Ohio State football recruiting, coming off a national championship, has been less than what many Buckeye fans would expect.
Although the Buckeyes do hold commitments from two 5-star prospects according to the 247 Sports Composite rankings, the class is barely in the top 10. Ryan Day has consistently recruited classes in the top five year after year, but the program has slowed down since the House Settlement was passed back in June 2025.
Since June, Ryan Day and his coaching staff have only gained a commitment from one top 100 player in the 2026 class, and the three commitments they received in July all rank in the bottom eight of the twenty-one-man class.
All of this leads up to a massive decision for the 5-star safety prospect out of Mississippi, Bralan Womack. Womack has been a Buckeye lean for at least since the Spring. Womack has not been shy of his Ohio State fandom and dream of playing in the Scarlet and Gray someday.
However, the Buckeyes find themselves once again in a battle for a recruit that is about not just competing on the field, but competing with the financial impact. This has been one of the main rumored issues for why Ohio State has lost on several highly ranked recruits since June.
On the most recent episode of the Skull Session Recruiting Podcast with recruiting insider Marc Givler, Marc was asked what the Buckeyes need to do with their offer to Womack to win the recruitment.
Marc answered the question by saying, "Do they (Ohio State) need to be the highest bidder?" Marc continued, "No, I don't think it's got to be that. But it has to be competitive. And quite frankly, I don't know that you can blame him (Bralan Womack). If you're a five-star prospect, I think you have to be kind of concerned with that to an extent." Marc finished talking about Womack by saying, "You don't want to be taking some like 50% discount, for example, from one school or the other."
Ohio State already holds a commitment from the number five safety in the 2026 class, Blaine Bradford. But they did lose a commitment from safety Jakob Weatherspoon in July.
In a recent interview with General Manager Mark Pantoni, he addressed the idea of recruiting multiple top-tier players from the same position group in one class, "You have X number of spots to take the best guy at that position group. It’s really, really hard to say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna go get the two best guys at this position every year,’ because you just can’t with the money.”
All of this leads to a concerning situation for Buckeye fans. The rumors are swirling that Auburn, Texas A&M, and Florida have made significant financial offers for Womack, and they aren't done yet. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes seem to be either not willing to increase their offer or waiting to make their final offer only hours before Womack's commitment on August 21st.
If the Buckeyes still had Jakob Weatherspoon committed, I would probably pick Ohio State to be out on this one—too much money for an already uber-talented room. But with the Buckeyes playing as many as three safeties or more on defense and Weatherspoon de-committing recently, the Buckeyes seem poised to come in late and make a competitive offer so that competing schools do not have time to counter with offers that can dwarf Ohio State.
Time will tell what the Buckeyes plan to do. Womack's commitment hangs in the balance for not only his future but also one of the last opportunities for Ryan Day to salvage a recruiting class that is currently slated to be the worst of his career.