When Urban Meyer and his staff peered at its roster ahead of spring practice, they saw youth everywhere. The lack of experience is no secret — it's been a topic of discussion ever since Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day.
Once the rest of the 2016 recruiting class arrives next month, a stunning 44 scholarship players are set to be either true or redshirt freshmen. With all those young bodies in mind, the head coach made a decision to keep his staff in Columbus on Fridays instead sending it out to recruit.
"For the first time we’re going to take power of the unit meetings, and the guys are actually off the road recruiting," Meyer said April 20. "They’re going to be out four days a week. I’m taking one day a week for them to come back for academics, for leadership training. We’ve never done that before."
The coaches are still recruiting plenty, but outside of the academic and leadership training, they intend to put an even bigger emphasis on the two hours per week they can work individually with their respective position groups.
It is crucial for a young Ohio State team amid an offseason of transition.
"(It's) huge, huge for inexperienced guys. The more opportunities we have to work with them, the better we’re going to play in the fall," cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs said. "So that rule change is significant, and it’s very significant with a team that has lesser-experienced players."
“Instead of them trying to do things on their own, they have guidance. They have some instruction, so it’s very helpful.”– Kerry Coombs
The NCAA mandated its 20-Hour rule a while ago, which outlines how much student-athletes can spend on their sports during the season. It's not necessarily followed with consistency, but the number is trimmed to eight in the offseason. Two of those eight hours are set aside for on-field instruction.
"I haven’t been here for the previous four (summers) but just listening to the coaching staff – our development, it’s the year of development, and our development right now is critical," safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said.
Schiano came to Ohio State in January as a replacement for the departed Chris Ash. He essentially had a clean slate with the youth on the back end of the Buckeye defense because both Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell turned pro, as did Eli Apple. There are holes left by starters in a lot of other areas, too.
"We have a lot of guys that have not played a lot of game time experience, and we need to get them ready to do that," Schiano said.
Two hours a week doesn't sound like a much, but it is better than nothing. Ohio State's 2017 recruiting class owns the top spot in the national rankings as of this writing, so Meyer knows how important it is for his assistant coaches to stick around campus and work with the players already there.
"Usually, it’s goner, see ya, the guy’s gone recruiting. We’re not doing that. We can’t," Meyer said. "Dre’Mont Jones has to see Larry Johnson at least once a week or everything you were taught the last four weeks is out the window. So I made a decision...every Friday is going to be spend time with your players."
Jones must become a worthy cog in Ohio State's defensive line in 2016 for the Buckeyes to fill holes left behind by draft picks Adolphus Washington, Joey Bosa and seniors Joel Hale and Tommy Schutt. With those players gone, two hours became much bigger.
"When you get some extra time to spend with your players and your young players, talk about life skills, talk about their academics, it's so important to do that. I think it's a great idea," Johnson said. "We'll come off the road Thursday night, sleep in our own beds and then Friday come in and work and find our guys to spend time with."
Stress on the time spent on the field this summer is the next step in turning all that youth into contributors.
"The limited amount of time, it’s on the field and there’s a lot of limitations with that," Coombs said. "But it’s still, instead of them trying to do things on their own, they have guidance. They have some instruction, so it’s very helpful."
