“Excitement” is always a fun term to use when it comes to offensive line play.
It’s counterintuitive to the casual football viewer to talk about the position that way. Calling a one-handed Jeremiah Smith catch exciting is easy, calling a clinical pass-blocking rep that set the preceding throw up exciting is more difficult to explain.
But there’s an undeniable excitement about Ohio State’s interior offensive line considering the quartet of experienced pieces they return to the guard and center positions.
“Extremely excited,” center Carson Hinzman said. “Trying to just build that culture back up again, like what we had last year. We're trying to do a little stuff here and there, like I think we're going to Ray Ray’s barbecue tomorrow. So shoutout Ray Ray’s. But yeah, just trying to get that brotherhood back, get that O-Block spirit back. Shirt is coming soon.”
New starters and depth concerns might need to be sorted at offensive tackle, but indications are the Buckeyes will be able to rely on their interior offensive line as a cornerstone of their program with Hinzman, Luke Montgomery, Austin Siereveld and Tegra Tshabola putting in exciting dirty work.
“I've been impressed with the depth, the experiences that they've had,” new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen said. “There's a lot of guys that have experienced a lot of football, a lot of different fronts, a lot of different looks. And they can draw back on those experiences, so you see that in practice.”
The irony of the experience Bowen mentioned is that only one of the four men listed above, Tshabola, was a starter at the onset of the 2024 season. But each ended up playing a pivotal role in Ohio State’s 2024 College Football Playoff national championship run, particularly in the four-game CFP gauntlet that closed it.
Hinzman had one of the rockiest paths. After struggling in 2023 as a redshirt freshman and new starter at center, he started 2024 on the bench before setting the World ablaze with a series of mauling starts at left guard following an injury to starting left tackle Josh Simmons that forced former left guard Donovan Jackson to kick outside. Then, after center Seth McLaughlin suffered his own season-ender, Hinzman had to move back to center.
He struggled early in his readjustment as Ohio State found little traction running the football against Indiana and Michigan. But come CFP time, things clicked for him and the offensive line. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed just five total pressures and no sacks during the four-game march. Now, coming into 2025 as the clear starter at center, he wants to emerge as his unit’s leader.
“I want to be able to be a guy that people can fall back on,” Hinzman said. “And like coach was saying before, we're going to have highs and lows, but the great players (are) the ones we can set our clocks to. And that's my goal, is to be one of those people that you can do that.”
“I want to be able to be a guy that people can fall back on.”– Carson Hinzman on leading Ohio State's offensive line
Siereveld received his first career start in the first game of the 2024 season, filling in for an injured Jackson, and stayed involved from there. Rolling with Tshabola at right guard for most of the year after Jackson came back in game three, Siereveld accrued 495 snaps of experience, including 130 in the CFP, where he started two games at left guard.
He’s come back and attacked this offseason with a different fervor, earning Iron Buckeye honors for how he attacked winter workouts.
“It's a privilege,” Siereveld said of being named an Iron Buckeye. “It shows all the hard work everyone puts in, me, Sonny, JJ. And it shows that coach Mick really trusts us, and the process, and all the hard work and effort we put in this offseason.”
That unsatisfied attitude is consistent from Ohio State’s interior offensive linemen. They aren’t resting on the laurels of a national title win.
“I think Caleb (Downs) said it pretty well, I don’t think we’ve done anything yet this year,” Hinzman said. “I think wanting to be the best player (possible) for your teammate is important. You can win a national championship and you can be full and everything like that, and all of a sudden you get your teeth knocked in the first game. And you can’t have that happen, because then it really doesn’t mean anything. So just the constant mindset to continually get better has been at the forefront of my mind.”
Siereveld is also a microcosm of the cross-training that Bowen has employed with his unit as spring has gone on, an effort to both get his veterans multiple looks for a well-rounded game and to develop depth, particularly at tackle, where Siereveld has spent a lot of time these past few weeks.
“I think my role is just anywhere,” Siereveld said. “I'm going to find a place to play, wherever it is, left, right, inside, outside. I feel like they're going to find a place for me to play, and I'm just trying to get better as a player and as a human being.”
Montgomery played the least of the four in terms of total snaps but by the end of the season he emerged as arguably Ohio State’s best guard option with Jackson at tackle. He started rotating at left guard with Siereveld in the CFP. By the semifinals against Texas, he had claimed the left guard job full-time as Siereveld and Tshabola kept rolling.
Bowen’s been impressed by the junior since he took over for former offensive line coach Justin Frye. Montgomery’s busted noses from paving roads in the CFP were memorable, but only because he busts up opposing defensive linemen in kind.
Luke Montgomery after the Rose Bowl win@FootballFindlay @montymont6 @lukeMonty8 pic.twitter.com/Kj2zMBS3Ks
— Mark Kunz (@MarkAKunz) January 2, 2025
“Just physicality,” Bowen said of Montgomery. “I think he's working hard at that part of his game. The ability to win the first touch in pass pro, how he's trying to approach it. And then also starting to see a little leadership from, we gotta continue growing in that regard in the room in general. But him and those leaders up front. But I think Luke's done a great job. He's been very focused this spring.”
Montgomery is confident he and the rest of the IOL will be a strength for Ohio State as he aims to secure this year’s starting left guard spot.
“No doubt,” Montgomery said. “We have a motto of, we only go as far as our O-line goes. That's true to the offense. We're only going to go as far as we want to go. And obviously with that, you have to find the voice and be the true leaders of the front. You've got to be able to control things. … We all have to be one up there.”
The depth and experience of the Buckeyes’ interior bunch has been palpable to transfer portal acquisitions Ethan Onianwa and Phillip Daniels, as well as Ohio State’s incoming freshman slobs.
“Just the knowledge that they have,” Onianwa said. “They’re really good (at) helping me understand the system, and they’re really good with the points and everything. They're really good communicators, which is something that I haven’t (experienced).”
Thus, while they’re still learning and growing their games, Ohio State’s offensive line could be the bedrock of the Buckeyes’ offense. And that’s exciting.
“Ups and downs for sure,” Montgomery said of spring practice. “But it's been great so far. That's the beauty of it here. You're going against guys that are as good as you and you've got to use that technique against them to be able to beat them and stuff like that. Just continue to learn every day. Continue to enhance what you're doing and get better, and then if you’re struggling in some areas, you’ve gotta figure out why.”
