You don't have to tell J.T. Barrett he better show up to practice ready to work. Even though there isn't a fear he will lose the Ohio State starting quarterback job, Barrett claims he is not held to a different standard than his other teammates.
It's always been that way for him, even in high school.
"Coach Jim Garfield, my head coach, he was in everybody's face. I didn't get any special treatment. None of that," Barrett said Thursday shortly after Ohio State completed its 10th practice of the spring. "I think it makes you a better player as well, not being privileged or handicapped in any way being that you're good and stuff like that."
Garfield coached Barrett at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas, molding him into the talent Urban Meyer and Tom Herman saw and wanted as part of their 2013 recruiting class. Barrett is known as an ardent worker in Columbus, a big reason he set a Big Ten record for touchdowns in a season (45) and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a redshirt freshman two seasons ago.
Barrett credits that to his upbringing and past coaches, which include Garfield, and he's used it ever since getting to Ohio State. The high-flying success he experienced in his first two seasons were in large part to the talent around him, including Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, Nick Vannett and others.
Those players are on to the NFL, leaving a massive void on Ohio State's offense this spring. Add that to the fact four of its top returning pass catchers—Dontre Wilson, Curtis Samuel, Corey Smith and Noah Brown—aren't quite full-go because of injuries, and Barrett hasn't had much to work with through 10 practices.
The offense as a whole remains a work in progress, evident by the scrimmage students and media watched a week ago on student appreciation day. But Barrett keeps his eyes focused on the process despite not having much time to throw and inexperienced receivers.
“we know we got young guys in and young receivers and all this. Those are I guess excuses that you want to make for yourself but that's not the point of it. The point of it is trying to get better as a quarterback.”– J.T. Barrett
"I think the main thing is control what you can control," Barrett said. "I think that's something that Coach (Tim) Beck helps us out with. Like, yeah we know we got young guys in and young receivers and all this. Those are I guess excuses that you want to make for yourself but that's not the point of it. The point of it is trying to get better as a quarterback."
Barrett's focus remains there this spring, as the Buckeyes sit one week out from their annual spring game at Ohio Stadium. He's the only player that wears a black, non-contact jersey in practice. So for that reason, maybe he is treated a bit differently than everyone else.
But don't expect Barrett to use a patchwork offensive line as an excuse for the offense's struggles this spring. The line is without three starters from last year—Chase Farris, Jacoby Boren and Taylor Decker—plus Billy Price and Pat Elflein aren't doing everything because they are members of the 2,000-rep club.
Still, Ohio State needs Barrett to improve as much as he can this spring, regardless who he throws the ball to in practice. The Buckeyes wish to achieve more balance offensively than a year ago, when it had 2015 Silver Football winner Ezekiel Elliott and an ongoing quarterback battle between Barrett and Cardale Jones. The end result was Ohio State finishing 100th in the country in passing at a modest 188.8 yards per game.
"The biggest thing right now is just getting him to play fast, getting him to play consistent, kind of how he did toward the end of the year and how he did in '14," Beck said Thursday. "I like what I see so far."
Barrett wants to improve his mechanics so he can throw the ball with more steam. He is much stronger than he was in 2014 when he set a boatload of conference and school records, and now is the time of the year to fine tune things a bit more.
"My freshman year in 2014 there were some throws where you would see it die," Barrett said. "So just driving the ball and having the arm strength to finish through things, that's something that I work on. I think now it's more a timing thing, just showing the young guys timing in our route concepts and that's something that as we start going we try to get better at."
Added Beck: "Most of the things that J.T. does, he has great technique and fundamentals, it's just keeping him consistent."
Barrett admitted he has to be patient sometimes with young receivers like James Clark, Terry McLaurin, Torrance Gibson, Austin Mack and more because they are still learning the intricacies of Ohio State's offense and working against the tight, press coverage the Buckeyes play. Meyer said that makes things "much more difficult" for him to improve, but he has faith in his quarterback.
"I don't really have to preach much to J.T., he's smarter than I am. He's smarter than our staff. He's a very smart player," Meyer said Tuesday. "I don't preach it very much, he understands the big picture of this thing."
Barrett does because that's how he's always worked. Every day is an opportunity to get better, a notion he urges upon the youth around him.
"We don't have game players," Barrett said. "You gotta make plays in practice in order to make plays on Saturdays. I think that's something that definitely been preached to the young guys. Practice is who we are and we take practice very seriously here."
