NFL Combine: More Ammo for Urban Meyer vs Former Assistants

Urban Meyer can simply point out the number of his players who get invited to the NFL Combine.

It’s not like Urban Meyer needs a ton of extra ammo when it comes to recruiting but it never hurts to have some. He has a little more now when going up against a couple of his former assistants. Urban can just point to the players invited to the NFL Combine.

Ohio State only has eight players invited this year compared to 14 in 2016, but there are only five schools who have more. And the 22 Buckeyes who have been invited to the NFL Combine over the last two years is more than those invited this year from either the Big 12 (19) or the American Athletic Conference (18)..

Why does this matter? Luke Fickell is now the head coach of Cincinnati in the American and Tom Herman just left Houston (AAC) to coach Texas in the Big 12. Urban Meyer will be butting heads for recruits with his two former assistants on a regular basis.

First let’s first look at the Texas situation with Tom Herman. It wasn’t much of a battle the last two years because he was at Houston.

Recruits were probably certain it was just a stepping stone for coach Herman before he took a bigger job elsewhere and he wouldn’t be there long. Now Herman is attempting to revive the University of Texas football program and that will change things significantly.

With Urban Meyer’s haul of star recruits in the 2017 class from the Lone Star State, you can bet he will be after more. Coach Herman will be right there with him on every one of those players.

Urban will be able to point out how many Ohio State players were invited to the NFL Combine vs Tom Herman’s players and those from UT as well. Houston has three players invited this year and there will only be one Longhorn participating at the Combine. Could that be a difference maker with some recruits?

Luke Fickell is certain to load his Cincinnati Bearcats with Ohio players. In many instances, he may be more of a threat to Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio who recruits Ohio heavily, but he could give coach Meyer some grief as well. 

Urban Meyer recruits nationally so he only targets certain players in Ohio, and he usually gets the players he wants. Coach Fickell will now be a threat to sign some of those recruits, especially the ones from the western part of the state.

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Luke Fickell is a beloved figure in Ohio with his many years as a player and a coach for the Buckeyes. He has also coached many a player who went on to play in the NFL. But Urban can point out a couple of things to a recruit that could swing him towards Ohio State.

First, all but one year Fickell was coaching those players, he was the LB coach and/or the DC but not the head coach. Second, Cincinnati only has one player invited to the NFL Combine this year. Usually playing in the NFL is a major goal for a 4 star recruit.

I know Urban Meyer loves and respects his two former assistants Tom Herman and Luke Fickell. I also know that everything is fair in love and war, and nearly anything is in recruiting.

There are sure to be recruiting battles with Ohio State going up against Texas, and of course Cincinnati, in the near future. Urban will always have the advantage going up against coach Fickell for Ohio players, but possibly not vs coach Herman now that he is coach of the Longhorns.

Must Read: Three Buckeye Rookies Make PFF Top 101

It’s always a good thing to have a little more ammo than the other coach when going into a recruiting battle. Now Urban Meyer has a little extra with the players invited to the NFL Combine.