It's not easy to be "the man" when you're a high school freshman anywhere, and it's even harder when you're at a high school so tradition rich it's been on the cover of Wheaties and the subject of critically acclaimed documentaries. Danny Clark never asked for the attention that came with him being named the starter at Massillon Washington as a freshman.
It just happened; it comes with the territory.
Since then, things haven't exactly gone smoothly for the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Clark, the country's 12th-ranked 2017 quarterback. Last fall, as a sophomore, Clark and the Tigers struggled to find any offensive rhythm and the lack of consistency and direction derailed more than just the hype train: Clark would leave Massillon following the season, transferring to Akron's Archbishop Hoban High School, a move motivated by a desire to get better on and off the field and to challenge himself through a rigorous college prep program. This past summer, Clark spent most of his free time in Columbus working with new Ohio State quarterback coach Tim Beck and he felt the time and energy was paying off.
"I feel like I've gotten immensely better as a quarterback," Clark said following this past July's Friday Night Lights at Ohio State. "I've done a lot of work this offseason with my feet and then in turn that's helped a lot with my accuracy, throwing a tighter spiral."
As he arrived at Hoban, rumors began sprouting up that Clark wasn't adapting to the new system or the new team, that he was on the verge of being benched before he ever took a snap with the Knights. That wasn't the case according to Hoban offensive coordinator Drew Sarachman.
"He's great," Drew Sarachman told 11W in August. "He's still getting used to a new offense, but he's been our No. 1 quarterback from day one. A lot of people want to see (Danny) fail for no reason other than jealousy. People make up rumors, he doesn't deserve a lot of the criticism he gets. He is a great teammate and a great kid. If he was never able to play a snap for us we would still be a better team with his presence alone. When you get to work with him every day like I do, it's no mystery why (Urban) Meyer wants him at Ohio State. I love that kid and there is not a quarterback in America I'd rather have."
Fortunately for Sarachman and the Knights, Clark's attitude and leadership have translated to an improved on the field product. Hoban is the state's top-ranked Division Three football team at 6-0, outscoring their opponents by an incredible 222-22 margin. Clark's been consistent when not great and good more than bad; he's leading the team to victory and doing what needs to be done, even if his numbers aren't going to turn heads. He's not being asked to throw for 400 yards a night, and that's ok.
BuckeyeGrove.com analyst Marc Givler, one of the state's most respected talent evaluators saw Clark last week and he said he's seen measurable growth in the future Buckeyes' game.
"The first thing (I noticed is) he seems more confident," Givler told 11W. "Which is translating to more accurate throws down the middle of the field. Redzone accuracy was something I thought he struggled with in the past, he made a great throw into a very tight window for a three-yard score on Friday. I don't know that Freshman or Sophomore Danny Clark completes that throw."
Much of the credit for Clark's improvement goes to Clark himself. He's a tireless worker and has an almost superhuman desire to get better, to be the best. Some of the credit goes to the time with Tim Beck, but perhaps most of it should go to Tim Tyrrell, the head coach at Hoban, and Sarachman, who saw first hand what the "Prototype" was capable of doing and put him in a position, with talented teammates, to make a difference.
"I think credit has to go to (all sides)," Givler said. "He's putting in the work to improve the areas of his game that aren't as strong, but I was also impressed with a lot of the play designs. They go hand in hand, he's being put in a good position but he still has to execute and he's doing that right now. The wide receiver screen play was probably the best example of that. (It was a ) beautiful play design but he still has to sell the fake into the flats, get his footwork down, square his shoulders and come back and make an accurate throw over the middle to the receiver."
As for Danny himself, he's just happy to be in a place that allows him to be himself, to work on his game and to have teammates he knows he can count on.
"I feel 100 times better this year than in previous years," Clark told Eleven Warriors. "I know my teammates can depend on me no matter the situation were in and I feel confident that I can make every throw and decision on the field to put us in the best spot my biggest thing is just working as hard as I can to make sure I'm holding up my end for the rest of my brothers. I look at the game differently. Every position's goal is too be exactly perfect. If the 11 guys on the field are doing their job exactly as their expected to, no one can beat us."
No one has yet, but the work isn't close to done. Only a state title run will be viewed as a success for the talented Knights, but Clark knows they've not really hit their stride yet.
"That's the type of player that I am, I want to be the best," Clark told 11W in July. "I want to beat the best."
"Our goal is to be the most physical, the smartest and the fastest team on the field on all sides of the ball. We know we're not great yet – we're a good team but not great –there's only one team that's great and that's the guys holding the trophy up in the snow in week 15."
Danny Clark has been an Ohio State commitment for almost two years. He's got almost two years left of high school, and he's got (likely) two years after that until he's going to be in a position to take over the reins in Columbus. We've seen him so much, heard his name so often that it sometimes feels like he's supposed to be a completed and fully-functioning machine already.
Sometimes, it's good to remember that he's just The Protoype and stage three is coming along nicely.
