The success that Urban Meyer has had with quarterbacks has been pretty phenomenal. Other than the obvious names like Tim Tebow and Alex Smith, there have been guys like Josh Harris and Braxton Miller. Whether he recruited them, or inherited them, their success is largely due to Meyer and his staff's guidance, and perhaps a certain rule Urban has carried his entire career.
Urban has had a rule his entire career that he would wait to offer a quarterback until after he personally saw them throw. As Urban told Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com, he can no longer afford to do that with the way recruiting works now.
"Nowadays kids are committing early, and sometimes you don't get the opportunity. So we've had to adjust our philosophy a little bit, because (seeing them throw first) was a rule." Meyer explained.
"Sometimes we're going to have to adjust, because we're offering quarterbacks now that I don't see throw, and I've never done that before in our career. But you have to, because early offers are out."
Offensive coordinator Tom Herman explains that Meyer has a gained a lot of trust in the Buckeye staff, and while his philosophy has shifted a bit, seeing guys throw in person remains a top priority.
"I think what (Meyer) has done, and to his credit, has done a good job of trusting myself and our staff."
"I will go see a quarterback throw or he will have thrown on our campus before we offer him. That's still kind of rule. But now coach Meyer doesn't get the luxury of always doing that because kids are committing so early. You have to jump into the game, so to speak, so early with them."
It's always interesting to see how coaches that have been in the game for a while now, and have seen a ton of success, have had to change their recruiting philosophies to keep up with the times, and Urban Meyer is no exception.