Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney along with Jeremy Birmingham of DottingTheEyes.com, Brandon Drumm of OUInsider.com and Mark Passwaters from AggieYell.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. After all is said and done, five-star Jeremiah Smith signs with Ohio State.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I was told in recent days something “mega” would have to happen at Ohio State for Jeremiah Smith to flip to another program and I took that as coach Ryan Day not being in Columbus any longer. Smith knows that position coach Brian Hartline is a wanted commodity and could get his own head coaching job so that has already played into his calculus.
I’ve also been told that Smith is a nice kid who’s going to say complimentary things about other programs and that some recent comments about Florida State were taken out of context. Yes, the Seminoles are a major contender and probably the program to watch if the five-star goes somewhere else. But it still feels like a long shot.
Birmingham’s take: FACT. Despite months and months of concerns, rumors, visits to other schools, etc., the story in the recruitment of Jeremiah Smith has not fundamentally changed: if Brian Hartline and Ryan Day are at Ohio State in the 2024 season, Jeremiah Smith will be lining up at wide receiver for the Buckeyes.
It sometimes seems impossible to ignore all of the noise about other schools, but behind the scenes, nothing has changed between Smith, Ohio State or the intentions of either side. Yes, Florida State has made things interesting of late, but barring a significant personnel change in Columbus, the odds are still in the Buckeyes' favor.
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2. Cam Coleman will ultimately end up signing with Texas A&M.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. This all depends on who is hired by the Aggies and what that timeline looks like – along with what assistant coaches are kept – but there is good history behind thinking that Cam Coleman is going to end up somewhere else, especially with the Early Signing Period coming up quickly. Auburn was a close second for the high four-star receiver from Phenix City (Ala.) Central last time so the Tigers look very strong and Florida State had him on campus last weekend as well. This just feels like Coleman will be going somewhere else now after Jimbo Fisher’s firing.
Passwaters’ take: FACT. I think. Honestly, it's very hard to tell right now, considering the uncertainty around the program since Fisher's firing. But there's two things that stand out: the lack of decommitments since Jimbo's firing and the loyalty shown to interim coach Elijah Robinson. If Coleman was going to flip, I figured it would have been last weekend after visiting Florida State. If Robinson sticks around – in any capacity – the majority of the class may remain just because he does.
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3. Grant Brix is starting to feel like he's heading to Oklahoma.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Oklahoma can absolutely land Grant Brix and I wouldn’t be surprised one bit, but it seems whichever program gets the last visit here could end up getting the four-star offensive lineman.
Distance could be part of the situation here with Nebraska only 90 minutes away and the Huskers’ coaching staff rolling out the red carpet each time he visits. But Brix keeps getting pulled back to Oklahoma and loving it there. The four-star will probably take a visit to Kansas State but this really feels like a two-team race.
Because it’s still a two-team race and Brix cannot make up his mind being torn between the Sooners and Huskers, I can still see this one going either way.
Drumm’s take: FACT. Brix’s recruitment has been very back and forth since June and in that sense not much has changed, though, I would argue Nebraska went from a shoe-in to now trailing Oklahoma at this juncture.
Oklahoma once again made a huge impression on Brix and his family (father visited with him this past weekend). Commits like four-star DB Michael Boganowski and four-star QB Michael Hawkins led the charge for the Sooners. That said, the location of Norman – being in OKC metro and seven hours away from Brix’s hometown – has been the Sooners’ biggest deterrent so far. Same with Kansas State, which is likely hosting Brix soon as well.
On the flip side, location has been the biggest help for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Still, I have a FutureCast for Oklahoma when it comes to Brix, and I continue to feel that’s where he will eventually end up if they can convince others in his family the distance isn’t that big of a deal. And outside of that, OU has what the four-star OL is looking for in a program, with his affinity for how Bill Bedenbaugh develops OL only growing stronger since Brix first visited OU last spring.
Again, it’s far from over but it seems the Sooners have continued to weather the blows Nebraska and Kansas State have thrown their way up to this point.
