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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Urban Meyer says being the coach of the national champion opens the door to recruiting in every living room in the United States.
Meyer got less of a bounce from Ohio State's national title than he thought he might, but still locked up a banner crop of 27 new Buckeyes on Wednesday.
"I tell people it's like a 30-day infomercial," Meyer said on the first day for the signing of national letters of intent to play Division I football. "It just gets the scarlet and gray in front of everybody in a positive light. Sometimes things happen and it's not in a positive light. You go pay for positive advertising for 30 days and see what that looks like."
Meyer's haul included 13 players on each side of the ball and a long snapper. He signed 12 recruits from Ohio, three from Florida and two from Michigan and Virginia. The class includes five defensive backs, three linebackers and two high-profile quarterbacks, Ohio Associated Press Mr. Football Joe Burrow and highly touted Floridian Torrance Gibson.
The two new QBs will just add to the intrigue at the position, where the Buckeyes already have three star returnees. Back are two-time Big Ten player of the year Braxton Miller, last season's top quarterback in the conference, J.T. Barrett, and Cardale Jones, who only went 3-0 and led the way to the national title.
Meyer's new quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, Tim Beck, addressed that volatile situation.
"There's a tremendous bond between all three of them," said Beck, who was at Nebraska last season and came in when Tom Herman took the head coaching job at Houston in December. "They compete hard because they want to win and they want to play. But they also help each other. I'm excited to get a chance to get to know the guys and look forward to seeing really what develops. It's probably a good problem to have, isn't it?"
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OHIO STATE
Top 25 Class: Yes
Best in class: Justin Hilliard, LB, Cincinnati.
Best of the rest: QB Torrance Gibson, LB Jerome Baker, DE Dre'Mont Jones.
Late addition: Five players came around in the final 12 hours — RB Mike Weber and DT Joshua Alabi out of Detroit, WR K.J. Hill from North Little Rock, Arkansas, Gibson from Florida and OL Isaiah Prince from Maryland.
One that got away: LB Porter Gustin out of Utah, who chose Southern California.
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