Four-star EDGE Omari Abor chooses Ohio State's development plan

ORLANDO – Duncanville (Texas) edge Omari Abor punctuated a Rose Bowl-winning weekend for Ohio State. Abor committed to the Buckeyes on Sunday during the Under Armour All-American Game.

Abor is the No. 68 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus rankings for the class of 2022.

He picked up the Ohio State hat surrounded by hats representing Alabama, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M and Florida. Abor is the 19th commit in the Buckeyes’ class that is ranked fourth in the 2022 Consensus Football Team Recruiting Rankings.

Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson won over Omari Abor.

“Knowing that he’s going to be there for two or three more years gave me hope,” Abor said. “Just building that relationship and knowing the defensive scheme that they run. They just let their defensive ends play.”

Omari Abor and Johnson connected almost immediately. Abor worried that Johnson was getting close to retiring, but the veteran defensive line coach debunked those thoughts for the young edge.

“We’ve been communicating since he offered me,” Abor said. “We’ve had our personal talks. We have our football talks and then we have our personal talks where we talk about life. He said he wanted to be there for a minute. When he told me that, I was in.”

Throughout his senior season, Johnson has been coaching Abor from afar. It gave Abor a peek into life as a Buckeye edge player.

“After every game, he’s calling me,” Abor said. “He tells me I did this wrong and that wrong. But then he tells me that I did this right and that I need to tweak this or that. He’s a legendary coach that everybody talks about and he’s pointing out the little details in my game has helped me out a lot.”

Omari Abor big on development

Development was a huge factor for Omari Abor. He has seen the end results of Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, Chase Young and Zach Harrison.

Abor was given a look at where those players started. It was an eye-opening transformation. Abor only began playing football only in his sophomore year of high school.

In the youth leagues, he played the sport but he played quarterback, running back and wide receiver. The potential of a coach that can take his ability to the next level is an intriguing proposition.

“When he was showing me the before and after, it was two totally different people,” Abor said. “He told me they where they were physically, but they didn’t have the technique. He showed me as they progressed. I was like wow. The development was crazy. So, I was like this might be where I need to be.”

Committed but not completely done?

Omari Abor didn’t sign with Ohio State during the early signing period in December.

He plans to sign in February.

Over the next month and change, he plans to take some visits and continue to hear pitches from other programs. Ohio State will likely remain in a good spot leading into National Signing Day. Abor plans to button things up even more tightly when the calendar turns to February.

“I’m still going to have my options open, but it’s going to be a minimum of who I talk to,” Abor said.

Abor plans to take his two official visits. He plans on taking one of those official visits to Miami. After that, Texas or Texas A&M will get the final official visit from the in-state edge.