Max Klare needed just eight practices to shed his black stripe.
On Monday, the Purdue transfer tight end became the second Buckeye to shed his black stripe this spring, joining second-year cornerback Miles Lockhart. He’s the first of this year’s midyear enrollees to have his black stripe removed.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) March 31, 2025
As elite as they come! The TE room just added a versatile guy to the Brotherhood, welcome @m4klare pic.twitter.com/J0rG69uNzc
Klare was one of the best receiving tight ends in college football last season, collecting 51 catches for 685 yards and four touchdowns for the Boilermakers. Now that he's surrounded by elite receivers like Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss, Klare wants to develop into a complete tight end that can pave paths in the run game in addition to making plays in the passing game.
“Being a tight end, it's not just about pass catching, you've got to block, and I think that's something that I want to keep developing," Klare said last week. "Going against (the Ohio State defense) every day, running routes and blocking these guys every day, I mean, it's going to make you better. I have a vision of where I want to be as a tight end, and I think this place gives me the best opportunity to do that.”
Ohio State co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Keenan Bailey has been impressed with how smooth a transition Klare has made to being a Buckeye. He hopes to see that benefit the tight end room and the offense as a whole.
“He's doing really well. Acclimating well. Probably the most impressive thing is how seamless the transition has been to our unit,” Bailey said. “On the field, he's playing well. We knew he'd play well. But just buying into the culture and being an Ohio State tight end, it comes with an air of something, some certain traits of being a tough guy, and he's embodied that.
"He's a smart kid. He's a veteran. He's picked (the offense) up really, really, really, pretty smoothly.”
| PLAYER | POS | YEAR | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| MILES LOCKHART | CB | REDSHIRT FRESHMAN | MARCH 29 |
| MAX KLARE | TE | JUNIOR | MARCH 31 |
