As Kerry Coombs watched his young defensive backs play during Ohio State's Spring Game last month, he inserted the final puzzle piece into his brain for where the secondary stands ahead of summer. Coombs puts plenty of stock in how Shaun Wade, Jeffrey Okudah, Marcus Williamson, Kendall Sheffield and others performed on a big stage.
And it wasn't always smooth sailing.
“They played more plays and longer stretches than they had all year,” Coombs said. “They [were] picked on.”
Ohio State's annual scrimmage was geared to be an offensive showcase with new coordinators Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day calling the shots and a battle between quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow taking center stage behind J.T. Barrett. Points were aplenty for both teams, and receivers often ran open down the field.
“There's so many responses that we don't know yet because they haven't been in that position with us.”– Greg Schiano on Ohio State's young DBs
Gareon Conley, Marshon Lattimore and Malik Hooker were noticeably absent.
For Coombs, however, a master at exporting top NFL secondary talent, how he and Greg Schiano see those young bodies and minds bounce back this summer and ahead of fall camp is of the utmost importance. It will determine whether or not they can break into a rotation that includes returning starter Denzel Ward and multi-year players Damon Arnette, Rodjay Burns and Joshua Norwood.
“They're very talented, it's just a matter of how will they respond,” Schiano said. “There's so many responses that we don't know yet because they haven't been in that position with us.”
Coombs called the Spring Game "one of the most valuable experiences" the young defensive backs could go through and saw certain growing pains he needed to from them. Wade, Okudah and others all got beat at one time or another. But those two rebounded and made plays on the final drive of the game, knocking away passes to ensure the Scarlet team's 38-31 victory.
Getting beat and giving up big plays that lead to points should make players "sick to their stomachs," according to Coombs. It is all part of the process.
“What our offense did in the course of 15 days, the pressure they put on those kids with the deep ball throws, is experience they won’t ever be able to get back,” he said.
Now with Okudah, Wade, Williamson and Sheffield all in school for the summer after enrolling early — though the latter is a junior college transfer — they have to stick to their guns and move forward both in the classroom and on the field. All are mature and driven enough to have completed the necessary coursework to already be on campus, with another highly ranked prospect, Amir Riep, on his way next month.
Keeping their heads on straight and reacting properly to problems that arise, either football-related or not, well play an integral part in whether Coombs or Schiano puts them on the field this fall.
“How will they respond when they get beat for a touchdown? How will they respond when they have an issue in class or an off-the-field issue that distracts them? Will they be able to come out here and block it out?” Schiano said. “Those are all things you learn about newcomers that we have to wait and see.”
Summer is a time for growth for players regardless of position. But with Ohio State needing to replace three NFL defensive backs for the second straight year, the onus is on Coombs and Schiano to analyze every little detail possible so there isn't a drop off from Hooker, Lattimore and Conley.
“We didn't feel like we had a 1, 2 and 3 last year, we felt like we had three starters,” Schiano said. “I could see that happening again this year, but it really depends on the development of our corners and how they do.”
