Former Buckeyes Coach Stirs Fresh Frustration After Painful Recruiting Miss

Can Ohio State's principled approach to recruiting withstand the allure of eight-figure contracts?

Former Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford stirred things up on X after David Gabriel-Georges made his college decision, dropping a short message that read, "But I thought… ah, never mind!!"

Gabriel-Georges, a five-star+ running back recruit with what the source described as unlimited potential, committed to Tennessee on Wednesday. The reported deal is a big one: a three-year contract worth $2 million per year, front-loaded across the life of the agreement.

That kind of money is beyond what Ohio State was willing to go to, and the source frames the Buckeyes as simply not being in that market for a high school player. In that view, the program did not lose a battle it was built to fight.

Alford’s post did not mention Ohio State by name, but the context made it easy to read as a shot at the Buckeyes and their approach to recruiting. The source also points to the tension between the two sides, noting Alford’s departure from Columbus and his move to Michigan.

The reaction lands even harder because of the backdrop of last year’s Buckeye win over Michigan, when Bo Jackson and Ohio State rushed for 117 yards on 22 carries. Still, Alford chose this moment to weigh in, and the result was exactly the kind of petty, messy exchange that tends to follow him.

From Ohio State’s side, the source argues the program actually came out ahead here. The Buckeyes are not the kind of team that goes around paying heavily for players, and inside the building, the focus remains unchanged.

It all adds up to a strange little flare-up from Ann Arbor, one that fits the source’s final line well enough: Stop me if you have heard that before.

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