No other player in Monday’s national championship game has a more complete understanding of what it took for both Ohio State and Notre Dame to get there than Lorenzo Styles Jr.
Before Styles transferred to Ohio State to play cornerback in 2023, he spent two years at Notre Dame playing wide receiver. With his current team and his former team now the last two teams standing in college football this season, Styles feels good about both college decisions he made.
“Clearly, I've picked good schools,” Styles deadpanned while meeting with the media on Wednesday.
Styles transferred to Ohio State in 2023 after deciding that a move from offense to defense would give him the best chance to play in the NFL. While Notre Dame wanted Styles to stay in South Bend and play cornerback there, Styles felt joining the Buckeyes and being coached by Ohio State secondary coach Tim Walton would set him up best for long-term success.
Now in his second year as a Buckeye with one more season of eligibility, Styles has become an important role player for Ohio State. He leads the entire team with 232 snaps played on special teams this season while he’s also mixed in situationally as a sixth defensive back in the Buckeyes’ dime package, typically lining up as a slot cornerback when he enters the game.
Styles, who’s expected to replace Jordan Hancock as Ohio State’s starting nickel cornerback next season, feels he’s grown significantly in his second season with the Buckeyes after taking a redshirt in year one.
“I've grown more passionate about the game, just who I'm playing for and why I'm really doing it,” Styles said. “But my overall skill set, getting some of that game play, I get to really just match the speed of the game. I’ve played a bunch of different receivers from different schools, different body types, etc., things like that, so being able just to be more dynamic, being blitzed and do things of that nature.”
He’s appreciated that he’s had the opportunity to play on some crucial downs for the Buckeyes this season and views the Buckeyes’ late October win over Nebraska – in which he played a season-high 29 snaps with Jordan Hancock filling in for Lathan Ransom at safety and forced a key third-down incompletion late in the fourth quarter – as a turning point for him to become a bigger part of Ohio State’s defense.
“From there, I think my trust started to go up with the program,” Styles said.
Now, Styles has his sights set on doing anything he can to help his new team win a national championship by beating his old team. But he still holds his former team in high regard, saying there are “a lot of similarities” between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
“I’ve played with some of those guys. I have a lot of respect for that program. I have a lot of respect for (Notre Dame coach Marcus) Freeman,” Styles said. “I'm just excited for the matchup overall.”
Even though he decided Ohio State was a better fit for his move to cornerback than staying at Notre Dame, Styles isn’t surprised by the success the Fighting Irish have had this year. Freeman was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator for Styles’ freshman year at Notre Dame before becoming the Fighting Irish’s head coach at the end of the 2021 season, and Styles could see then that Freeman had all the qualities to be a great head coach.
“I'd say a lot of it is because he has Ohio State roots,” Styles quipped about the former Buckeye linebacker. “But honestly, Coach Freeman, when he first came, the team, they really took him in when I was at Notre Dame. I remember him first coming in the locker room (when Freeman was named head coach) vividly, and everyone in the team jumped up. Another thing that sticks out to me, before every single practice, he dapped up every single player in line. So he's a really players’ coach. And he works real hard. I just saw the dedication he had, how much he cared about the program, the players, and being that Notre Dame man. So I have a lot of respect.”
Styles says he’s remained close with several of his former Notre Dame teammates who are still playing for the Fighting Irish, though he isn’t talking with them much this week.
“I did talk to them, but those conversations were short-lived. I told them I can't be talking to the enemy for too long,” Styles said with a laugh.
Lorenzo Styles Jr. was a Notre Dame receiver for two years before transferring to Ohio State. (Photo: Michael Caterina – USA TODAY Network)
Styles’ girlfriend is also a Notre Dame student, though he says she’ll be cheering for the Buckeyes in Atlanta.
“We actually had a conversation about this, so she should be in Ohio State gear if anyone sees her,” Styles said.
Styles has fielded some questions from his current coaches and teammates about his former team as the Buckeyes prepare to play Notre Dame, though he says he got more of those questions before last year’s regular-season game in South Bend than he’s gotten this week. Notre Dame has a new offensive coordinator this year (Mike Denbrock), so Styles doesn’t have as much inside knowledge on the Fighting Irish’s current offense as he did a year ago.
That said, he has thought back on his time in South Bend as he’s prepared to face his former team on college football’s biggest stage. Specifically, Styles has reflected on tug-of-war drills that were a part of Notre Dame’s offseason workouts and used that as a metaphor for the matchups he could face against some of his former teammates on Monday.
“Going against some of the guys in those one-on-one matchups in this game's kind of like that tug-of-war,” Styles said. “There's going to be some momentum swings, and when they blow the whistle out there, we've got to make sure we're pulling it to our side.”
