There’s nothing typical about the situation the Ohio State football team is currently in.
For interim head coach Ryan Day, the rest of Ohio State’s coaching staff and the Buckeyes’ players, however, the goal will likely be business as usual when they take the field for their first practice of fall camp on Friday.
The Buckeyes only have 29 days until they open their season against Oregon State on Sept. 1, and they haven’t been able to practice as a team since the spring game on April 14, so they don’t have much time to waste as they prepare for the 2018 season.
What makes tomorrow’s start of fall camp different than the typical start of fall camp, of course, is that the Buckeyes will be without their regular head coach, Urban Meyer, who is currently on paid administrative leave while Ohio State investigates whether he knew about domestic violence allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith in 2015 and determines whether Meyer should continue to lead the football program.
Additionally, the first practice of fall camp – which is typically at least partially open to the media – will now be entirely closed, as the Buckeyes understandably look to minimize distractions and focus on their football preparations.
While the coaching staff drama certainly casts a cloud over what is typically a celebratory day for the Ohio State football team and its fans, as it marks the true beginning of the season in terms of on-field practice and preparation, the Buckeyes can’t allow it to get in the way of what they need to accomplish if they want to contend for conference and national championships once again.
They have the talent to do that, but the next four weeks will be crucial for the Buckeyes to answer some of the questions they still might have about their team and begin putting their game plans into action.
Most prominently, of course, is the Buckeyes’ need to build their offense around new starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins. While Meyer won’t be around for at least the start of camp to assist in that process, Day and fellow offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson will lead the way in figuring out how they can best utilize the talents of their new signal-caller, who offers increased deep passing ability but perhaps not as much running ability as predecessor J.T. Barrett.
The Buckeyes are also likely to experiment with Tate Martell over the next four weeks, and determine how to best utilize him within their offense. His athleticism and playmaking ability as a runner could lead to a situational role in Ohio State’s offense, but that will likely depend on how well he performs in preseason practices.
Tate Martell's potential role in Ohio State's offense is one of the biggest questions surrounding the Buckeyes entering fall camp.
Ohio State is loaded with playmakers around the quarterback, returning J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber at running back and all six of their wide receivers who played regularly last season, but still have some questions up front.
Thayer Munford enters preseason camp as the frontrunner to start at left tackle, while Brady Taylor is the favorite to start at center, but offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and the rest of the Buckeyes’ offensive coaching staff will still be evaluating to determine whether they are among the best five offensive linemen along with returning starters Michael Jordan, Demetrius Knox and Isaiah Prince.
The Buckeyes also have to figure out how to set their depth chart at tight end, where Luke Farrell is expected to start but Rashod Berry, Jake Hausmann and incoming freshman Jeremy Ruckert could all also be in the mix for playing time.
Across the ball on the defensive line, the biggest question for defensive line coach Larry Johnson and his unit will simply be determining how many linemen he should play, as he’s expected to have another star-studded lineup with Nick Bosa, Chase Young and Jonathon Cooper leading the way at defensive end and Dre’Mont Jones and Robert Landers starting at defensive tackle.
The Buckeyes have much bigger questions, however, at linebacker, where they face the possibility of opening the season with three new starters. While Tuf Borland and Dante Booker are expected to play this year, Borland will miss at least the start of camp as he continues to recover from an Achilles injury, while the Buckeyes plan to be cautious with Booker, who is coming off a pair of shoulder surgeries. That leaves Malik Harrison, Baron Browning, Justin Hilliard, Keandre Jones and Pete Werner to continue competing for the opportunity to start as camp opens.
In the secondary, meanwhile, the Buckeyes have perhaps their biggest personnel question at safety, where Isaiah Pryor, Jahsen Wint, Amir Riep, Brendon White and incoming freshman Josh Proctor are all among the players who could still emerge as the starter in what has been called a “wide open” competition alongside Jordan Fuller. The Buckeyes appear to be loaded with talent at cornerback, but with Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette, Jeffrey Okudah, Shaun Wade and Marcus Williamson all candidates for potentially significant playing time, new cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson must determine the most effective way to rotate at the position.
Regardless of position, fall camp is an important time for young players – especially true freshmen who just arrived on campus in the summer – to develop and potentially earn playing time. Ruckert and Proctor will be just a couple of the true freshmen to watch in fall camp, as others who could push for playing time including defensive tackle Tommy Togiai and cornerback Tyreke Johnson – who were both on campus in the spring – while running back Jaelen Gill, offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, defensive tackle Taron Vincent and linebacker Teradja Mitchell are among those who could prove too talented to keep off the field.
Above all the personnel questions and scheming for the games to come, though, the most important part of fall camp in the wake of this week’s developments might simply be bringing the coaches and players back together in an environment where they can focus on football again.
It could take some time for Day and the other coaches and the players to adjust to Meyer’s absence and the additional responsibilities they must take on as a result, but they’ll have the next four weeks to figure that out in case they do need to proceed forward without Meyer when the season begins. That process will be especially important for Brian Hartline, who just became Ohio State’s interim wide receivers coach last week after Smith was fired.
Perhaps the most crucial development of fall camp, especially as it begins without Meyer on Friday, will be team cohesion. The Buckeyes will be without their top leader when they take the field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Friday afternoon, but it will be important for the rest of the coaches and the player leaders – veterans like Prince, Jones, Fuller and wide receivers Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon, among others – to ensure that the team remains undivided in their pursuit of their goals on the field.
The Buckeyes were originally scheduled to practice at 3:30 p.m. Friday, but after closing the practice to the media, they moved that practice up to 9:30 a.m. instead.
Ohio State has not yet announced a full schedule for fall camp, as it planned to do Wednesday, in the wake of the Meyer investigation. It is expected, though, that the Buckeyes will take the field for a practice on the vast majority of days over the next four weeks as they gear up for the start of another football season.
