Ohio State football shows rebound and recovery skills with latest commitment
By Del Barris
The Ohio State football team showed some perseverance in grabbing Terrance Brooks yesterday.
That was impressive. What Ryan Day and defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs pulled off in such a short period of time was as impressive of a job of rebound and recovery skills in recruiting as you’ll see.
The Buckeyes had been pursuing cornerback Toriano Pride from St. Louis. He committed to Clemson on June 18th. Day and Coombs didn’t sulk over the loss. They identified a target and went after him.
Cornerback Terrance Brooks had taken visits to Texas, Florida, and Oregon. The prevailing thinking was he’d make his choice between Texas and Alabama, but would ultimately choose the Tide. Ohio State football offered him a scholarship on the 18th, not long after Pride decided on Clemson.
Brooks quickly arranged a trip to Columbus and was on campus early last week. A few days after seeing what Ohio State had to offer, he took his official visit to Alabama. Since the Tide were getting the last visit, many still believed he’d commit to them. As we all know, that didn’t happen. Brooks capped off his whirlwind courtship with the Buckeyes by announcing yesterday he’s coming to Ohio State.
247 Sports’ composite ratings are a combination of their own and other major recruiting rankings (Rivals, ESPN, etc.). Pride is the 23rd ranked cornerback in those composite rankings. Brooks is eighth. Not only did Day and Coombs rebound to bring in a player after losing out on one, but they also brought in one rated higher.
Don’t misunderstand, both of these kids are outstanding football players. My point is to illustrate the outstanding job Ohio State did in recovering quickly and bringing in a high-quality player, after not getting the one they wanted.
The Buckeyes want to sign a lot of defensive backs for the 2022 class. Brooks, who is a native of Little Elm, Texas, is the fourth cornerback and fifth defensive back overall to commit. Although listed as a corner, he has the versatility to play anywhere in the secondary. With the trepidation surrounding the strength of top-cornerback recruit Jaheim Singletary’s commitment, Brooks being added to the class takes on added importance.
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Once again, the Ohio State football team takes another top recruit out of the state of Texas. Reports say Longhorn fans are none too happy (Alabama fans are not either), but that’s a discussion for another day. Today it is all about marveling at the rebound and recovery skills Ryan Day and his staff showed in reeling in the fifteenth commitment for their 2022 class.