Ohio football announced its 2015 recruiting class on Wednesday.
Get used to seeing #NoFlyZone on Twitter over the next four years as a result of Ohio having netted five defensive backs on National Signing Day.
The most prominent is safety Deontai Williams, who no one but the coaching staff knew was on the Bobcats’ radar. Williams, who had verbally committed to Georgia, flipped in favor of Ohio. He’s a four-star recruit, according to ESPN, and was not only sought by Ohio but also by the likes of Auburn, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi State and Notre Dame.
The Bobcats, however, had one advantage none of those teams had: his high school teammate, safety Javon Hagan, had been verbally committed to Ohio since August.
At Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida, Williams and Hagan helped their team to consecutive state championships in 2013 and 2014. The two hope to bring that winning mindset to Athens.
“It feels good,” Hagan told The Post through a Twitter direct message. “We have a bond that can’t be broken.”
Hagan was also highly coveted, receiving offers from Ole Miss, Utah, Cincinnati and Wake Forest, among others.
While Williams and Hagan form the middle of the secondary, cornerbacks Maxwell Howell and Jeff Christian will flank them along the outside. Howell and Christian joined Williams and Hagan in turning away power conference teams such as Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue in favor of signing with Ohio.
Their hope is that this secondary can form the core of the defense for seasons to come.
#NoFlyZone is also known as the nickname for the Arizona Cardinals’ secondary — one of the best in the NFL. Ohio cornerbacks coach James Ward tweeted the hashtag after each of his incoming recruits committed to Ohio.
With four defensive backs set to graduate next season, coach Frank Solich and his staff think this year is a good time to bring in their potential replacements.
“That is always an area of concern for coaches because in a lot of cases you are talking about guys that have to play man defense and have coverage skills,” Solich said. “You are always looking for quality athletes in that mix. Those guys are the kind of guys that are huge in terms of special teams play.”
Despite already having punter Mitch Bonnstetter and kicker Josiah Yazdani on scholarship, the Bobcats added more specialists to their roster Wednesday, when kicker Louie Zervos and long snapper Jake Hale signed letters of intent.
Ohio was the only team to offer a scholarship to Zervos, who played in the Under Armour All-American game. Hale was 1 of only 12 long snappers in the country to receive a scholarship.
“In our evaluation of specialists, the first thing we look at is the stopwatch,” tight ends coach Brian Haines said. “We got (Hale) on the clock and he was good, he’s a wrestler, and has the frame of a linebacker, so he’ll give us good coverage on special teams.”
This year’s class also might also provide a blueprint for years to come. For the first time under Solich, the Bobcats signed four grayshirts in Zervos, wide receiver Matthew Seymour, and Athens High School’s Ryan and Adam Luehrman.
Each of those players will wait to enroll at Ohio until the spring of 2016. By doing so, they will delay their four years of eligibility until the fall of 2016.
“I think you want to get as many quality athletes signed and in your system as you possibly can,” Solich said. “At some point, you run out of scholarships and then the way to fill that is to bring guys in as grayshirts if they are willing to do that. The guys that we talked to felt strongly enough about the program that they were willing to come in and do that.”
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