Coming off a national championship, the Ohio State football program was hoping to be able to clean up on the recruiting trail. There is usually a championship recruiting bump that happens the following year after winning a title. But for the Buckeyes, no such bump exists.
After a fast start to the 2026 recruiting class that saw them have the second-best class in the country, they have now slid to the fifth-best recruiting class in the nation. They have 21 commits to the class after adding Luke Fahey on Thursday, so the class is pretty full.
While having 21 commitments is a decent number of kids to have at this point, they have had more high-profile losses in recent weeks than they have wins. They have a major recruiting concern that has to be fixed in the second half of this recruiting cycle.
The Ohio State football team must turn it around on the recruiting trail
The fact that the Buckeyes aren't getting the championship recruiting bump is deeply concerning. Having a top-five class is exactly where the Ohio State Buckeyes should be, considering Ryan Day has never had a recruiting class ranked sixth or below since taking over the job.
But what if the class continues to underwhelm down the stretch? Right now, they are just percentage points ahead of Alabama for that fifth spot. A few more recruiting losses, and they suddenly have the worst recruiting class in the Day era, and that's coming off a national title.
The new NIL rules are certainly having an effect on Ohio State. With kids getting huge stacks of cash to flip their commitments, it's hard for them to adjust. Day refuses to spend large amounts of money on unproven talent. That's an understandable approach, given how some recruits flame out.
It might take a year or two for the new NIL rules to get settled and for the rules to actually be enforced. Until that happens, expect the Buckeyes to be very cautious on the recruiting trail. They are still hoping for some wins in the next few months that should get fans excited.