Not long before Ohio State headed to Ohio Stadium for its annual Spring Game, Kevin Wilson pulled together his position group. Wilson looked each of the Buckeye tight ends in the eye and asked, "What do you want to work on?"
“They said, 'We're not doing enough passing.' I said, 'that's May, June and July,'” said Wilson, hired in January as Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator to revamp a unit that had gone stale. “When we get shoulder pads on a little bit for these 15 days, we need to thump a little bit and block and pass [protect].”
May is four days old and counting. Classes and final examinations are over and some players are diving headfirst into their internships, be it at ESPN or the Ritz Carlton. The time away from football is necessary but won't last long. As the Buckeyes trudge toward the warm Columbus summer months, the ball is in their court.
“We made some great strides in spring but to me when the coaches get removed, I think those kids can have huge jumps in the passing game,” Wilson said. “And really keep moving these next three months.”
Ohio State stressed throwing the ball down the field this spring, that isn't a secret. After struggling mightily to keep J.T. Barrett's jersey clean against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, pass protection represented another top priority. Wilson and new quarterbacks coach Ryan Day also needed to get acclimated with their new personnel. To do so, they infused a boost in tempo for the offense on top of other drill work throughout the course of 15 practices. Players now must use those teachings to take the needed steps forward.
“I kept telling the tight ends, we need hundreds of good days. And I don’t need you to do better; I want this day again. And I want another good day and another good day.”– Kevin Wilson
“If you like your role, enhance it. If you don’t like your role, make it better,” Wilson said. “Do we have weaknesses? I guess. A lot of weaknesses. But I kept telling the tight ends, we need hundreds of good days. And I don’t need you to do better; I want this day again. And I want another good day and another good day.”
Wilson said his greatest concern out of the spring is the lack of "quality depth" at all positions on Ohio State's offense, either due to injuries marooning players to the sideline this spring like Marcus Baugh.
“It would be nice to see what he can bring to the table,” he said.
The hunger and desire to enhance things offensively after only gaining nine first downs against the Tigers were both expected and apparent during March and April to not only Wilson and Day but also their boss. Barrett and the other quarterbacks let it fly as the group stressed the vertical passing game. The coaches on the other side of the ball noticed too.
“A guy might be covered, and they’re throwing it anyways. They’re giving those talented receivers a 50-50 chance of going up there and getting the ball,” cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs said. “Because you do that over and over again, the receivers learn to catch them.”
Meyer said when spring practice opened that the added zip and excitement happens every year, with players finally getting a chance to workout on the field as opposed to "getting their brains kicked in in the weight room." He (obviously) demanded that it continue. With some players set to enter the NFL patrolling the sidelines, the ones currently on Ohio State's roster shouldn't need much more motivation to do so.
“Some guys are walking around here, like Gareon Conley, Pat Elflein and Malik Hooker,” Meyer said on March 7, the first day of spring drills. “Just do what you have to do, do it as hard as you possibly can and I have so much confidence in our training staff and weight staff and our group of assistant coaches, you do what you're asked to do and you'll become very good at your skill set.”
With the calendar flipped to May and school out for the summer, it is on the players themselves to keep the pedal to the floor and emphasize the little parts of the game. Ohio State's defense ranked as one of the nation's best in 2016 and doesn't show any signs of slowing despite losing three defensive backs in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Its offense remains under the microscope, one that shines brighter with each passing day ahead of the season opener at Indiana on Aug. 31.
“I just think we’ve got a lot of talented players that can play and you just want to see hungry and how humble and drive they stay in the summer,” Wilson said. “You’re in a selfish world where ‘How many times am I going to get the ball?’ or ‘How many times am I going to run it or throw it?’ or ‘Who’s going to start?’ I just want to see our guys continue to get better.
“I’d just like to see our offense keep stacking up good days, to have the momentum that an offense has, to have the swag. And to me, there’s just a little energy that you bring and I just want to kind of keep building the energy as we go through the summer and preseason.”
