The Ohio State football program was left scrambling last Spring when Tony Alford decided to bolt for Michigan during Spring practice. That decision let the Buckeyes bring in Carlos Loocklyn to take his place, and that was a decision that seems to have paid off.
The Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship while TTUN lost five games. Locklyn made an immediate impact with both TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, getting the most out of both backs. Ohio State is just fine with Alford being a traitor.
Ahead of Week 1, Alford has decided that he has things to say about the Ohio State football program. He decided to start talking smack even before his team has played a game, specifically about the recruiting differences between TTUN and the Buckeyes.
Tony Alford claims TTUN is better with their recruiting than the Ohio State football program
While speaking to the media, Alford claimed that Michigan has done a better job with recruiting than the Buckeyes have, despite the rankings saying otherwise.
Tony Alford with a lengthy answer about the benefits of recruiting at Michigan. Keeps calling it “different” than other places.
— Tony Garcia | Detroit Free Press (@RealTonyGarcia) August 27, 2025
Then, at the end, he offers this: “You want me to say something bad about that other place (OSU)….Yeah, I’ll say it, we’re better. pic.twitter.com/ZfO6Gnykal
“You want me to say something bad about that other place (OSU)….Yeah, I’ll say it, we’re better."
According to the recruiting rankings, Ohio State is still a spot ahead of Michigan, ranking ninth. TTUN sits at tenth, although they do have more momentum than the Buckeyes do right now. Still, it's hard to talk smack when TTUN is still sitting behind the Buckeyes in the recruiting rankings.
After the Buckeyes just won the national championship and are a top-three preseason team, this is a weird time to start talking smack. Alford might just be feeling himself after landing Savion Hiter, a five-star running back that Ohio State was trying to recruit early on.
As far as recruiting running backs go, the Buckeyes are perfectly fine. They were able to land two four-star backs in last year's class, although they have just one running back in the 2026 class right now. Alford does have a point when it comes to the recruiting stuff, though.
Ross Bjork continues to hamper Ohio State's recruiting efforts, especially when it comes to the NIL offers being given out to top recruits. There are rumors that the Buckeyes might be changing their tune on that front, but that remains to be seen.
Either way, Alford shouldn't be opening his mouth. There are going to be a lot of high emotions in the final game of the season.