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19 hours ago (April 8,
2020)
EDITOR’S NOTE – With college and professional sports on a hiatus
due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we will spend time during the month of April
looking back at past Ohio State football recruiting classes. We will look at
classes over the last 30 years. We hope you enjoy these lookbacks at some great
recruiting stories over the years.
As things stand, Ohio State has an early and
commanding lead in the race to sign the No. 1-ranked football
recruiting class for the 2020 cycle.
We continue our series looking at Ohio State recruiting classes
over the last three decades. And in all of that time, Ohio State has signed
roughly 20 classes judged among the top 10. Six of those classes have been
ranked as high as No. 2 in the country.
But only one OSU class in the last 30 years came in as the
nation’s No. 1-ranked class. That happened in 1996 as head coach John Cooper,
recruiting coordinator Bill Conley and the rest of the coaching staff brought
in a 26-man class filled with blue chippers at nearly every position.
As was noted in our 1995 class analysis,
there was uncertainty a year earlier with no clear cut coordinator running the
class. The Buckeyes lost out on a ton of top prospects, including future
Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson who ended up at Michigan.
“Number one, John Cooper put a priority on recruiting from Day
One after national signing day last year,” said Bill Kurelic, then the editor
of The Ohio Football Recruiting News (and now with Bucknuts.com). “The coaching
staff was meeting for four hours a week to discuss and coordinate its
recruiting efforts almost from signing day last year on.
“I also think having Bill Conley solely in charge took care of
some of the confusion they had there last year. I think Bill Conley is an
outstanding recruiting coordinator. He is very organized and very thorough.”
Cooper was beaming on national signing day 1996 as the rankings
came in from one analyst after another.
“There are a lot of happy faces over here, including the head
coach,” Cooper said. “I think our coaches, starting with Bill Conley, our
recruiting coordinator, did a hell of a job this year. The best thing we did
was get on these players early. This probably the smoothest class we’ve brought
in here from the standpoint of identifying who we wanted early, offering
scholarships and getting commitments.”
Ohio State landed eight
of Ohio’s top 10 prospects for 1996, including the biggest fish of all with USA
Today All-USA first team linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer from nearby Westerville
South. That group was among 15 Ohio players in the class.
Below, we take a look at how Ohio State’s highest ranked
recruiting class of the last 30 years came together in 1996.
THE SETTING
* 1995 Season: 11-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten
(second), ranked sixth in AP poll
*
Meeting Michigan: Playing as the nation’s No. 2-ranked
team and playing for the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl berth, lost to No. 12
Michigan 31-23 in Ann Arbor.
*
Bowl Game: Lost to Tennessee 20-14 in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The
teams were tied for the No. 4 ranking in the AP poll going into the game.
CLASS DATA
* Ranking: Ranked first nationally by
Tom Lemming, Bobby Burton of The National Recruiting Advisor and Phil Grosz,
ranked second by Max Emfinger, ranked sixth by SuperPrep.
*
Number Of Signees: 26
* Top Signees: Players listed as All-Americans
by Lemming (top 160) or BlueChip Illustrated (top 100) included LB Andy
Katzenmoyer, OL Jefferson Kelley, DB Mike Burden, DB Gary Berry, LB Na’il
Diggs, RB Nick Goings, DE Kevin Johnson, DE Marcus Perez, LB Jerry Westbrooks,
RB Michael Wiley.
*
Other Signees: WR David Boston, OL Joe Brown, QB Mark Garcia (JUCO
transfer), OL Benji Gilbert, TE Mike Gurr, TE Kevin Houser, DE Brent Johnson,
DL Paris Long, OL Kurt Murphy, WR Vanness Provitt, DB Garrett Shea, DB Rolland
Steele, K Dan Stultz, OL Tyson Walter, WR Darik Warnke, DE Clinton Wayne.
*
Key Misses: RB Durell Price (UCLA), OL Marc Kielmeyer (Penn State), TE
Dan O’Leary (Notre Dame), QB Rashard Casey (Penn State), QB Tim Couch
(Kentucky).
THE SKINNY
Ohio State pulled out all of the
stops to bring in the nation’s best class in 1996. The linchpin was home grown linebacker Andy
Katzenmoyer, a prep All-American from Westerville South. His name had been on
everybody’s mind since he was identified as one of the nation’s top 1996 prospects
during his junior year at South in 1994. There were comparisons with Chris
Spielman, an Ohio-bred All-American linebacker from a decade prior.
There was concern he
might follow in the footsteps of former Westerville South star Ki-Jana Carter,
who became an All-American running back at Penn State. Katzenmoyer did consider
Penn State as well as Nebraska, Michigan and Boston College. But he convened a
press conference at his school on Oct. 26, 1995, to let the world know he would
stay home and play for the Buckeyes.
Katzenmoyer rarely
disappointed, too, as he came in started every game in his three-year career.
He was a three-time All-Big Ten pick and won the Butkus Award as the nation’s
top linebacker in 1997. He played on a pair of teams that won the Big Ten
championship and finished ranked No. 2 nationally.
How important was Andy
Katzenmoyer? Cooper went to Archie Griffin to get his permission to let the
latest Buckeye prodigy wear his uniform No. 45. Nobody had worn that number in
the 20 years since Griffin had won his second Heisman Trophy … and nobody has
worn it since.
OSU also signed Ohio’s No. 2 prospect in Cincinnati Colerain OL
Jefferson Kelley, although Kelley never quite lived up to his billing and left
the program after two seasons. Likewise, Dublin Coffman RB Nick Goings also
lasted for a couple of seasons before transferring to Pittsburgh. Illinois DB
Mike Burden, a USA Today All-USA pick, had off-the-field issues and was gone
after one season at OSU.
There were plenty of hits, however. Texas WR David Boston, like Katzenmoyer, came in
and started from day one. He set various OSU receiving records and, also like
Katzenmoyer, was off to the NFL after three great seasons in the Scarlet and
Gray. California RB Michael Wiley was a key backup and returner for two
years before starting at tailback his last two seasons.
This was a very good offensive line class with Kurt Murphy, Ben
Gilbert and Tyson Walter all starting multiple years for the Buckeyes.
One of the biggest recruiting visit weekends came in early
December. The OSU staff convened recruits in one area where they could see
Eddie George claim the 1995 Heisman Trophy on a big screen – as his coaches and
teammates roared their approval. That weekend netted several key commitments.
He was joined as a national award winner by OL Orlando Pace (1995 Lombardi
Award) and WR Terry Glenn (1995 Biletnikoff Award).
There were a couple good late signees as well. Columbus DeSales
DB Gary Berry spurned Notre Dame and picked Ohio State about a week after signing
day. He ended up as a three-year starter at safety.
And California LB Na’il Diggs had actually signed with USC. But
after a dispute, a family member retrieved the signed letter and he instead
enrolled at Ohio State. He would become a two-year starter and an All-American
as well for the Buckeyes.
Members of this class combined to fill 10 of the 22 starting
spots on the 1998 team, which was No. 1 most of the season before finishing
11-1 overall and ending up No. 2 in the final polls. Despite the lack of a
national championship, that is still considered one of the best teams in the
history of Ohio State football.
As you can see, this was one heck of a recruiting class –
perhaps the best in modern Ohio State annals.
COACH’S COMMENTS
Cooper on basing the class on Ohio prospects: “The thing that is
most satisfying to me is that we got most of the players in the state of Ohio
this year. We got out early. The high school coaches in the state really helped
us. Eleven of these guys were in our football camp, so we probably know more
about these guys than any group we’ve ever had.”
Cooper on whether Ohio State is “back” as a national power:
“We’ve won 30 games the last three years. I hope we’re back. I think most
people around the country think we’re back, think we’ve been back. Obviously,
we’ve got to finish a little stronger than we did this year, but a lot of
people would love to be 11-2.
“It’s hard to say how much (the awards) helped, but obviously
they helped. All of the exposure, everything, helps. The morale, the way the
players jumped in and helped with recruiting, the great academics, the
tradition, the excitement that was generated here, the exposure on television …
all of that helps.”
Cooper on Katzenmoyer
having a chance to play right away: “There isn’t a player we signed who we have
promised anything like, ‘You’re going to start.’ Our attitude is pretty simple
– the best players play. We think some of them are talented enough to come in
and play.
“We won’t treat Andy any
differently than we treat anybody else. If he’s better than the other
linebackers we have, then he plays. That’s the way we operate, and that’s why
we have such good morale on this football team. If Andy is good enough to play,
he’ll play, and we feel like he probably is good enough to play.”
FOUR-YEAR RECORD
Here
is how the class fared over its four-year run at Ohio State:
* 1996: 11-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten (tied for
first), ranked second in AP poll
* 1997: 10-3 overall, 6-2 Big Ten (second),
ranked 12th in AP poll
* 1998: 11-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten (tied for
first), ranked second in AP poll
* 1999: 6-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten (tied for
sixth), unranked
* Four-Year Record: 38-11 overall (.776), two
Big Ten championships, three top 25 finishes, two top five finishes.
INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING
* Starter Seasons: 28
total: LB Andy Katzenmoyer
(3, 1996, ’97, ’98), WR David Boston (3, 1996, ’97, ’98), OT Tyson
Walter (4, 1997, ’98, ’99, 2001), OL Kurt Murphy (3, 1997, ’98, ’99), OL Ben
Gilbert (3, 1997, ’98, ’99), DB Gary Berry (3, 1997, ’98, ’99), DE Brent
Johnson (3, 1998, ’99, 2000), DT Joe Brown (1, 1998), LB Na’il Diggs (2, 1998,
’99), RB Michael Wiley (2, 1998, ’99), OL Mike Gurr (1, 2000). … Note: The Ohio
State media guide lists these players as starters for the majority of games in
the seasons listed.
* All-Big Ten Picks: 7
total: LB Andy Katzenmoyer
(3, 1996, ’97, ’98), WR David Boston (2, 1997, ’98), LB Na’il Diggs (1,
1998), RB Michael Wiley (1, 1998).
* All-American Picks: 3
total: LB Andy Katzenmoyer
(1, 1997), WR David Boston (1, 1998), LB Na’il Diggs (1, 1999).
*
NFL Draft Picks: 6 total, 2 first round picks.
1999 Draft: WR David Boston (first
round, eighth overall, Arizona Cardinals), LB Andy Katzenmoyer (first round, 28th overall, New England Patriots).
2000 Draft: LB Na’il Diggs (fourth
round, Green Bay Packers), DB Gary Berry (fourth round, Green Bay Packers), RB
Michael Wiley (fifth round, Dallas Cowboys).
2001 Draft: LS Kevin Houser (seventh
round, New Orleans Saints).
