Michigan football making Ohio State ‘sweat’ running back recruiting

Originally posted on Blue By Ninety | By Chris Peterson | Last updated 4/1/24

It took a couple of weeks for Ohio State to replace Tony Alford, who left the Buckeyes to become the Michigan football running backs coach, but OSU got its guy in Oregon RB coach Carlos Locklyn.

You knew that Ohio State would hire a solid coach as a replacement. I’m not surprised at all. But that doesn’t change the fact that Michigan football has surged when it comes to running back recruits with ties to Ohio.

Three top-100 running backs (On3 Industry rankings) were on campus in the past week and two of those players — Marquise Davis and Bo Jackson — are from Ohio. They are also priority targets for Ohio State.

Davis and Jackson were both impressed by their visits to Michigan football. They had each eliminated the Wolverines but Alford has them back in the mix. According to EJ Holland of The Wolverine, Alford has made the Buckeyes “sweat” about running back recruiting.

New Michigan RB coach Tony Alford is making Ohio State sweat — three mutual Top 150 RB targets visited U-M this past week — as the rival Buckeyes have yet to find his replacement.

But… https://t.co/jMZp7xMzFk pic.twitter.com/9pBxNPwahL

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) March 31, 2024

Michigan football still needs to end its drought

Ohio State whiffed on Jordan Marshall the top-ranked running back from the Buckeye State in 2024. They can’t afford to have that happen again. Yet, for Michgan football, landing even just one — Davis or Jackson would be a huge win on the recruiting trail.

Yet, the Wolverines haven’t landed a commitment in months. They don’t have any pledges since Sherrone Moore has become the head coach. Ohio State, on the other hand, is leveraging NIL to land a bunch of top-ranked recruits. It’s not any different from what has happened in the past and Michigan has overcome it, but at some point, you need top-100 recruits. It’s hard to keep finding three-star recruits who play like first-round picks.

Michigan has done it better than anyone else, but you need guys like Donovan Edwards, J.J. McCarthy, and Will Johnson too and they were all five-star prospects. The Wolverines need to start landing that type of talent again. They also need to end their commitment drought.

This article first appeared on Blue By Ninety and was syndicated with permission.

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