Day wants “callous” and “edge” to this year’s team
Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (left) and offensive tackle Dawand Jones (right) salute each other after a big play during this year's spring game while quarterback C.J. Stroud (center) looks on. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
Ohio State’s first official practice of the 2022 season is now in the books and head coach Ryan Day didn’t pull any punches when asked what he expects to see throughout fall camp from this year’s team.
“Toughness, discipline and skill. Those are the three areas we really just want to focus on,” he said after the first question asked by a member of the media during the post-practice press conference.
“You know, overall toughness in preseason. And the reason we say this is because we have to keep each other upright, we have to take care of each other, we got to work with each other. But at the same time, we got to build that callous and that edge, so that’s the first thing.”
One overall area of toughness that some in Buckeye Nation questioned throughout last year was the defense.
After ranking ninth in the Big Ten in scoring (22.8 points per game) and total defense (373 yards per game) as well as versus the pass (246/gm) and sixth against the run (126.8/gm), Day had seen enough and wiped out virtually every position on his defensive staff except for defensive line coach Larry Johnson.
Gone was defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs as well as defensive backs coach and de facto DC Matt Barnes, who was shipped two days after the Rose Bowl. Barnes summarily accepted a job as the DC at Memphis on the same day. Two weeks later, Coombs got the hook. Five days later, though, the Cincinnati native returned home when he accepted a position on Luke Fickell’s staff as the Cincinnati Bearcats’ cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator.
Then there was linebackers coach Al Washington, who was booted on the same day as Coombs. Three days later, he was named to Notre Dame’s staff by first-year head coach and former OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman as their defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator.
Finally, there was Greg Mattison, who spent the last two years of his near 50-year coaching career as co-defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes but decided at 71, it was time to call it quits.
In now at DC is Jim Knowles, who spent the last four seasons at the same position with Oklahoma State and eight seasons prior to that as Duke’s DC. He will be pulling double duty this year as he also takes over for Washington as the LB coach.
Former cornerback Tim Walton returns “home” after spending the last 13 years as a coach in the NFL. The Georgia native and Buckeye alum was a four-year letter winner and 25-game starter for John Cooper’s teams from 1990-1993 and will be OSU’s secondary coach with a focus on the cornerbacks.
In an odd twist, and one could almost see as a coach swap with the Bearcats, Perry Eliano left Fickell’s staff after only two seasons as their cornerbacks coach to become Day’s safeties coach merely one day after Coombs was let go. Eliano comes in with 17 years’ worth of being a defensive coach in one fashion or another and coached two now-NFL cornerbacks from Cincinnati’s college football playoff-making team last year in Thorpe Award winner Coby Bryant as well as first-team All-American and the No. 4 overall pick, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.
So far, Day said he’s liking what he sees out of his new defense.
“I think our defense has more experience coming into this year (and) I really like what we’re doing schematically.”
Indeed, Ohio State is bringing back a slew of talent from last year’s defensive squad that should look vastly different.
Back at defensive tackle are fifth-year Taron Vincent and super senior Jerron Cage as well as sophomores Tyliek Williams and Mike Hall, Jr., who both looked impressive in their limited amount of time on the field last season. On the edges are seniors Zach Harrison, Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Tyler Friday, who is returning after being sidelined all of last year. Stellar sophomores Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau are also back and looking to parlay off of their solid freshmen efforts.
In the secondary, senior safety Josh Proctor returns after missing virtually all of last year with a shoulder injury he suffered against Oregon. Fourth-year safety Ronnie “Rocket” Hickman is back after starting all 13 games last year and led the team with 100 tackles and had two interceptions, including one for a touchdown. They will be joined by Oklahoma State transfer Tanner McCalister, who followed Knowles from the Cowboys after starting 24 games the past two years and tallied single-season highs last season with 42 tackles, six pass break-ups and one interception. Also figuring to be in the safety mix are third-years Kourt Williams II, who got his first start in the Rose Bowl after starter Bryson Shaw transferred, and Lathan Ransom, who played in all 13 games last year.
At cornerback, true sophomore Denzel Burke is back after an amazing freshman campaign where he started all 13 games – and was the first true freshman to start on defense since linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer did so in 1996 – broke up 12 passes (tied-for second in the conference) and had one interception, which was a 23-yard pick-six against Rutgers. He was named a third-team All-Big Ten as well as a freshman All-American by ESPN, The Athletic and 247Sports.
Also back is fifth-year and split-time starter Cam Brown, who is the most experienced returning CB with 32 games played tucked under his belt. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten last year.
Then there are the linebackers. A position at Ohio State that typically screams honor and privilege for anyone who dons the scarlet and gray.
However last year was one where the position was seen as the weakest link on the team. So much so that Steele Chambers made the move after spending three seasons at running back and having played, as he put it, “a little bit” of linebacker in high school.
The move proved fortuitous as he played in all 13 games, started five, finished fifth on the team with 47 tackles and tied-for fifth in tackles for loss with five. And this year, the LB’s could be the backbone of the defense with everybody else that is coming back.
Returning is fourth-year Tommy Eichenberg, who finished second with 64 tackles, 6.5 for-loss, and balled out in the Rose Bowl with 17 tackles.
Cody Simon returns for his third season after starting 10 games last year and finishing fourth on the team with 54 tackles.
Bolstering the middle are fifth-years Palaie Gaoteote IV and Teradja Mitchell, the latter of which was a captain last year and eight-game starter. Also looking to chip in are Ohio natives DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum, C.J. Hicks and Gabe Powers. Trayanum is a third-year after spending the last two with Arizona State at running back but played LB at Akron Hoban and won All-Ohio Division II honors at the position his junior season. Hicks and Powers are true freshmen but could immediately see the field. Hicks is a five-star, was the top-rated overall recruit in the state and was the nation’s No. 2 LB. Powers is no slouch also coming in as a five-star ranked right behind Hicks as the state’s No. 2 overall player and top-50 nationally on the way to winning Ohio’s Mr. Football for defense as well as being named the Gatorade player of the year.
Day said during this year’s Big Ten Media Days that he wants a top-10 defense. On Thursday, he said if the offense is expected to be a top-caliber offense, then the defense should have those expectations, too.
“Someone said, ‘well why would you say it has to be atop-10 defense?’ I’m not saying it has to be, I’m just saying that that’s the expectation. It’s the expectation on offense. I mean, this is Ohio State, you know. We should be top-10 in special teams. (If) we want to be the best in the country at what we do, then we should be held accountable to that. That’s the goal and that’s what we’re working to make sure happens. And if we do have a top-10 offense, top-10 defense and top-10 special teams, then that will give us a chance to reach our goals.”
Ohio State’s fall camp practice schedule is as follows:
Aug. 4-5-6 | 8-9-10-11-12-13 | 15-16-17-18-20| 22-23-24-25-26-27 | 29-30-31
Sept. 1-2.
Media availability with certain coaches and player positions are on these dates:
Fri., Aug. 5 – Coach Alford and RBs
Mon., Aug. 8 – Coach Frye and OL
Tue., Aug. 9 – Coach Knowles and LBs
Thu., Aug. 11 – Coach Day
Mon., Aug. 15 – Coach Day, Coach Wilson and TEs
Tue., Aug. 16 – Coach Johnson and DL
Thu., Aug. 18 – Coach Dennis and QBs
Mon., Aug. 22 – Coach Day, Coach Knowles
Tue., Aug. 23 – Coach Walton and CBs; Coach Eliano and SAFs
Wed., Aug. 24 – Coach Hartline and WRs; Coach Fleming and STs