Indiana’s neighbor to the east is Ohio, the most fertile football recruiting ground of any of the northern states. Rivals took a look at which schools recruit the Buckeye state the best and Notre Dame was not listed as one of the top 5 schools.
The current roster has 8 players from the state of Ohio; offensive linemen Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg along with defensive back Shaun Crawford are the biggest impact players from the state for the Irish. In this current recruiting cycle, wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr. is the lone Ohioan commit.
The state pumps out high-level Division I football players each year and it seems like Brian Kelly hasn’t been dipping into Ohio enough. This year, the state’s top 20 players are ranked inside the top 600 nationally, with schools like LSU, Northwestern, Purdue poaching talent.
It will always be a battle against Ohio State for their state’s top prospects, they usually have their pick of the litter. When Michigan was a college football power, they relied on Ohio players to make an impact. Their most recent Heisman winner Charles Woodson, he’s from Fremont, Ohio.
Kelly should know about how talent rich Ohio is, he should still have plenty of connections from his time as Cincinnati’s lead man, even if it was 10 years ago. Since 2016, the Irish have signed 4 players from the state. Not in one cycle, four total in that time frame, not including Styles Jr. who has yet to sign.
This year’s class from Ohio is deep, but even when it’s not, there are player’s who undoubtedly have the academic and athletic profile that fits what the Irish are looking for. It might be too late for the 2021 cycle but going forward it’s time to go back into Indiana’s neighboring state and start poaching away prospects.