COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The proof shows up on national signing day, but the real evidence of just how far the Big Ten has come in four years can perhaps only be felt behind the scenes by the guys working tirelessly on the recruiting trail.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the league started turning a competitive corner after Urban Meyer arrived in the league and exposed, for example, the concept of so-called “gentlemen’s agreements” as a problem that left the league at a disadvantage against the far more ruthless recruiters of the SEC.
Meyer had been one of them for years at Florida, and when he arrived in 2012 with so much fanfare and a knack for flipping talent to join Ohio State, that mindset instantly produced results for his new program -- and, in equal measure, made him a target for some around the league for disrupting the status quo.