Ohio State football handed bad news regarding a five-star player they were trying to bring to Columbus
The Ohio State Buckeyes were after a big time recruit along the offensive line, but the latest development signals bad news for Ryan Day’s team.
The Ohio State Buckeyes seem to bring in one of the top recruiting classes every year, but the offensive line is one position they’ve seen their fair share of struggles.
The struggles have not changed in the 2027 cycle with top target five-star OT Mark Mathews recently cutting the Buckeyes from contention. On Wednesday evening, the Buckeyes missed out on another top offensive line recruiting target.
Ohio State loses five-star OL to the Florida Gators
Five-star IOL Maxwell Hiller announced his commitment to the Florida Gators and it seemed to be trending in that direction for some time. Hiller chose the Gators over the Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, and Alabama Crimson Tide.
Hiller is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound interior offensive lineman at Coatesville High School in Pennsylvania. Florida has the inside edge with former Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein now with the Gators. Once Trautwein took the job at Florida, the Gators became serious contenders.
Hiller is the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and No. 5 player nationally, per 247 Sports’ composite rankings. The Buckeyes and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen were seemingly in a good position at one point in time, but recruiting changes often.
The Buckeyes are still off to a strong start with their 2027 recruiting class where they have nine commitments for the No. 3-ranked class in the country, per 247 Sports. All three of Ohio State’s offensive line commitments are listed at offensive tackle between Kellen Wymer, Mason Wilt, and Brody McNeel. Expect some change to happen once in college for any of these players to potentially move inside.
There’s still a long way to go until anything is official and Ohio State can still recruit Hiller. But it’d be a real surprise if anything changed with how firm this commitment looks to be with the coaching connection in place.
