Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington posted a video on Twitter this morning of great Buckeye linebackers of the past, with the gist being that his players are going to honor that tradition.
It would be no surprise that Washington would want to honor the past, given that his father Alvin Washington (1977-80) was a Buckeye linebacker himself, finishing with 345 career tackles, which is still good for top 10 all-time at Ohio State.
Shown in the video is a who’s who of Buckeye linebackers, stretching from Tom Cousineau to Raekwon McMillan.
Yes, the video includes Andy Katzenmoyer’s hit on Missouri quarterback Corby Jones.
After watching the video, the biggest takeaway is that McMillan and Baker are the two most recent players in the video, with Baker’s last season coming in 2017 and McMillan’s last season being 2016.
This begs the question of how much longer the Buckeyes will go before having another linebacker prove worthy to be listed among the greats.
The Ohio State linebackers struggled in 2017 and 2018, but bounced back very well last season. Malik Harrison was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches in 2019, while Pete Werner, Tuf Borland, and Baron Browning were all Honorable Mention by both the media and coaches.
The 2020 group of linebackers is deeper than any Ohio State linebacker room in recent memory. There are nine players from last year’s team returning, with the lone exception being Harrison.
They have been moved around a bit from last season as Al Washington looks for his best group. With four seniors and three juniors, the Buckeyes have seven guys who have played and will play again. With so much depth, it might be a while before somebody posts the kind of 120-tackle season that ends up in a highlight video.
Regardless of the numbers, Washington is confident that there will be plenty of highlights from this current squad as well.
If you didn't know, now you do.
Welcome to Hustle & Hit, brought to you by #LBU.#H2 #Fight #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/SjgvhE9dYH
— Al Washington (@CoachWash56) April 1, 2020
Where’s Wilhelm?
Certainly some misses in the 90s and then again prior to AJ Hawk.
No Marcus Marek? Isnt he still the all time tackle leader for the Bucks? I did enjoy that video! Gradishar was my hero growing up!
Thank you, Greg. Alvin Washington would’ve been remembered more if Marek hadn’t followed him. 572 career tackles is still #1 (though Spiels had the most solo’s).
Agreed. Marek was a beast.