Even with fresh faces competing to replace starters at several pivotal positions this offseason, Ryan Day believes the Buckeyes have the right personnel in place to steer the ship from a leadership perspective.
Ohio State was undoubtedly a young squad two seasons ago. Redshirt freshmen took over the reins at quarterback (C.J. Stroud) and center (Luke Wypler), true freshmen like TreVeyon Henderson and Denzel Burke emerged as some of the top talents on the team and a slew of previously unproven commodities received opportunities at the top of the defensive depth chart. Underclassmen helped headline the Buckeye roster again in 2022, courtesy of breakout seasons from Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Mike Hall – who were all in their second years at Ohio State – just to name a few.
Twelve Buckeyes were drafted to the NFL in the past two years and five of them were first-round selections, so it’s not as though Ohio State won’t have to lean on new starters once again in 2023. But many of the young stars of yesteryear have come of age and several standouts that could have left for the NFL this offseason are back in scarlet and gray. At Big Ten Media Days last week, Day said that group has formed a nucleus that’s been the driving force behind Ohio State’s offseason thus far.
"We're just looking to win every single game and do it with a chip on our shoulder."– Cade Stover on OSU's goals in 2023
“I think everybody was trying to process (the end of last year), and me (being) one of them. There's just a range of emotions, you go from devastation to coming a play away from being in the national championship and possibly winning it,” Day said. “It's like, what just happened? I just know that there's a group of guys that are coming back, I think having Tommy (Eichenberg) come back, having Cade (Stover) come back, having Xavier (Johnson) come back, having Miyan (Williams) come back – those guys had to make some decisions, they decided to come back. It's allowed us to be a little bit more of a veteran team than we've had in the past.
“And so this offseason, they've driven it, our leaders. That's just a few of the guys. I mean, there's a lot of other guys that have done a great job leadership-wise. They've driven the offseason. So I think you can just feel that coming from our players. I think you can just feel a confidence and I think our guys are anxious to get back on the field and play.”
If anyone symbolizes tough veteran leadership for the Buckeyes, it’s Stover. An Ohio native and returning captain for the Buckeyes, Stover could have turned pro after a 2022 campaign in which he emerged as a surprise go-to target for Stroud, catching the third-most passes on the team (36) for 406 yards and five touchdowns at the tight end position. Instead, Stover said, “I don't know if I'd ever forgive myself for leaving a place like this.”
A man who takes farming just as seriously as he does football, work ethic comes second nature to Stover, whose comments about NIL and the transfer portal at Big Ten Media Days illustrated exactly why he’s the perfect player to help the Buckeyes keep their priorities straight.
“That's the last thing kids should worry about is NIL. I mean, if you really want to go do something good, you can come there to set yourself up for life once you go to the next level,” Stover said. “So, NIL has nothing to do with that. … if you come to Ohio State, you come to Ohio State to practice against the best and compete against the best every single day, not because of dollar signs.”
Stover said if incoming recruits are chasing NIL money and immediate playing time above all else, “you’re in it for the wrong reason.”
“Me and Tommy and the rest of the guys, we didn't see the field our first two years, really. Special teams, that was it. A lot of times you see that now, people go to the transfer portal,” Stover said. “And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever. I'm glad it's a thing. It's good for the kids, because coaches can leave whenever they want, so I feel like the kids should have an opportunity to do that too. But if you're leaving for dollar signs or because someone else is paying you more, that's not necessarily always the best decision.”
Harrison, another one of Ohio State’s Big Ten Media Days representatives, doesn’t have quite the same track record for vocal leadership in the Buckeye locker room. But as the face of the program and one of the biggest stars in the sport ahead of the 2023 campaign, Harrison said “I've definitely grown in that area a lot” over the offseason.
Luckily for Day and the Buckeyes, even the flashiest name on the roster – who’s earned NIL deals with the likes of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in recent weeks and projects to be a top-three pick in next year’s NFL draft – appears to be wired the right way. When asked about his goals for the upcoming season, Harrison put individual accolades on the back burner.
“I think it starts with the team up north and the Big Ten championship. I feel like I've accomplished a lot (from an) individual standpoint,” Harrison said. “I think I've played in big night games, I played in – to me – the national championship against Georgia. I've played in the team up north game. But the one thing I haven't done is beat the team up north or play in the Big Ten championship. So, to me, that's my main focus going into the season.”
Harrison responded with a firm “no” when asked if he’s given any thought to his standing as a Heisman Trophy frontrunner, saying “I just worry about winning the games, man. That's all that really matters.”
Ohio State still has plenty of questions to answer this preseason, particularly at quarterback and on the offensive line, where player development and personnel decisions will go a long way in determining how far the Buckeyes can go in 2023. But Day sounds confident in the leadership that will glue the group together through any early growing pains, and the team-oriented ambitions of his veterans serve as confirmation of that notion.
“My biggest motivation going into the season is to set ourselves up as a team to be successful at the end of the season,” Stover said. “… We're just looking to win every single game and do it with a chip on our shoulder.”
