Fall camp gets underway for the Buckeyes on Friday and every single Ohio State position coach will have a mental list of things that they need to get done. In fact, they may actually have a physical list as well. Speculating as to what might be on each assistant coach’s list is always a fun exercise, and there are no shortages of items that will need to be addressed.
Back when former Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs was trying to create a 3-man — or even 4-man — rotation at cornerback, he would frequently have people asking him why. He would explain his position and also remark that nobody had any problem with defensive ends rotating, so why should people be so preoccupied with corners doing the same thing?
Perhaps the most intriguing part of any fall camp is the position battle. Sure, everybody wants to know how the quarterback is doing — and a position battle at quarterback is always huge, but there are other position battles going on every year as well. This year, despite losing a sizable number of starters, many of the position battles at Ohio State…
It is now July — or thereabouts — which means it is time to ramp up our 2019 Ohio State football preview topics. Up first, is our annual rankings of the Buckeyes’ Top 10 playmakers on both sides of the ball, beginning with the defense. Unlike the offense, which barely features enough skill players to fill out an “outsiders” ranking, the Buckeye…
Ohio State returns all three starting linebackers from last season in Tuf Borland, Malik Harrison, and Pete Werner. In fact, they lost just two linebackers from last year’s team. The Buckeyes were two or three players deep this spring at each linebacker position, which gave new linebackers coach Al Washington plenty to watch throughout camp.
Ohio State entered spring ball with a two-year starter returning at middle linebacker in Tuf Borland, as well as his top two backups. Borland finished third on the team with 67 tackles last season, despite returning while still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury. While Borland got up to speed, it was Baron Browning starting in his place…
There are four new defensive coaches on Ryan Day’s initial coaching staff, with Jeff Hafley, Greg Mattison, Al Washington, and Matt Barnes all having to fill out change-of-address forms over the last three months. The lone holdover from Urban Meyer’s staff is defensive line coach Larry Johnson. For obvious reasons, Day didn’t feel…
Ohio State was 10th in total defense in the Big Ten last season and ninth in yards per play allowed. And it’s a testament to the rest of the poor defense played in the Big Ten last year that OSU’s 25.5 points allowed per game was actually good for seventh. It didn’t take a member of Mensa to know that Ryan Day was going to have…
Yesterday, we looked at the six Buckeyes on offense who are set to breakout this spring, so now it’s time to give the same treatment to the defense. Most of last year’s Ohio State defense returns, which is a good thing as long as you don’t go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong (i.e. box scores, DVRs, and YouTube). A new defensive staff…
Spring football is more than just chance for Ohio State football fans to get out of the house and tailgate on an April Saturday. For many players, one spring can be the difference between winning a starting job and being a career backup.
