Some of the Ohio football players almost need a passport to get here. That is how widespread the team's roots are.
Ohio's recruiting base has hit targets as far west as California and as far south as Florida in recent years. Of the 105 players listed on the roster, 51 hail from outside the state's borders and represent 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
You watch and see where kids are coming from
where Division-I kids are signed out of each year Ohio recruiting coordinator Pete Germano said. You start looking at it state by state and you're thinking
'Maybe I can get a piece of that pie too.'
The recruiting starts out in Ohio, though. Eight of the nine coaches take an area of the state to focus on. Then each coach takes a secondary area outside the state from which to recruit. Germano said it is not important where the players come from, just that they fill the team's needs.
One prominent out-of-state recruiting base this past year was junior colleges in California. With more than 100 community colleges, California offers a large pool from which to recruit.
(Schools) recruit from the junior colleges a lot because they know those players are going to come in a little bit older
a little bit more mature
said Ohio strong safety Bo Lebherz, who transferred from Mesa College in San Diego. That maturity is going to give junior college players an advantage over say a junior or senior in high school.
Lebherz played in 24 junior college games before coming to Ohio. He said his experience at Mesa was valuable in helping him earn a spot on the two-deep this year, quicker than some of the younger players. He is one of seven California junior college transfers on Ohio's roster.
We don't normally go out and recruit the junior colleges at a heavy rate like we did this past year
Germano said. This year we felt we had more needs
and we went out and recruited a few more than usual. There's a lot of freshmen
sophomores and juniors playing. It's a young team so we decided to try the junior college approach.
Germano said each coach's secondary area of focus is often based on where the coaches are from. Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory is from Virginia, so that is another state Ohio hits hard. Eight current players were recruited from Virginia.
Ohio alumni who coach at the high school or junior college level also promote the Bobcat football program to their players.
I had a coach who was an alumni here
said Andre' Bradford, a free safety who transferred from Pasadena City College. He played here
and he really spoke highly of the school and everything so that helped my decision a lot.
Germano said the hardest aspect of recruiting is getting players to visit.
Your battle is to get him here when you have 10-15 other schools calling the same kid and enticing that kid to visit their campus
