Pro: Elite recruiter
With the two exceptions of the 2009 season (11th) and the 2015 season (9th), Urban Meyer’s recruiting classes have ranked fourth at worst. He had the No. 1 recruiting class in 2007 while at Florida and signed four five-star recruits in the four of the five years he was head coach.
At Ohio State, outside of the season ranking ninth, he has had six top-four recruiting classes, ranking No. 2 three times in an era where Nick Saban would fire a coordinator if they didn’t have the No. 1 recruiting class. Whoever Michigan State hires will have to be a master recruiter, having to battle Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Notre Dame locally, while having to beat newcomers USC, Oregon, and Washington.
Recruiting rankings aren’t the end-all-be-all on how well your team does. Five-stars burn out fast, and walk-ons can win Heismans and go No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. But having talent helps widen the margin of error.
The 2023 Michigan State football team isn’t getting the proper coaching, which I believe is why they are losing so many games, but it’s hard to imagine how the current roster looks compared to a top 10, or even a top 20, school. Many of the kids that transfer out go to Group of Five schools or don’t see the field for a Power Five team.
Urban knows talent, he’s seen talent, and knows how to get that talent to perform at a high level in college and prepare them for the NFL.