Former Ohio State assistant Bill Conley conducted his first Chat session as a member of the Bucknuts.com staff Monday.
Here were some of the tidbits Conley shared in the 80-minute Chat:
* That decisions to offer players by the OSU staff are routinely made through a consensus of the coach assigned to a recruit's area, his potential position coach, the recruiting coordinator, the respective coordinator and the head coach. It takes a majority vote for the staff to convey an offer.
Conley cited one instance of Cincinnati Wyoming RB DeShawn Wynn, now at Florida, as a player he personally liked, but was unable to get a majority vote for.
* He admitted there have been a number of "silent verbal commitments" made through the years, most of them done so players could take their full allotment of visits. Some of the notables would include Orlando Pace, Andy Katzenmoyer and several members of the current team, including signees from this past year.
* When asked about players verbaling without an offer (a la Kenyon Buford two years ago), he said, "self hype is a problem." He cited players publicizing incorrect stats about themselves as well.
* When asked what went wrong with the recruitment of Toledo Rogers WR Fred Davis, Conley replied, "Only USC knows the answer to that."
* When asked about OSU’s struggles on offense, Conley believed it was beyond play calling, personnel or scheme and noted a “philosophy” perhaps that accentuates special teams and defense.
* Finally, Conley confirmed that a member of the OSU support staff monitors the Internet for news reports on key prospects as well as key opponents.
Obviously, there was much more to this 80-minute session. Our subscribers who missed the Chat are invited to check out the archive at:
Click here for the archive of Bill Conley’s Chat.
Again, Conley's next Chat session will be at 3 p.m. Sept. 13. In the meantime, our Gary Housteau will be available Thursday at 1 p.m. and Steve Helwagen will be available Friday at 1 p.m. These Chat sessions are conducted for our premium subscribers.