Luke Montgomery has been at Ohio State twice in the past two weeks to work out with his future offensive line coach Justin Frye, and he’ll also be back at Ohio State each of the next two weekends.
Montgomery is still more than six months away from actually enrolling at Ohio State as a member of the recruiting class of 2023. But he’s trying to take advantage of whatever opportunities he can get to learn from Frye in order to jump-start his preparation for the next level.
“It’s opened a lot of doors honestly,” Montgomery said of having multiple workouts this month with Frye. “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been working on them on my own. It’s just stuff that we don’t do in high school. And a lot of new stuff. I’m still really new to the position, but it’s been really awesome. Really taking it in and just being able to take that to my own game with my own technique.”
Montgomery made his first trip of the month to Ohio State on June 7, when all three of Ohio State’s current offensive line commits in the 2023 class – Montgomery, Joshua Padilla and Austin Siereveld – were all on campus for the Buckeyes’ third camp of the summer. The three of them went through a private workout with Frye as well as a workout led by both Frye and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson that also featured tight end commit Ty Lockwood.
Ohio State offensive line commits Luke Montgomery, Austin Siereveld and Joshua Padilla getting in drill work with Justin Frye. pic.twitter.com/Uweq2KyFtx
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 7, 2022
Ohio State 2023 commits Ty Lockwood (@TyLockwood7) and Luke Montgomery (@lukeMonty8) running through drills with Justin Frye. pic.twitter.com/DA1dq8D1Lu
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) June 7, 2022
That was the first time all of those future Buckeyes had the opportunity to work out together, and Montgomery enjoyed that glimpse into the future.
“Being able to work out with them for the first time, just knowing that that's gonna happen the next four years every day, four or five years whatever it is,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery was back at Ohio State on Thursday to support his Findlay High School teammates, including his younger brother Ryan, as they participated in OSU’s 7-on-7 tournament. While he was there, Montgomery had the opportunity to go through another workout with Frye alongside some of Findlay’s other offensive linemen.
While his brother Ryan participates in Ohio States 7-on-7 camp, Luke Montgomery is getting in some work with Justin Frye. pic.twitter.com/IgyT8s6IkS
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 16, 2022
The older Montgomery, who has only been playing on the offensive line since last year after previously playing tight end and defensive end for the Trojans, said the biggest thing he learned from those two workouts were pass protection techniques.
“I never really knew how to do that,” Montgomery told Eleven Warriors after Thursday’s camp. “I’m really, really not used to it. And I learned a lot these past couple weeks. Definitely hips and stuff like that, being able to drive kids off the ball, staying low.”
Montgomery, who is currently the highest-rated prospect in Ohio State’s 2023 class as the No. 42 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings, also watched the Buckeyes practice this spring and has had multiple opportunities to watch film with Frye. He’s doing all of that with an eye toward improving as much as he can before he begins his OSU career in January as an early enrollee.
“I’m just working on as much as I can, just being ready for when January comes when I'm actually here for forever,” Montgomery said. “I’m watching a lot of film, watching installments with them every time I can up here with the O-line and stuff, and I’m just learning a lot from them. It’s only gonna help me out in the long run.”
Montgomery will be back at Ohio State on Saturday to hang out with this weekend’s official visitors, including Padilla, Siereveld, Lockwood and fellow commits Mark Fletcher, Dijon Johnson and Bryson Rodgers as well as a multitude of uncommitted targets. Montgomery will make his own official visit to Ohio State next weekend, the final official visit weekend of June before a recruiting dead period goes into effect.
During those visits, Montgomery will be focused on trying to recruit other visitors to join him in Ohio State’s 2023 class. Montgomery didn’t want to give a specific answer, however, when asked which players he’ll be recruiting hardest over the next two weekends.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that we’re going after,” Montgomery said. “Everyone’s No. 1 to me. We gotta get them here and make this team awesome, to make this the best class there’s been in a long time.”
As excited as Montgomery is for his future at Ohio State, he’s also excited for his senior season at Findlay. After his upcoming visits to OSU, Montgomery will shift his focus back to preparing for his final year of high school football. He’s hoping to lead the Trojans to even more success this fall than they had last year, when they went 9-3 and made it to the regional semifinals of the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
Knowing he is already in the midst of his final year as a high schooler, Montgomery says it feels like time is flying by. But he’s trying to make sure he lives in the moment while also making sure he’ll be ready when it is time for him to make the move to Columbus, about 90 miles southeast of where he lives now.
“This is my last summer of high school. Next year I’m on campus working out every day and stuff like that,” Montgomery said. “Really excited about that, but I’m just taking that time and really just being here in the moment. Because it’s my last time in high school. When January comes around, I’ll be here … I’m in the moment now. I don’t want to take that and look forward ahead and miss out on stuff when I’m in the moment right now.”
