No Jet Lag Allowed
When a freshman arrives at Ohio State, there is rarely any time to decompress and get used to the situation. For many, it is sink or swim.
Now, the staff and teammates are there to help bring the freshmen along, but that doesn’t mean that any bit of that initial stretch is easy.
None of it was easy for senior defensive end Jalyn Holmes, who went from the airplane to the weight room. Literally.
“I almost missed a flight. I had to be here the day after graduation. It was so hectic. I almost missed my flight coming here,” Holmes said this week. “The pilot held the plane for me, so I remember that day. It was all bad. From off the plane I came to workouts. I remember the first day here. It does seem like it was just yesterday and it’s crazy how time flies. People told me time was gonna fly, and I never thought I’d be in his position.”
But things eventually slowed down, right?
“Soon as I got off the plane, it’s been full go ever since,” he said.
Why Be Reasonable?
Every freshman arrives at Ohio State with expectations.
They want to play early, start eventually, get an education, and then maybe head off to the NFL.
Really, anything is possible. An expectation that may not be reasonable, however, is to expect the records that J.T. Barrett has amassed at Ohio State.
Barrett would disagree, however.
“When you say reasonable, it’s almost like you set boundaries for yourself, which I don’t think anybody should,” he explained. “You set your mind to do something, then you put the work in. There’s opportunities to go out and achieve whatever you put out to do. I didn’t limit myself. I came here to win a national championship and we were able to achieve that.
“The things along the way, as far as all of the records being broken, I think those are huge honors. I was able to accomplish those things through winning, and I think that’s the most important thing. When I came here, that was the main thing. Why’d you come to Ohio State? To win a national championship.”
A Dose of Realism
High school All-Americans are all great at football.
Check that — they’re great at high school football. College football, however, is another story.
It’s rare for a player to come in ready to play from day one, even though many of them have those expectations.
Left tackle Jamarco Jones was one of those players with those expectations. He did not meet them, however, and knew very early on that he wasn’t ready. From that point on, he leaned on his teammates and learned everything he needed to know by watching them.
“As a freshman, of course I came here wanting to play, but I was not ready for that. I found that out very quickly,” Jones said. “I think the path that I took really helped me out in the long run. Having Taylor Decker ahead of me and just to learn from them, how to handle my business on and off the field, how to go about practicing every day and just things like that. It really helped me out in the long run.
“My knowledge of football is a lot better and just how I was able to see things on the field and react and stuff by watching Taylor for those two years. It really did help me out in the long run I think.”
