Magic Mike?
There were plenty of stories written this spring about Chris Worley’s transition from outside linebacker to middle linebacker for Ohio State. Even back then, he had picked up the position quickly and everything that came with it. There were really no concerns from anyone, other than Urban Meyer wondering if Worley could hold up because of his size. Neither Chris Worley nor linebackers coach Billy Davis shared that concern, however.
As a player who came in as a safety and then moved to linebacker, Worley has learned just about everything that this defense has to teach.
An aspect of his most recent transition that went overlooked, however, was that he was learning a new position against a brand new offense that is designed to make life miserable for those players calling the defenses. So not only was it on-the-job training for Worley, but it was training against one of the best offensive play callers in college football.
“Our offense is really challenging us with a lot of great concepts,” Davis said. “So you combine [Worley] learning the new position with the defense, with an offense that we are really excited about, he’s challenged us and he’s growing faster. It’s actually making us grow faster. I think Chris is doing a nice job transitioning to the Mike ‘backer position.”
The Best Player Plays
On every team there are reserves who expect to be starters the next season. Last year, the Buckeyes had a couple of those guys on the offensive line in Matt Burrell and Demetrius Knox. Both players were High School All-Americans who were expected to play early. Rather than receive their football birthright in 2016, however, they were beaten out at left guard by true freshman Michael Jordan.
This kind of thing can sometimes cause friction between the players passed up on the depth chart and the hotshot doing the passing up.
That wasn’t the case a year ago, however.
“See that’s where I think Ohio State is really different,” Jordan said. “This is a brotherhood and honestly the best person deserves to play for the O-line. J.T. deserves the best five up front. J.T. is trying to do big things this year, so he needs the best guy and we all understood that. I thought it was going to be like that with some hard conversations, but it wasn’t. We all love each other.”
Answered Prayers
When college coaches go out recruiting, they are looking for players who fit their respective programs. They look for players who fit athletically, academically, and culturally. Many times coaches must settle for two out of those three. Or, if the player is really talented, just one out of three.
The players who check all three boxes are the ones coaches build their programs with. They represent the foundation of what the coaches want their programs to be. For Ohio State, one of those players is quarterback J.T. Barrett. Barrett has been through it all at Ohio State — good and bad, right and wrong. There’s really not much he hasn’t experienced, which gives him plenty of wisdom to pass along to his teammates.
None of this is lost on the coaches who have spent any amount of time with him. And when they also consider the position he plays, they can only smile.
“Any time you get a chance to be around an elite human being like J.T., it’s one of those in your prayers you thank God, right?” receivers coach Zach Smith said. “He’s as phenomenal a kid, a leader, a person as I’ve ever seen. So it’s a blessing. Then you take it another step to say that he is kind of the spearhead of the offense. He’s the general on the field. It’s really fun to be a part of that because you know what the guy leading the charge is all about at his core. Honestly, you can’t ask for better than that.”
