Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/111737
f o o t b a l l r e c r u i t i n g FEATURE : T H E Comfort Zone G R E A T S T A T E O F O H I O New Boilermaker staff will leverage vast connections to Ohio BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com A Jason Tretter s Purdue���s recruiting focus shifts back to the Midwest Antoine Miles under new coach Darrell Hazell, the Boilermaker staff will take aim Dezwan Polk-Campbell at Ohio. That much was evident as Hazell and Co. filled out their first Purdue class by adding four Ohioans among Dan Monteroso the 11 recruits who committed between the new staff���s hiring and Jake Replogle signing day. ���They���re tough, they���re well coached and football���s absolutely important to them,��� Hazell said, generally speaking about Ohio players. ���There���s competition there, but Purdue���s coaching staff possesses a wealth of it���s a state that���s been producing over connections to the state, a territory everyone in 150 Division I players every year and the Big Ten claims a stake to in some form or anthey can���t all go to Ohio State, Michiother and one the Boilermakers will almost have gan and Notre Dame every year.��� to recruit productively under its new staff, giving Givler said he���d expect the state its inherent ties. to produce anywhere from ���50 to 100 ���It���s certainly heavily recruited and you cerplayers who can really play in the Big tainly have to compete as a coaching staff to get Ten��� per year. your foot in the door,��� said Marc Givler, who covIndeed, there are plenty of players Ohio for Rivals.com. ���I fully believe you can���t ers to go around. have a great Big Ten program without recruiting Typically, Ohio is the fifth-most Ohio; I don���t think you can do it. state in the country in turning out Bill Tijerana As soon as Purdue���s new staff got started, it immediately used its deep connections to the state of Ohio to add four of its five signees from the state, including Columbus��� Dezwan Polk-Campbell. football signees, trailing only ��� and in this orproductive der ��� California, Florida, Texas and Georgia, Division I respectively. ���All those places are southern states,��� said Purdue offensive line coach Jim Bollman, an Ohio BUCKEYE STATE BOND native who coached at Ohio State for more than Purdue���s coaching staff is rich in connections to the state of Ohio, a network it will undoubtedly use to a decade. ������ . Ohio is the one northern state its benefit as it looks to re-build the program���s Midwestern recruiting base. where there���s a lot of guys still getting recruited.��� A look at some of those connections: More than 50 Ohio players signed with Big R Head coach Darrell Hazell was an assistant coach at Ohio State ��� and a very popular one among Ten teams this past recruiting season, with every Ohio high school coaches ��� from 2004-10, finishing out the tenure as Jim Tressel���s assistant head coach. league member but scholarship-deprived Penn The past two seasons, he guided Kent State���s turnaround as the head coach of the Golden Flashes. State, a school with a long history of recruiting Hazell���s coaching career began as running backs coach at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1986-87 after Ohio, inking at least one. playing receiver at Muskingum in New Concord about an hour east of Columbus. Proximity and an abundance of players are R Linebackers coach Marcus Freeman was a high school All-American at talent-rich Wayne High two good reasons why the Big Ten is so drawn to School in Huber Heights before being a standout linebacker at Ohio State from 2004-08. Ohio, but just two of many reasons. He coached Kent State���s linebackers and recruited the Columbus area for Hazell the past two years and Coaching is one reason. is very well known within the state. ���The biggest thing is the coaching here,��� GivR Secondary coach Jon Heacock was the head coach at Youngstown State from 2001-09 after serving ler said. ���For my money, it���s the best coaches in two separate stints as a Penguin assistant and a variety of lower-profile college coaching roles in the state the country.��� in the ���80s. He was Kent���s defensive coordinator the past two seasons and was born in Beloit, Ohio. Culture is another. R Offensive line coach Jim Bollman was Ohio State���s offensive coordinator and line coach under Tressel from As is the case in Texas and a few other states, 2001-2011 and an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) and Youngstown State for periods of time earlier in his career. football is part of culture in Ohio, people who He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio. know the state say. R Defensive coordinator Greg Hudson grew up in Cincinnati and played at state power Moeller High The NFL Hall of Fame resides in Canton, School. He was an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati from 1997-2000. where professional football was born in the early R Wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman coached at Ohio University from 1997-2000. 1900s. The state has produced more of the Hall���s R Running backs coach Jafar Williams held the same title at Kent State the past two seasons. inductees, 25, than Texas. ��� Brian Neubert Ohio State obviously has been one of the 28 ��� Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com