, it’s not because he’s a gifted athlete with many physical tools to his advantage. If he shines, it’s because he refuses to limit himself on any given play and in any given game. Garrett is all-effort, all-resolve all-day all the time. I think we can all agree that Michael Brewster is a future leader on offense, and his teammates will no doubt look to him in the huddle. I think Garrett right now is the most likely candidate for team captain/leader on the defensive side of the ball in the years to come, even over a linebacker stud like Etienne Sabino. You’ll see below why I keep reciting lines from that “Feed the Warrior” commercial when I read a given Garrett Goebel interview.

“But remember: Pain is temporary and quitting lasts forever. You wanna feed the warrior? FEED THE WARRIOR 20 POUNDS!! You feed the warrior by training the body to respond to the mind!”

Must Work On: There really isn’t a lot for Garrett to work on, and Jim Heacock will tell you as much. Garrett himself thinks he can work on his technique, and, sure, he could. However, I think of this as a minor thing that everyone needs to work on, so it’s not necessarily a glaring weakness. There’s a temptation for Garrett to swing too high when using his hands to shed a blocker, but that’s a minor thing that can definitely be fixed. He can definitely stand to add more mass, but so does everyone at his position coming from high school. He’s not Big Daddy or Warren Sapp, but those are rare gems. He’s plenty disruptive as it is. Again, these are all essentially minor things.

Garrett also thinks he’s not violent enough, and that he should be trying to decapitate more people. Reading that just made me smile.

Redshirt? More than likely not. Heacock loves to platoon the defensive line, and adding Goebel into the mix as a freshman to join Abdallah (Sr.), Denlinger (Jr.) and Larimore (So.) should get Goebel some playing time. That said, I think someone from the 2008 class of defensive tackles (Mobley, Goebel and Rowell) has to redshirt. Of those three, I see Mobley starting his career in the defensive end rotation in 2008, Goebel joining the trenches in the interior and Rowell as the most likely candidate for a redshirt (weight/fitness issues). I think Garrett is the most ready to play of any one of those three players.

Highlights: That there YouTubes has seven and a half minutes of Goebel footage. Enjoy.

Miscellany:

• His nickname appears to be “The Gladiator”. It works, but I don’t know the origin of the nickname. I’m guessing it’s a function of alliteration.
• Garrett’s credentials as a HS wrestler are as impressive as his credentials as a football player. Whereas Garrett has only played football since his freshman year in HS, he has wrestled since he was 6. In his junior year, he posted a 55-1 record and was a state champion. As a senior, his lone loss came to the nation’s no. 1 heavyweight (Eric Thompson of Waverly, Iowa). Garrett finished his wrestling career as the no. 2 ranked heavyweight in the country and earned wrestling scholarships to numerous schools, including Ohio State. Some schools even told him he could do both wrestling and football, though it seems odd that they would as both sports have entirely different conditioning programs.
• Garrett’s uncle, Brian Goebel, accompanied Garrett on numerous unofficial visits and even posted on BuckeyePlanet as XPunishr to give updates on Garrett and dispel rumors surrounding him. His updates were a refreshing read as he noted what kind of recruiting tactics other programs around the country were using on Garrett (use your imagination which programs he’s talking about) as well as what Garrett loved about Ohio State before anyone knew why Garrett was interested in the Bucks. He even broke word of Garrett’s commitment to Ohio State on BuckeyePlanet before any recruiting service heard of it. Brian also stated explicitly that Garrett’s enthusiasm for Ohio State is rare for a kid like him who doesn’t get entirely enthused about much. Brian’s account of a Goebel family dinner and anecdote with Jim Tressel is worth reading. Presently, Brian Goebel plays the role of a “recruiting manager”, if you will, for another Buckeye target from Illinois: Chris Watt. Therein, his task is basically to make sure schools have gotten his film and that they’ve seen it — largely administrative things. Chris Watt denies that Brian plays an active role in swaying Chris to the Buckeyes (and Brian does insist that he’s not pushing anything on Chris), but Brian does admit he can’t hide his enthusiasm for the Buckeyes or for the Buckeyes’ staff.
• Garrett’s dad owns and operate a concrete business in Villa Park, IL. Goebel Concrete, Incorporated has a listing on Google Maps if you feel like you need some concrete work done in the area. Well, don’t look at me. Garrett, like Zach Domicone and Domicone Printing, might not be able to use his athletic prowess as a marketing ploy for the family business, but the NCAA can’t stop me (please don’t stop me, NCAA). For what it’s worth, Garrett attributes some of his strength and frame to working for his dad in the summer.
• Tallied 68 tackles, 24 TFLs, eight sacks, forced three fumbles, and five swatted passes en route to an All-State selection as a senior.
• His high school — Montini Catholic HS — is a curious one. It’s average enrollment is a little over 600, which makes it a rather tiny high school. Yet, with that said, it’s one of the most dominant high schools in Illinois HS football.

The Quotable Garrett Goebel Fluff Piece: I think Garrett had the best Straight 6 interview of any of the 2008 candidates that BuckeyePlanet was able to do a feature on. Read these snippets, combined with some of the updates provided by Brian Goebel and Garrett’s highlight film and tell me that you don’t envision that Lance Armstrong “Feed the Warrior” commercial like I do. Simply put: he’s a devout Christian who feels he needs to decapitate people more.

BPRT: What position would you prefer to play in college and why?

GG: DT/DE. I want the CHALLENGE of taking on multiple opponents each play and having multiple responsibilities. Success is based on sacrifice, skill level, and dedication to be all that GOD has desired for me such as quickness, strength, hand-fighting, toughness, and being relentless.

BPRT: This is your senior year…what goals have you set personally and for your team?

GG: I plan on winning Conference, winning all playoff games, and becoming the Illinois Class 5A Champions!!! Also, developing leadership skills while convincing my teammates that they can perform at a higher level and accomplish team/personal goals IF THEY ARE WILLING TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!!!

BPRT: When your career is over, how would you like people to remember Garrett Goebel?

GG: I want to be remembered as a leader, someone who gave 100% of his ENERGY every practice, workout and GAME while believing in accomplishing goals that others discounted. Dedicated, yet sincere, honest and humble while giving thanks to GOD to have this opportunity.

BPRT: If you were analyzing yourself on film, what would you list as your strengths and what needs some work?

GG: Strengths: Quickness off the ball, strength, aggressiveness, always giving 100% effort until whistle blows.

Weaknesses: Making a play instead of trying to rip my opponents head off [ Emphasis added ]. Discipline and technique.

FEED THE WARRIOR 20 POUNDS!!

Again, absent any real way to end these absent the way I always end these stupid features. Garrett Goebel, consider yourself better known… or something. If at all necessary, please kindly show future teammates how to kill the coward within.

The More You Know

1. Do they still have a football program there?
2. I call shenanigans here, since if it came down to academic prestige, Michigan is the clear winner. Not that you can go wrong with an education from any one of his schools.
3. Hunter later decommitted and ended up at Florida, just as a matter of note.

Newsome’s decision is a curious one, and I wonder if it might have been brought on by matter of contagion or uncertainty about how many spots would be available. Glenville kids notoriously take their time — and with just cause — as Ted Ginn Sr (and Tressel himself) encourages Tarblooders not to rush into a decision. Newsome says the decision here was brought on by an unwillingness to drag out the process any further. After completing one of the Ginn bus tours in Columbus Friday, Newsome was unsure about his position. However, he became aware of the scholarship situation over the weekend. After talking it over with Mom — who is his biggest influence in recruiting and told him there’s no point in waiting or having cold feet if he’s 100 percent sure about something — Newsome called Ginn Sr and told him of his decision, and then called Tressel. The reason appears to be the truism of Tarblooders in general: Newsome, like most Tarblooders and most good Ohio boys, aspires to play at Ohio State, so there was no point in wasting any more time. Indeed, he almost committed at the Spring Game.

Newsome projects at either a defensive end or linebacker at the next level, and, given his tweener status, is very much raw potential at the moment. He impressed at some combines, but not at others, and might polish his skills with his senior year at Glenville. Jim Tressel probably sees him entering the LEO rotation at Ohio State, joining the ranks of Nathan Williams.

If the Buckeyes pick up at least 3 more of their targets left on the board, I don’t see how the 2009 class is anything other than the top recruiting class in the country. USC, Georgia, Florida and LSU certainly promise to close the gap going forward, but this class is remarkable. Really, though, if this keeps up, my keyboard might break.

Yep, cocaine.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama linebacker Jimmy Johns was arrested on felony drug charges Tuesday and kicked off the team, the latest in a string of off-the-field problems for coach Nick Saban’s squad.

Johns, who moved to defense for his senior year after playing running back and receiver in 2007, was “pretty wide open” selling cocaine to students on and around the University of Alabama campus but tried to hide what he was doing from teammates, police said.

In response, Saban tossed Jimmy Johns off the team, and thus off scholarship.

Saban dismissed Johns from the team almost immediately.

“This type of behavior obviously will not be tolerated (so long as we have that 85 scholarship threshold to satisfy) — [OHD edit] and he is no longer a part of our program,” he said in a brief statement.

I’m not sure if they ever kicked off that redshirt freshman dude for robbing a few of those students. Maybe that’s tolerable behaviour. But this should be exciting to watch Alabama make it below the 85 limit. Should be a photo finish!

Oh, and…

Authorities who searched the apartment found about 10 grams of cocaine and ecstasy pills.

Damn, son. If you’ve been dealing for this long, why haven’t you hooked me up dammit. I think cocaine is the only thing that can make my work trips to Tuscaloosa interesting.

Parole Tide Parole!

1. remember Tide fans, how Stallings was supposed to be the second coming? Until you ran him out of town for winning 70 games in 7 years? Remember? Remember that?

For Brad, Ohio State was the dream school. When he received his offer on May 20, in what I think is continued fallout from Darrell Givens’ switcharoo to Penn State, Brad remarked how Ohio State was probably his dream offer. He remembers being on site and watching Ted Ginn Jr return a punt for a touchdown against the Nittany Lions and affirming to himself then and there that being a Buckeye was his highest goal for football.

Fast forward to a little over a month later and Brad has certified his intent to follow through with that dream. After the advanced camp over the weekend, Brad felt that everything was just right and there would be no point in stalling any further. After taking the weekend to talk things over with the folks and reaffirm that he was behind his decision 100%, Brad called Jim Tressel and committed. Ohio State offered the 6′1 190lb Dublinite as a safety, though Brad plays a lot of tailback for his HS team. His versatility, burst and aggression project well for the position.

Brad chose the Buckeyes over the likes of Michigan State, Wisconsin, WVU and Iowa, among many others.  Highlights of Brad can be seen courtesy of ScoutingOhio.

Corey Brown received his offer in the second week of May amidst the fallout of Darrell Givens’ decommitment.  Immediately after receiving word of the offer, Corey Brown put the Buckeyes at the top of his list and almost assuredly made it known, if implicitly, he would be joining Dorian Bell at Ohio State in 2009.  For those unaware of the broader story of the offer, there were several indicators that Corey would be joining Dorian at Ohio State.  First, in the buildup to the Spring Game, Dorian was talking less about whether or not he would be attending Ohio State and more about the possibility of Ohio State eventually offering Corey.  Further, when Dorian committed to Ohio State at his presser, Corey was holding up an Ohio State flag in the background.  And further, when Corey finally received his offer from Ohio State, he noted it was the offer he coveted the most.  An impromptu presser was pushed forward to today, with Corey publicly revealing what had been a long time coming.

Corey Brown is a tweener at the moment, but it looks like he will end up as a defensive back, where his 6′2 size figures to give him an advantage going forward.  Interestingly enough, Corey appeared to have made wideout his preferred position, leaving me to suspect he would get an offer if something fell through with James Jackson or Duron Carter.  However, Jim Tressel visited Corey during May and confirmed to him they want him as a defensive back.

What makes this offer even more intriguing is that Corey Brown is one of the fastest rising recruits on Rivals.com’s Rivals100 list for 2009.  All rankings are subject to change, of course, and Corey might be another victim of the unfortunate Rivals.com Buckeye bounce (where highly-prized recruits tend to get knocked down a few notches in a stochastic manner on the Rivals.com rankings after committing to Ohio State).  However, Corey Brown really impressed at the State College Nike Camp awhile back, where he dominated at both wideout and defensive back and was named MVP of all the defensive backs.

Further, with current rankings, the Buckeyes now have an outstanding 8 in the Rivals.com Rivals100 at the moment, counting Corey Brown.  On the list: Dorian Bell (#23), Jamie Wood (#26), Melvin Fellows (#28), CJ Barnett (#56), Jordan Whiting (#57), Justin Green (#67), Corey Brown (#73), and Chris Fields (#95). Nobody else has any more than 5 (USC being that school).

This might be the golden age of Buckeye recruiting, with all things considered.

To be honest, Justin Green, of Louisville, KY, was not an offer I predicted, but he was the beneficiary of an offer and renewed interest in the fallout of Darrell Givens’ decommitment. He more than proved his worth during camp, however, as some reports from the advanced camp this weekend had him pegged as the fastest player at camp. Such speed credentials come from his participation in track and field. Therein, Justin was the Kentucky state 100m champion as a sophomore, repeated the feat as a junior, but also added state titles in the 200m, 300m and 400m. It’s this SEC-caliber¹ speed that earned him offers from Tennessee and Alabama among a host of others.

Justin projects as a defensive back in college and will most likely play there, though his quick feet might have Darrell Hazell lay down the hammer and put him at wideout, according to Justin. Lord knows Hazell has done it before with Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn, both initially slated to be defensive backs in college. The difference for Justin was the legacy factor. Justin was just a grade schooler when he was introduced to the program through Marcus and grew up as a Buckeye and grew up with the Buckeyes. It was the offer he always wanted and only recently got. Justin opted to waste no more time.

As with Duron, there’s always a warm, fuzzy feeling we get when Buckeye legacies create their own legacies at Ohio State.

1. sigh… how college football discourse has been so remarkably dumbed down these past few years…

Carlos Hyde

Bill Kurelic brings the news from his contact with Carlos Hyde. Hyde, originally from Cincinnati, had been in Cincinnati for the past week to visit his family. He grew up idolizing the Buckeyes, but moved down to Naples, Fla to be with grandma. Hyde had the Buckeyes practically at the top of his list when they offered, and may have committed earlier in the week if not for the delays in actually taking a tour of campus. Indeed, by spending a whole week in Cincinnati, he was in no particular rush to make it to Columbus. Hyde felt he had seen everything he needed to see upon finally making it to campus, specifically remarking how Tressel takes care of his players. He noted he would talk about it with his family, and since everyone agreed to Ohio State as the top choice, Hyde says he set to commit tomorrow. He explicitly stated he wants to let Jim Tressel know before heads back to Florida.

Carlos Hyde has a lot of people excited, myself included, over what he could bring to the table. The Buckeyes didn’t take a tailback in 2008 in the fallout of DeVoe Torrence, and with Beanie a possible candidate for entry into the NFL and Rasta Wells losing his eligibility after this year, the Buckeyes appear to have their sights set on two more backs to compliment Jordan Hall, who is arguably more of a receiving threat than rushing threat. For all intents and purposes, the Buckeyes only have two targets, with Hyde being one of them. I’ve encountered a lot of comparisons of Hyde, who Scout.com has listed as the number one fullback prospect in the country. These comparisons range from Jamal Lewis to our very own Beanie, which I don’t think is particularly accurate nor fair to Hyde. Hyde doesn’t have the breakaway speed of either and Beanie is Jim Brown incarnate, but Hyde shows a nimbleness of footwork and power running style that compares favorably with PJ Hill of Wisky fame. If Hyde is the power back of the two targets, Jaamal Berry is the home run hitter/lightning in a bottle target. I’ve been calling for a Dr. Berry and Mr. Hyde tandem in this class for awhile, and it looks like a very real possibility. With Mr. Hyde ready to enter the fold, the Buckeyes are one step closer to such a tailback tandem in 2009 to compliment other studs like Brandon Saine and Boom Herron.

The embarrassment of riches that comes with being a Buckeye these days.