Tywone Malone knows that the pressures of hard work make diamonds, but to realize a gem of a football career, he had to let his ambitions go on another type of diamond.
His whole life, the Ohio State transfer portal addition had played baseball. He desperately wanted to pursue both sports in college, to the point that the Buckeyes were eliminated from contention in his initial recruitment when they only offered him a chance at one.
After two seasons at Ole Miss, however, reality set in. Malone’s football career had started to take off. He saw the field in 13 games in 2022 and made 10 tackles. As for baseball, he only appeared in six of the Rebels’ first 29 baseball contests and went a measly 1-for-10.
It was time for a change, both in attention and in location. Malone retired from baseball and entered the transfer portal.
“I had been playing it my whole life,” Malone said. “It’s different not playing it, but I just feel like it was the best opportunity for me and my family to focus on football.”
Malone called Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who asked him if it was truly what he wanted to do. Malone said yes, and in short order, he was on his way to Columbus.
“He’s a great kid, great family,” Johnson said. “Had a great conversation with his mom and dad. He felt comfortable here. I thought he did when he first came here (during his recruitment). He just really wanted to play baseball. I think that was his decision. Now he wants to dig in and play football. We’re happy to have him, and he’s a great fit for us.”
Setting his gaze on the gridiron has accelerated Malone’s development.
He feels that, now that he no longer has to worry about going to batting practice or fielding grounders, he’s been able to refine all the elements of playing along the defensive line.
“Better technique, getting used to all the blocking schemes,” Malone said. “How guards react, how guards pull, stuff like that, trying to get my hands on (offensive linemen), pass rush. It’s different because when you fully lock in on one thing, it’s easier to understand and learn.”
"When you fully lock in on one thing, it’s easier to understand and learn."– Tywone Malone on his decision to retire from baseball
A move away from baseball wasn’t the only move Malone made in transferring from Ole Miss to Ohio State, even if the latter transition was literally and figuratively smaller.
In the Rebels’ scheme, Malone often lined up in either a 4i-technique, on the inside shoulder of the opposing offensive tackle; or a five-technique, on the outside shoulder of said tackle. In Ohio State’s 4-2-5 scheme, the plan is for Malone to be a three-technique, lined up on the outside shoulder of the opposing offensive guard.
While the difference is in the range of two to four feet against offensive lines, it changes the player that Malone will key on from the tackle to the guard. Not that he feels it’s much of a to-do.
“It’s easy. I’ve been playing it since high school,” Malone said. “I’m used to it. I know how to read the guards.”
Some elements of baseball transfer over to the football field, Malone said, such as the torque required to generate power on a swing helps with shedding blocks.
“I would probably say hip mobility because you’ve got to get used to swinging the bat, trying to catch up to a fastball,” Malone said. “That also helps with my pass rush then too, trying to get my hips through.”
Junior defensive end JT Tuimoloau, one of the team’s top leaders on the defensive line, has seen a strong work ethic from Malone through the summer and the first few weeks of preseason camp. Tuimoloau believes that has something to do with Malone's background balancing multiple athletic pursuits.
“Him being a two-sport athlete, he’s used to grinding, no time, no breaks,” Tuimoloau said. “When he came here, he took the mindset he had and brought it and upped it one more notch.”
With that hard-working mindset and the way his on-field performance has been trending of late, Johnson believes Malone will immediately impact the team’s defensive tackle rotation.
“I think he’s going to have a great impact. I think all those guys are,” Johnson said. “The thing about the inside guys, they’ve got to complement each other. They each have something different that I like.”
