With his hometown located roughly 1 hour, 45 minutes away from Columbus, Jack Wohlabaugh plans to be spending plenty of time this summer at his future home. The 2016 Ohio State commit wants to get a head start on his college career.
“I’m going to try and get down here as many times as possible,” Wohlabaugh said, “so I’m kind of like a seasoned freshman when I get here.”
Wohlabaugh was in town Saturday afternoon for the first of Ohio State’s one-day positional camps. He hopes to be at the other two this week, as well, scheduled for Tuesday and Friday.
The goal, Wohlabaugh said, is to get as much in as he can with his future coaches, specifically Buckeyes offensive line coach Ed Warinner.
“It’s always a good experience down here,” Wohlabaugh said. “It was great getting down, working with Coach Warinner. It’s what I want to do, I want to get to know him better and get to know how his coaching works. Just overall, it went really well.”
Wohlabaugh is rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports. He’s the 27th-ranked guard in the 2016 class and Ohio’s 16th-ranked player and he got pretty impressive reviews from his future position coach for his performance Saturday.
“He told me I dominated today in the one-on-ones which I thought I did pretty well,” Wohlabaugh said. “It was probably the best I’ve ever done in a one-on-one session so I feel good.”
Wohlabaugh plays guard at Walsh Jesuit High School where he’s set to enter his senior season. For the Buckeyes, though, he’s projecting as a center. Making that adjustment will obviously be a transition for the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder, but that’s precisely the reason why Wohlabaugh is trying to get a head start.
“This was actually my first time doing live reps at center,” he said. “I think I’m catching the hang of it so far but I’m still going to practice it some more.”
He’ll also be able to get some pointers from someone else not on Ohio State’s coaching staff. Wohlabaugh’s father, Dave, played collegiately at Syracuse and then had a long stint in the NFL playing for the Browns, Patriots and Rams. When he found out he was going to be playing center for the Buckeyes, Wohlabaugh said he asked his dad, who played center, for a few tips.
Ultimately, though, Wohlabaugh said it was Ohio State’s family atmosphere that sold him on the Buckeyes, as well as their style of play. Getting as much experience with his future coaching staff and teammates as possible will be huge for Wohlabaugh.
“I think they’re just a nasty group of O-linemen and that’s what I like to be, I like to finish the plays,” Wohlabaugh said. “You don’t really need to be the biggest guy, they just finish their blocks and all work together in unison. That’s what I like to do.”
