Does the official visit order actually matter?
With class of 2021 defensive lineman JT Tuimoloau on campus at Ohio State going through his official visit, there has been a lot of lamenting about Ohio State drawing the third of his five visits with the belief that having the last spot means the world in recruiting. If not the last visit, then the first visit seems to be the move. Well, maybe that is not always the case. Just as much as we talk about Hat Science (a term that I first heard coined by fellow Ohio State writer Tony Gerdeman) and the location of a hat during a press conference leading to who is eventually picked, all the way down to is the recruit right-handed or left-handed, or which hat looks broken in or a multitude of different other theories, the order of official visits has been something that has been talked about at length through the years. If you get first crack, you set the bar, you have your program in the recruits mind for every visit, constantly comparing the other school(s) to yours the whole process. If you get the last crack, you make that final impression, especially when you get the last spot only a few days before National Signing Day.