Ohio State should be devastated to lose top in-state talent in their own backyard to familiar recruiting foe
The Ohio State Buckeyes haven't been able to parlay their National Championship win into a number of major recruiting wins just yet. Unfortunately, retaining in-state talent continues to be a challenge for the Buckeyes. Their latest loss is 4-star safety Kaden Gebhardt from Lewis Center, Ohio. Gebhardt opted for Clemson over the Buckeyes despite being […]
The Ohio State Buckeyes haven't been able to parlay their National Championship win into a number of major recruiting wins just yet. Unfortunately, retaining in-state talent continues to be a challenge for the Buckeyes. Their latest loss is 4-star safety Kaden Gebhardt from Lewis Center, Ohio.
Gebhardt opted for Clemson over the Buckeyes despite being in Ohio State's backyard. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder told On3, “I just got that feeling where I knew it was where I wanted to be, and I love it.”
He was being recruited by Matt Guerrieri, the Buckeyes' safeties coach, who head coach Ryan Day called "A star in the making."
Gebhardt's high school head coach explained his best roles.
We use Kaden as a true middle-of-the-field, run-the-alley safety. He can play some deep third stuff and make plays from hash to hash, almost to the numbers. We sit him in that middle of the field window and just let him run around and play that ‘see ball, get ball’ kind of style.
The Buckeyes shouldn't be in panic mode yet regarding their 2026 recruiting efforts, but it's hard to continue missing out on Ohio talents that used to be relatively easy sells. Ohio State had plenty of staff turnover this offseason, but Guerrieri wasn't one of them.
It's possible Gebhardt will still visit Ohio State on April 17 and click with new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. The battle isn't over yet, but this early announcement is a blow to the program.
