Urban Meyer is definitely not a closer on the recruiting trail. Dabo Swinney is not a closer. James Franklin? He’s not a closer either.

Neither are Ed Orgeron, Clay Helton, Chris Petersen, Butch Jones, or Jim Harbaugh.

After all, what does a closer do? He comes on in the ninth inning after the starter has done most of the hard work.

And that's not an appropriate description of how those coaches operate. They're starters. They're grinding to sign top prospects for all nine innings. Do they get stronger as National Signing Day approaches? Absolutely. But they’re making time to connect with the big names on the board as soon as they’re identified and offered. When a prospect is on campus, these guys are doing more than the 45-minute meet and greet.

This is where college football recruiting continues to trend. "Closer" is a becoming a dying term.

Fading are the days where the head coach made the offer, talked to a prospect once a month and gave you that hour on your visit before making his in-home down the road. If you’re head coach isn’t a player on the trail, you’re going to struggle to win those marquee recruiting battles necessary to hoist the CFB Playoff trophy.

Though the ninth-inning specialist is going the way of the dinosaur, some of the best closers in the game still walk the earth. Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher fit the bill of the traditional closer, but their staffs are full of strong recruiters and – even more important – outstanding evaluators. Saban and Fisher have the clout to come in at any point, fingers adorned with championship rings, and completely change the way a prospect was previously thinking about his top schools.

Urban Meyer has the gravitas to take that approach as well, but he prefers to take the ball from opening pitch. Meyer, along with Pete Carroll, were a couple of the pioneers in changing the way head coaches recruit. Now we’re seeing the next wave of young guys making their move. P.J. Fleck, 36, dedicates as much time as anyone to the recruiting trail. New Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, 33, spent his first 72 hours on the job taking and making recruiting phone calls. Tom Herman (42), Matt Rhule (42), D.J. Durkin (39), Luke Fickell (43) are a few more guys at the top of the food chain who are right there pounding the pavement with their assistants, not only helping court the young man but also having a large say in the evaluation process.

Saban and Fisher are the last of their kind: guys capable of winning 14 while picking their spots on the trail. In a Jimmys and Joes game, the title contenders are going to be the ones with the head coach helping win those pivotal recruiting battles.

Receiver was a huge need for Oklahoma entering the 2018 cycle, and it's a need the Sooners are well on their way toward meeting.

OU lost its top three players at the position from last season and will lose two of their top guys heading into the season after 2017. And that doesn’t include Mark Andrews, who will be NFL Draft-eligible as well.

Within a 2018 recruiting class 247Sports ranks No. 8 nationally, Oklahoma has four receivers committed, with Top247 recruit Jaquayln Crawford becoming the latest to join the fold earlier this week.

Crawford headlines an OU wide receiver class that currently includes Jaylon Robinson, Kundarrius Taylor, and Treveon Johnson, all rated three stars by the 247Sports Composite.

247Sports is told the Sooners turned away another Top247 receiver that wanted to commit to hold that spot for Crawford, who they think can have the same type of career as Sterling Shepard and Dede Westbrook. As a junior the jitterbug caught 54 passes for 1,133 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Crawford and Robinson are two speed guys that Riley will be able to line up all over with Taylor and Johnson being those outside types.

Speaking of Taylor, I believe the 6-foot-3, 200-pound talent is a future star. As a junior, he racked up 26 touchdowns, nine receiving, eight rushing, seven via kick and punt return and two defensively. He has the traits to be an All-American safety if he wasn’t so valuable on the offensive side of the ball.

“He’s big time,” a source said. “Elite ball skills.”

Maryland has the nation’s No. 17 recruiting class, with the latest commit Jordan Mosley having those athletic traits Durkin and his staff have been trying to stockpile since they arrived in College Park.

The 6-foot-1, 214-pound Mosley will play weakside backer for the Terrapins. He has run a 4.7-second 40-yard dash on the Nike laser and 4.6 in camp for Maryland. He’s an explosive athlete with a 35-inch vertical, and he’s fluid in space with a 4.2 shuttle. Mosley can cover and he’ll come up and pop a ball carrier.

Mosley has the frame to grow into a 230-pound player and gives the Terrapins another high upside guy that will allow them to bang in what has become one of the best divisions in college football in the Big Ten East.

This is a really good linebacker haul for Durkin.