Ohio State’s offense figures to look a bit different in 2017.
When a program hires a new offensive coordinator, that’s typically the case.
With Kevin Wilson calling plays for the Buckeyes next season, there will surely be some minor tweaks and changes to the scheme. A complete overhaul, however, this is not.
That’s what some of Ohio State’s players said anyway.
“Yeah, so one of the main things that we've talked about, it's not like we were awful by any means,” quarterback J.T. Barrett said Sunday. “It was more of we weren't just lighting up the scoreboard. We had the yardage, the yardage was still the same with where we wanted to be, but it wasn't the 50-point games that we expect at Ohio State.”
“That's the main thing: We have the train running, but we just gotta make sure that it's going full speed.”
Most of Ohio State’s coaches are out on the road recruiting now with National Signing Day just over one week away. That means Wilson and new quarterbacks coach Ryan Day haven’t had a ton of time to work with the Buckeyes’ returning players. They’re currently focused on finding new ones.
Because of that, there hasn’t been a ton of discussion yet between the staff and players regarding the specific changes that will be made.
“We want to attack it more vertical, I know that, and do a little bit more spacing wise,” offensive lineman Billy Price said. “But other than that, nothing too drastic and just the changes everybody was expecting.”
As any running back would, Ohio State’s Mike Weber said he’s hopeful the Buckeyes run the ball a bit more under Wilson. Weber added his first meeting with Wilson featured a conversation about a player he once coached: Adrian Peterson.
“I haven’t really studied it that much, but he gave me a good background on how he was,” Weber said. “I talked to [running backs coach Tony] Alford and like I said, [Wilson] a really energetic guy and he seems enthusiastic when it comes to running and passing the ball so I’m excited about it.”
As Eleven Warriors’ own Kyle Jones pointed out, many of Wilson’s offensive philosophies and concepts are similar to Urban Meyer’s. That’s how football works. Coaches pick up different things from each other and combine them with their own personal beliefs to mold something together. There won’t be a ton of drastic changes for Ohio State.
Where things may differ, however, is the way which Wilson calls the plays. That’s what can potentially help the Buckeyes return to the dominant offenses fans grew accustomed to seeing.
It will take some time for Ohio State to implement these changes and how effective they will be remains to be seen. Few would argue, though, it wasn’t something that needed to be done — Barrett included.
“You're always trying to figure out new and better ways on how to continue to grow and get better,” Barrett said. “I think that's just when you're one of the top teams in the country, that's how you operate.”
