Tony Alford has had no lack of deep running back rooms throughout his tenure at Ohio State.
Ezekiel Elliott, Curtis Samuel and Mike Weber were all in Ohio State’s running back room when Alford arrived in Columbus in 2015. J.K. Dobbins and Weber formed a dynamic duo to lead the Buckeyes at the position in 2017 and 2018. In recent years, Ohio State has repeatedly had several viable running back options each year, ranging from Trey Sermon, Master Teague and Miyan Williams leading the way in 2020 to Williams, TreVeyon Henderson, Dallan Hayden and Chip Trayanum all offering quality play at the position last year.
This year’s running back unit, however, will be the deepest one Alford has ever had. Henderson, Williams, Hayden and Trayanum (who began last season as a linebacker) are all back from last season while Evan Pryor is also back on the field and healthy after missing all of last year with a torn patellar tendon, giving Ohio State five running backs who are all good enough to be the starter for most college football teams.
“Yeah, from top to bottom,” Alford said earlier this month when asked if this year’s running back unit is the deepest he’s ever had. “It's exciting. I mean, it's great to have depth. Everybody wants depth. Everybody talks about having depth. And how that gets dispersed, we'll figure that out as we go. But it's good to have depth, and it's good to have guys. It's good to have good players and proven players.”
As Alford acknowledged, the only problem with having so many starting-caliber running backs is that they can’t all play at once. In an offense that has typically featured two running backs splitting the majority of carries, it’s likely that two or three of those running backs won’t see consistent playing time. But that’s a good problem to have.
Henderson and Williams, the Buckeyes’ top two running backs for the past two seasons, are likely to lead the way again this year. But opportunities could still open up for the other running backs. After all, both Hayden and Trayanum ended up being called upon to play significant roles in big games by the end of last season – Trayanum was Ohio State’s leading rusher against Michigan, and Hayden was Ohio State’s starting running back against Georgia – because Henderson and Williams were both injured.
“You always got to be ready, because you never know when your number's called,” Hayden said. “I think everybody who followed our room last year saw that, so just staying ready.”
Given that, Alford said it isn’t hard to convince his running backs that any of them could end up playing a significant role this season.
“I don’t have to say it, they know that everyone's going to have an opportunity,” Alford said. “Now the key component is does your opportunity come exactly when you want it? But if you just stay the course, and I think that's the main thing in life, if you just stay the course, you'll get what's coming your way. And the problem is everybody wants things right now. They want instantaneous success, they want instantaneous whatever it is, and I think it's just a testament to say just keep grinding and keep playing and keep doing your job to the fullest and being the best version of yourself every day. And when your time comes, you'll be ready to go.”
Ohio State’s running backs clearly embraced that message based on the fact that all of them are still in Columbus. While there was plenty of offseason speculation that one Ohio State running back or another would look to transfer elsewhere, all five of the Buckeyes’ scholarship running backs stayed put, which Alford believes speaks to their loyalty to the team.
“You know, some people may say yes. I could probably say yeah,” Alford said when asked if he was surprised none of Ohio State’s running backs transferred. “But I also think it comes back to the locker room, it comes back to the brotherhood, it comes back to the love of one another that they have. And I know it may sound like a cliché, but it's real. Why do you say it's real? Because they're all still here. And it has nothing to do with Tony Alford the coach, it has everything to do with the love of one another in that room.
“They all had opportunities to go do other things in other facets, but they all decided to stay together as a unit and they bonded. So it's a testament to the type of kids that are in that room and the type of kids we have in our locker room.”
Despite that loyalty, Alford bristled when asked if he felt like he owed all of those running backs playing time. But he says all of them have the chance to earn playing time based on how they perform in practice.
“I don't owe them anything. I think that you get what you deserve. You get what you earn,” Alford said. “In my eyes, they've earned an opportunity to show themselves. They've earned an opportunity to get reps. It's not about owing anybody anything. They don't owe us. We don't owe them. You get what you earn, and you earn it every single day by how you walk in this building, how you carry yourself really outside the building as well.
“You earn it how you sit in meetings and how attentive you are in meetings. How intentional you are about every single rep because every single rep matters. Whether it be a walkthrough rep, whether it be a rep in the meeting room, whether it be a game speed rep, whether it be a mental rep. Every single rep matters, and you earn those. And so that's where you get reps. You do well on rep one, chances are you'll get a second or third rep. If you don't, then chances are you won't. But that's the life that we live in.”
Even Ohio State’s most established running backs are embracing the competition with one another.
“You just got to compete, man,” Henderson said. “I knew when I committed here, I knew what I was getting myself into. And that's why I chose The Ohio State University, because I know they bring in the best talent each and every year. And so I'm always just trying to compete, compete and get better. Just having that depth in that room, that pushes me harder. Every day, you got to work. Every day it's a grind. You can't take no days off, can't get complacent. You just got to work each and every day.”
Williams said he thinks the competition among the running backs makes them all better on a daily basis.
“There’s just talent everywhere. So we’re all just getting each other better,” Williams said. “We’re all just getting better each and every day.”
Alford is seeing that from his running backs in practice.
“Competition makes everybody better. Because you know if you don't do the job, the next guy coming in is very, very, very capable of doing the job,” Alford said. “And so if you're making mistakes and you're not doing well and the next guy is, well, there's your opportunities.”
“Having that depth in that room, that pushes me harder. Every day, you got to work. Every day it's a grind. You can't take no days off, can't get complacent.”– TreVeyon Henderson
With a wide variety of skill sets among them, all five of Henderson, Williams, Trayanum, Hayden and Pryor are capable of making an impact for Ohio State this season, and there’s no question that each of them are hungry to do so. But they’re also excited about what they can accomplish collectively as a unit.
“I think we have the best room in the country,” Pryor said. “Maybe the scale teeters here and there; bigger, stronger guys or maybe some of us are better out of the backfield, some of us are better in pass pro, things like that. But all around, you talk about all five of us, it’s pick your poison.”
