Who Was Urban Meyer's Favorite Recruiting Win At Ohio State?

Urban Meyer discussed some of his biggest wins, surprises and misses as a head coach on the recruiting trail.

Author:
Casey Smith
Mar 3, 2023 9:54 AM EST

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Former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer brought in over one-third of the program's top-14 all-time recruits, according to 247Sports.

None of the top five he brought in were among his favorite wins along the trail, though.

Instead, two other members of the Silver Bullets were a few of his favorite recruiting gets since it showed Ohio State was a national contender in any prospect it wanted.

"Raekwon McMillan or Vonn Bell. The reality was that the quality was there, but the quantity wasn’t there in Ohio or the North anymore. Great players, just not as many," Meyer told The Athletic. "When we went nose-to-nose with Georgia and the teams in the South, I remember sitting back and thinking, 'We did it, we’re a national player.' Ohio State has always been national, but I’m not sure to that extent."

Meyer went on to tell a story about his recruitment of McMillan.

The Buckeyes' coach went to McMillan's hometown of Hinesville, GA., a town of about 35,000. Meyer said he and former defensive assistant coaches Mike Vrabel and Everett Withers drove down McMillan's "long, dark street" that "was like a quarter-mile long."

They arrived at McMillan's house, got out of the car and heard a chain start to rattle.

"This giant dog started going after us. I jumped my butt back into my car and we had a big laugh about that," Meyer said. "I wasn’t ready for that. I mean, the thing sounded like a lion. It was a grown-man bark."

His "most satisfying evaluation" was back home in the Buckeye State, though, when he went to Cincinnati Moeller High School and watched Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard play dodgeball.

"This one kid is destroying everyone. Big, good-looking, athletic kid," Meyer said. "(Football coach John Rodenberg) had been telling us about this kid named Sam Hubbard. I stopped him while watching Dodgeball and asked, 'Who is that?' Rodenberg responded, 'That’s Sam Hubbard.' I was like, 'Woah.'”

Meyer said another diamond in the rough was Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin who was invited back after attending an Ohio State camp.

For his biggest miss, you'd have to go back to his coaching days with the Florida Gators.

"C.J. Spiller," Meyer said. "He was in our backyard, and I thought we had him. It was over. And we didn’t get him."