Seth McLaughlin won’t be able to play another snap for Ohio State this season, but he isn’t letting that stop him from continuing to help the Buckeyes however he can.
Just one day after he suffered a season-ending Achilles tear during Ohio State’s first practice of the week on Tuesday, McLaughlin was back at Ohio State’s practice on Wednesday as the Buckeyes continued their preparations for this week’s top-five matchup with Indiana.
Seth McLaughlin (left) is in the building today even if his season is over pic.twitter.com/szzEfXGsaN
— Stephen Means (@Stephen_Means) November 20, 2024
The fifth-year senior transfer from Alabama has been lauded for his leadership all year long as Ohio State’s starting center, and Ryan Day expects him to continue providing that leadership in a different way even though he’ll have to watch the rest of the season from the sideline.
“He's going to be with these guys,” Day said. “And he's almost like a coach.”
Day said McLaughlin will undergo surgery to repair his Achilles next week and expects that McLaughlin will need some time to recover away from the facility after undergoing that surgery. Otherwise, McLaughlin will continue to be with the Buckeyes for games, practices and meetings for the rest of the season and continue to help the team however he can. And Day thinks he can be a valuable resource for Ohio State’s other offensive linemen in his new role.
“He knows these guys well. He knows what's going on in terms of the calls and knows the dynamics,” Day said. “It's one thing to have a coach. It's another thing to have a player or a peer that you can go to for certain things. There's some things you can talk to your coach about that are easier to talk to another player about. Just about preparation, guys who have been through it, been through it this year, know the team dynamics, things like that. And so he's going to be around these guys the best he can, the most he can.”
Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom, who was in a similar position to McLaughlin last year when his season was cut short by a Lisfranc injury in his foot suffered in Ohio State’s eighth game of the season against Wisconsin, said it meant a lot to him and his teammates that McLaughlin was back at practice so soon after his injury.
“It says so much about Seth, the type of player he is, the type of leader he is,” Ransom said. “He could have just been at home right now just in his sorrows. But he's out here helping the team out, man. That says a lot about him, and we appreciate him for that.”
Senior left tackle Donovan Jackson, whose veteran presence on Ohio State’s offensive line becomes even more important now that McLaughlin and original starting left tackle Josh Simmons are both out for the season, said McLaughlin isn’t just a great player but an incredible person. And the rest of the Buckeyes’ offensive linemen will look to emulate McLaughlin both on and off the field as their season continues.
“He brought that maturity, he brought that experience over to here (from Alabama), and he kind of rubbed off on a lot of the guys in the room about what we need to do and how we need to get there. He's seen it, he's done it at the highest level, and so he's been an integral part of the leadership in our O-line room of trying to get everyone on the same page,” Jackson said.
“Seth isn’t a role that you can fill. He was his own unique individual, and so I can only do what Donovan Jackson can do as best as I can. And it's not just me. We have a lot of experienced guys on our O-line. Me, (right tackle Josh) Fryar, (new center Carson Hinzman)'s obviously two seasons playing now, and so we all have our individual experience, so we're just trying to come together as a unit to try to just shuffle around, just once again, try to put the best product on the field.”
