Dabo Swinney Told Five-Star Commit from Ohio That Urban Meyer's Career is Winding Down

Jackson Carman, a five-star tackle from Ohio, today committed to Clemson instead of Ohio State. He then offered some insight into his decision.

Dabo Swinney told Jackson Carman during his recruitment that Urban Meyer is on the back end of his career in terms of years left. “It wasn’t a major factor, but it was an underlying one,” Carman said.
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) December 20, 2017

Negative recruiting? Fact-based salesmanship? That all depends on one’s perception. My personal opinion: it’s tough to get bent out of shape over college football ‘crootin ethics. It’s the Wild West out there and most of the cutthroat stuff never sees the light of day.

Having said that, it’s important to point out a few things.

First, Swinney is 48 and Meyer is 53. It’s not as if there’s a significant gulf in age and experience between the two. Secondly, Carman is — at most — planning to be in college for five years. Using that logic, he’d have to think that Meyer was going to leave Ohio State within that time for it to have an impact.

One thing we know, of course, is that Buckeyes fans will definitely be cool with this. Recruiting enthusiasts have notoriously long fuses.