COLUMBUS, Ohio — With Michigan getting ready to wrap up spring practice and Ohio State in the midst of it, camp season is right around the corner for two of the Big Ten's tent-pole programs.
But while camps can give coaches the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the country's top prospects, Urban Meyer admittedly isn't as excited for them this year as he was in 2014.
That's because, as opposed to last year, when the Buckeyes left spring practice with just two players committed to their 2015 class, Ohio State already has eight verbal pledges for its 2016 class.
In a class that could possibly top out around 20 players, the Buckeyes could be just about halfway there, leaving less room for players to earn offers in-person at camp like Darron Lee did in 2013 and Nick Conner did a year ago.
"The calendar's been moved up. We've had a bunch of commitments already and I'm not a huge fan of that," Meyer said following Ohio State's sixth spring practice session on Tuesday. "I kind of liked it last year when we didn't have many and you get to know players better."
The fourth-year Buckeyes head coach was quick to point out that he likes Ohio State's 2016 class—which currently ranks fourth in the country—but would have rather seen it take more time to take shape. Recruiting, however, is very much a matter of keeping up with the Joneses, and there's a new family in town that has caused Meyer to speed up his pace.
That would be about three hours northwest of Columbus, where Jim Harbaugh has taken Michigan's recruiting strategy to whole new level since taking over the Wolverines program at the end of 2014. Michigan hasn't been shy about handing out scholarship offers in the past three months, extending 156 invites to play for the Wolverines in the 2016 class alone.
"People offer scholarships now like Pop-Tarts," Meyer said.
Meyer didn't mention the Wolverines specifically, and Michigan isn't the only school that has been liberal with its scholarship offers. But the increase in scholarship offers going out from Ann Arbor has been impossible to ignore, especially as it pertains to prospects with mutual interest from Ohio State.
With more than 10 months remaining until national signing day, the 156 scholarships for 2016 are the most offered by Michigan in the past 18 years. As recently as five years ago, the Wolverines were routinely handing out offers that only reached double-digit totals, and this year's cycle has already doubled the 62 scholarships Rich Rodriguez offered in 2010.
As for the effect Harbaugh's strategy has had on the Buckeyes, Ohio State has offered 143 scholarships in the 2016 class, a pace well ahead of what Meyer showed he preferred in his first four classes since arriving in Columbus.
It's not that the three-time national champion head coach hasn't offered large numbers too—in 2015, the Buckeyes offered 228 scholarships—but many of OSU's offers under Meyer haven't come until the start of the camp season.
"In a perfect world, you watch them go to camp, watch them three or four games their senior year and say, 'I'll take him. This is a perfect fit,'" Meyer said of his preferred recruiting pace. "This school's offered 40 kids in the state of Ohio and I'm like, ['Wow']...we prefer to go much slower than that."
Again, Meyer didn't specifically mention Michigan, but it's not a coincidence that there's been significant overlap in the offers extended by the Buckeyes and Wolverines in the 2016 class. No fewer than 55 prospects in the 2016 class hold offers from both Ohio State and Michigan, including Buckeye commits Kareem Walker and Terrell Hall, and Wolverines pledge Erik Swenson.
Any time two teams strive to recruit both nationally and within the same region as Ohio State and Michigan do, there's bound to be some similarities in their respective offer lists.
But the fact the that Meyer has felt the need to keep pace with Harbaugh's rapid rate is telling, especially as the new Wolverines coach has aimed to increase his program's presence in Ohio with the hiring of former St. Edward High School coach Rick Finotti as Michigan's director of operations.
"Sure," Meyer said when asked if took notice of Harbaugh's hiring of a prominent Ohio high school coach. "They hired a quality guy, a really good football coach. I don't blame them. Do we monitor it? We monitor everything."
That includes offers, which is why the increase in invitations from the Wolverines has resulted in an increase in offers from the Buckeyes. Of course, there's a difference between a ceremonial offer and one that's actually committable, which is why schools are able offer scholarships for close to 10 times as many spots that they have open.
That could also be why Michigan currently possesses just two commitments in its 2016 class, despite offering so many scholarships. It also doesn't help that, despite the positive P.R. Harbaugh has provided for his alma mater, the Wolverines still don't have the same type of momentum the Buckeyes are currently enjoying coming off of January's run to a national title in the College Football Playoff.
But despite possessing an edge over his archrival, Meyer isn't about to become complacent. That's why he's taken note of Harbaugh's most recent moves and attempted to make the proper adjustments—not that going head-to-head with Michigan is anything new for the Buckeyes.
"I think that gauntlet was thrown down in the 1800s," Meyer said.
And with the Wolverines having already offered scholarships to 30 players in the 2017 class, they won't be stopping anytime soon.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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