The Ohio State football team continues to dominate on the field. This past weekend, it was a 34-0 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. They are still undefeated and continue to be number one in the polls. Their status on the field is rock-solid as can be right now.
Their status on the recruiting trail is another matter. They still have just the ninth-best recruiting class in the country. Even with flipping a couple of recruits, that ranking would be the lowest in the Ryan Day era. Still, they have a couple of months to fix that.
One recruit they were pursuing for a while was defensive end KJ Ford. He ended up committing to Florida instead of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now, with the Gators firing Billy Napier, it still doesn't seem like Ford is interested in coming to play in Columbus.
KJ Ford hasn't expressed interest in the Ohio State football team
As of right now, Ford is still committed to Florida. Several schools are trying to talk him into reconsidering that position.
Texas A&M has hosted 4-star EDGE KJ Ford twice and USC will follow suit next month. Both programs are working to move Ford off his commitment to the Gators
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) October 19, 2025
"I'm still with Florida 100%"
More: https://t.co/JkgMhN83jp pic.twitter.com/CMbM6h51Za
As of right, the Buckeyes aren't one of those schools. Perhaps punching a kid in a high school game has given Ryan Day second thoughts about handing him a big NIL deal. Still, it seems like other schools haven't been scared off by that behavior, as USC seems heavy on his trail.
Ford is a four-star edge recruit who is certainly talented. The Buckeyes wouldn't have an issue finding him a spot on the field in the next couple of years. The issue might be his maturity. Ford seemed to have Ohio State as the favorite at one point in his recruitment. Then, he picked Florida, and his incident happened.
The Buckeyes are certainly going to be looking around at schools that have fired their coaches. Penn State and Florida recruits are up for grabs, and Florida State recruits might be up for grabs soon, since Mike Norvell might end up getting canned as well.
Ohio State will be flipping some more recruits. That much is a guarantee; it just looks like Ford won't be one of them.