Ohio State Football: Success best way to hold onto recruits, not NIL

The Ohio State football program is one of the most successful programs in all of college football. They are the second-winningest program in college football history and have seven national championships. Simply put, they are really good.

Success has been the one constant for the Buckeyes over the years. They rarely have dips where they aren’t in the national discussion. They have even fewer dips when they are under .500. In modern college football though, some people think that you need more than success to hang on to recruits.

Ohio State doesn’t though. They have shown that their ability to win on the field and develop high-quality draft picks is enough to get recruits to come to Columbus. They made one mistake with NIL, Quinn Ewers, and likely won’t make it again. Ryan Day will bring kids in who want to be Buckeyes and want to be coached by the best.

Recruits know that if they want to get to the NFL and get paid big money, the Ohio State football program is the place for them. No one has more first-round draft picks in the history of the NFL draft than the Buckeyes. That’s the kind of track record that gets you any recruit you want.

Of course, there will be some high-level recruits that will just want the most amount of money they can get through NIL and that’s the only thing they are concerned with. That’s fine. The Buckeyes don’t want that type of kid then. They want one who’s got an eye on the future.

While it’s unclear just how the future of NIL will unfold, what is clear is that the Buckeyes should be able to keep recruiting at a high level. Day will adapt to whatever situation arises to make sure his program is as competitive as the best one.