Throughout the 2026 recruiting cycle, the Ohio State football program has lost more than a few five-star recruits because of less-than-stellar NIL deals. There have been several programs across the country who have decided to use NIL money to buy recruits.
Early on in the cycle, the Buckeyes took more of a conservative approach. They decided not to offer any recruits a massive amount of money to commit to them. Instead, they decided to wait and see if the rules were going to change, which they did. NIL GO hasn't been approving a ton of the deals that recruits have agreed to.