Ryan Day, Ohio State’s coordinators and what’s up with offensive line recruiting: Buckeye Talk podcast

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State has started Week 2 of spring practice as it prepares for the 2025 season.

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss what head coach Ryan Day, offensive coordinator Brian Hartline and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia had to say after one full week.

Plus, some offensive line recruiting talk.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk.

Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.

Stephen Means (00:57.582)

Welcome back to book I talk I’m Stephen means and that’s Andrew Gillis Stefan feeling a little under the weather. He’ll be back tomorrow. We talked with Ryan day Matt Patricia and Brian Hartline after how’s each force practice of the spring get the text from 435 or 3315 to each for trial 399 after that all that information was going to your phone first before anywhere else we did videos on it too. But that was again that was after the text we wrote about it but that was after the text everything comes after the text because it’s a two week free trial and it’s 399 after that 614.

35.3315

Stephen Means (01:32.882)

Andrew I wouldn’t call Monday like the most interesting like there wasn’t a lot of stuff that came out of that practice right it was Essentially, they’ve had four practices. They’re just kind of going through stuff right now And so there’s nothing really newsy happening right now other than Ryan Day saying it’s an honor that they’re going to the White House Which when you win championships you get invited to the White House you accept it or not They’re going the week after the Eagles are going But the one thing I think we haven’t talked to Ryan Day about

At least not in significance is the fact that Austin Cerebell keeps repping at tackle, right? And we were in there for the first two days of practice last week. He was at left tackle with the ones we all think Ethan Owen Yawa, the rice transfer is going to be the starting left tackle. We think that Minnesota transfer Philip Daniels is going to be starting right tackle, but Austin Cerebell has been wrapping at left tackle with the ones and Ian Moore, the second year tackle has been wrapping at right tackle with the ones.

simply because they’ve been here longer, but just the fact that Austin Ceravel’s been at tackle in general, maybe we were seeing it as lack of depth there, they’re trying to just build depth, that’s different spots, but then over the weekend, Austin Ceravel earns Iron Buckeye honors. And so maybe you put a little bit more credence to that. Why is Austin Ceravel repping so much at tackle according to what Ryan Day has to say about it, Andrew?

Andrew (02:58.886)

Well, you know, one of the first things is that he mentioned that he kind of hopes he can start somewhere on the line. And I think they’re trying to find a spot for him. know, you like Ryan, when he was talking about him, you know, he talked about like being an iron Buckeye out of the winter. And he was basically like, yeah, that’s big. You know, that’s a big deal. You know, so I think he said, quote, that’s the goal when he’s talking about Austin Cerebell being a starter on the offensive line. And I think

you know, if you were to give him and Tyler Bowen and Brian Hartline maybe truth serum and say like, you know, what’s the deal? think they would say we, kind of know what he is as a guard and we’re trying to figure out if he’s a tackle. you know, because you’ve already got, as we’ve mentioned, a hoard of options on the inside. You’ve got Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinsman, Tegor Shmola. That could be you starting left guard center, right guard. Then you got Josh Padilla pushing. Does Gabe Van Sickle make a second year push?

You still have Austin Cereveld on the inside who is in that mix too. And I think, you know, he mentioned, I didn’t get a chance to ask Ryan this, but I wanted to ask him about, you know, the value of cross training and what attributes a player has that lets you know, and, you know, that they can do that. And, and maybe something that, you know, kind of allows you to say like, okay, well, maybe this guy can do this. And clearly they think he can play tackle or else they wouldn’t be trying it. And I’m.

I’m now open to the possibility that Austin Cereveld is penciling his name in among the best five offensive linemen maybe a little bit sooner than we thought. I think maybe we thought there was gonna be more of a competition and I’m kinda starting to think like he wins Iron Buck Eye, he’s got brought up a couple of times, he’s starting at tackle, like is this someone that...

Even if they look at Ethan Owen Yawa and say you’re a better left tackle, if they just say Austin Cerevel is one of our five best offensive linemen and he’s going to play someone.

Stephen Means (05:10.232)

But what if he plays everywhere?

Andrew (05:14.958)

He could play everywhere. He could play everywhere. And I guess he is the interesting piece, maybe, to this offensive line because.

Look, it’s opening days this week for baseball. Happy official start of spring, everybody. One of the things that baseball teams try to do is they have a utility infielder on their team or a utility outfielder or like in my team’s case, the Baltimore Orioles, they have a guy named Jorge Mateo who they played at shortstop in second base. And then they’re like, actually, what if he could play center field? Let’s try that. And if Ohio State is indeed going to rotate their offensive linemen.

Maybe he’s the guy who, I don’t know if you want to do this, but like, I don’t think anything’s off the table. Does he play left tackle one series and then play left guard the next series? Like, is that something that you would want to do? just, I look at Austin Cerebell and I see like a guy who, maybe you just look at him as your utility offensive lineman and as like almost like a utility infielder where you’re like, you know what? One day he’s second baseman, one day he’s third baseman, the next day he’s DH.

And that’s just the way it works. And I’m wondering if that’s the way that they’re going to look at Austin Cereveld say, you know what, we need him at tackle, but next week we’re going to need him at guard. I don’t know, but I do think the possibility, like you said, of him playing everywhere is on the table.

Stephen Means (06:40.526)

So he played 495 snaps last season. 307 of those came at left guard and 188 of those snaps came at right guard. So they were all guard snaps, he was, and a lot of that was really, he played both positions against Tennessee and against Oregon. He played 46 snaps against Tennessee. 27 of them were at right guard. 19 of them were at, excuse me, 27 of them were at left guard. 19 were at right guard. And then at Oregon,

Against Oregon, he played 28 snaps at left guard and 12 snaps at right guard, 40 total. Then he didn’t really play that much against Texas. They just kept looking Montgomery out there though. I don’t think he was completely healthy the last two games and he played 27 snaps at right guard in the national championship game.

Stephen Means (07:25.23)

This is would not be the first time a hostage rotate his offensive line. did it back in 2021 when they had Matthew Jones as their number six and they were rotating him on the interior with Paris Johnson and Thayer Monfort. Now some of that was because guys are not completely healthy in the middle of the season, but I’m wondering between that and then also what happened with the offensive line last year and the way Ryan Day was talking about cross training multiple.

He said that multiple times between when we talked to him this Monday and last Monday and the idea of getting through a 16 game season What if they’re just good? I don’t know They just want a national championship rotating their guards and I know Andrew. No, you don’t usually want to do that. Sure But you also typically didn’t play 16 games have to win a national championship in college football, right? There’s this there’s a new way that you have to do things So if Ohio State is building a lot of depth

And they just watched a regular season play out where they won a national championship where the only position that was not healthy enough to throw out their best possible day one unit was the only other unit other than quarterback where they did not play more people than the starting lineup requires you to play.

I am wondering whether Ryan Day and Tyler Bowen and Brian Hartline and Keenan Bailey are looking at this and going, I don’t know, maybe we should rotate our offensive line because it’s going to maximize this group and get them to the finish line. I am now, this is the, I’m looking for takes out of the spring that aren’t hyperbole. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that Ohio State wants to get to the point where

If they have seven playable guys, those seven guys are playing every single Saturday. Even if the guy rotating in is only playing 15 to 20 snaps, that’s just enough to where it’s a legitimate rotation on the offensive line. And that is why Austin Cereveld is playing tackle. It’s why Tegra Shibola is playing guard and tackle. It’s why Luke Montgomery is doing center and guard stuff is they are going to play depth.

Stephen Means (09:41.012)

on the offensive line, not just in blowouts, but purposeful depth. Like it’s the third series of the game. And let’s just say Austin Cerevelle is a backup guard and the starting guards are Luke Montgomery and Tegra Shabola. Well, series three, we look out there and it’s Tegra Shabola and Luke Montgomery, or it’s Tegra Shabola. Luke Montgomery is still the guard, even though when y’all was playing left tackle and Austin Cerevelle was playing right tackle. I liked how you said utility.

because I think Austin Ceravell is going to play a lot even if he’s not a starter.

Andrew (10:16.722)

I’m starting to think like as we talk about this like Ohio State, like I said, we did a video on this at the Woody. Go check that out on YouTube. Go check out our YouTube page. have lots of other takes where surprisingly there are different takes that we have. We do talk about some different stuff on our YouTube page compared to this. So go check that out.

Ohio State wasn’t, their plan wasn’t to do that, right? Like obviously you would have rather had Josh Simmons. And I’m starting to wonder like, did Ohio State accidentally figure something out with the way that the beginning of the season happened? Because does Austin Searaville play as well as he did with Carson Hinsman and Luke Montgomery if they don’t play against Akron and Western Michigan, right?

If they’re rolling in there and they’ve got nine snaps and they’re in mop up duty when it was 45 nothing against Purdue, is that are they rolling into Tennessee with confidence and with, you know, swagger and with an ability to to take the game over like they did in the four playoff games? I don’t know. And I’m wondering if Ohio State’s looking at that. I look, I’m I’m what I’m saying is I think that it’s it’s on the table. I think everything is on the table as we as we talk about this offensive line.

And Austin Searveld is kind of the linchpin to this. And it’s like, okay, well, if everything’s on the table, maybe they just look at last year’s Austin Searveld season where he could play left and right guard and go, you know what? We got to the end of the year. And when S hit the fan, we were able to move guys in that weren’t coming in cold off the bench going, hey man, welcome to college football. You see that guy right there? That’s Derek Harmon. Good luck. Like what? Like that’s not what they had to do. These guys.

Stephen Means (12:07.469)

Yeah.

Andrew (12:07.986)

played football. I’m wondering if they’re looking at it going, if we can build up 100 snaps before midway through the end of the year, and then we get to the playoffs and we’re saying, you know what, all five guys on a field, the five best are going to play. We’re putting them out there and we’re not taking them off the field because these are the guys that we got to the end of season with. And then somebody goes down, you’re not in trouble. I wonder if the beginning of last year gave them maybe some enlightenment that they otherwise would not have had.

Stephen Means (12:38.574)

Is this anything I rotate them? Why now? You rotate defensive linemen?

Can’t you rotate the offensive? How come? Why does Luke Montgomery have to play 75 snaps when the defensive tackle he’s going against is only gonna play 20?

Stephen Means (12:58.478)

I don’t know if it’s, I don’t have a pain on it. I just think this is what they’re going to do this year because last year told them they probably should do it. One, because you need to have, apparently you need to have a guard who can swing out and play tackle and do it at a pretty high level. Donovan Jackson told you that. But also if you’re going to move your left guard out the left tackle, you need to have a guard behind him who can play pretty well too. Oh yeah.

And when you need to move that left guard over the center because your center got hurt, he needs to be able to play center at a high level. And the guy you bring in after him to play guard needs to play it at a high level as well. I think that is what’s happening right now. I think the mission for Tyler Bowen right now is it goes back to when we were previewing the spring and I said what I wanted the goal to be. And I said, can they get to 10 guys by the time they start fall camp? I think they’re on.

I think what I’m thinking on the same page that they’re thinking, can we get the 10? It doesn’t mean 10 guy. It doesn’t mean they’re going to be having line changes on the offensive line throughout the season, but it’s a combination of we’re going to rotate six and seven are going to play legitimate snaps every single game. Eight, nine and 10 need to be ready to play football for us and us not bat an eye at it. And it did seem like last year they were batting a lot of eyes once guys got hurt because once you, was top heavy.

in the middle class and lower class weren’t all that great. They just schemed around it enough that it didn’t cost them a championship and they don’t want to be in that position again. So I think it’s a necessary overcorrection for a group that is very deep on the interior and not very deep on the exterior. So if that means that a guy who has literally never played a single snap of tackle in his entire career.

495 snaps, all 495 came last year. If that means moving that guy six, five, three, 20 out of the tackle, then I guess so be it. Anything else of note that you felt like we learned on Monday from Dave, Patricia or Brian Heartline?

Andrew (15:12.028)

So yeah, there was a couple of just tidbits. You know, one of the other writers there, Spencer Holbrooke said like, we didn’t learn anything, but there were some interesting notes and it was more interesting than newsworthy. Like you kind of listened to it and you’re like, all right, well, I don’t know what new we learned here, but something that I thought was interesting and something that I did think just he really hadn’t talked about it before. And now that he’s been on the job a little bit, Matt Patricia talked about recruiting a little bit.

And maybe this is a good segue into what we want to do later in the pod, like, you know, he got asked like point blank, like, how do you not be too hard on these kids? You know, how do you not look at a 16 year old and say, well, I just came from, you know, coaching in the NFL where there’s, you know, dudes who are hall of famers or dudes who are pro bowlers and, you know, dudes who don’t need to learn the game. And it’s literally just like,

Can you put these guys in the right positions and scheme them up in the right way? Because they’re all good. Whereas high school, you know, this is something that Chip Kelly said. It’s your coaching and you’re teaching more. And that was something that I do think you’re going to hear a lot from any coach that comes from the NFL back to college at Ohio state or otherwise. They’re going to talk about how much they love to teach the game because, you know, there are linebackers that come in and, you know, this is something that I wanted to ask Mac Patricia. It’s like,

You have a bunch of freshmen linebackers. That’s a mental heavy position. Like he used to teach those guys how to play college linebackers. So he talked about recruiting and I just thought it was interesting where, you know, he did mention that he was like in those meetings. He did mention he was sitting down. He did mention that he was meeting these kids. Like I think there were some people that maybe thought it and frankly, I think probably us a little bit too, whereas, you know, maybe going to be a little bit more of a hands off approach. I didn’t get that impression. Not to say that he’s going to be leading recruitments for defensive linemen or linebackers.

know, corners or safeties. Those are all the position coaches job, but I think he might be a little bit more involved. you know, we talked about, you know, kind of football intelligence and really basing things off of measurables and height, speed, and all that kind of stuff. you know, he’s joked, you know, Hey, it’s been a little while for me, but you know, the whole thing has completely changed. And I just, I always think it’s interesting when you have people who haven’t been in the recruiting sphere for a little bit, come back into recruiting and go, this is recruiting in 2025.

Andrew (17:38.026)

and they have their reaction to it. So, you he talked about being direct as possible. And I think him talking about being involved in recruiting was something to me that we hadn’t really heard him talk about a lot. And I thought that that was pretty interesting.

Stephen Means (17:53.87)

This is the second time we’re talking to him It’s not like he’s a lot of opportunities I think the good thing that came out of that is it sounds like he’s a little bit more involved than Jim So that essentially answers that and that’s not a knock at Jim Knowles at all. Please don’t take it though It’s just that’s not what Jim Knowles brought here to do his prior scheme and he did a darn good job of it I mean they had Especially the last two years they’ve had one of the better defenses in the country and in year one They kind of have one of the better defenses country. They just had some

Andrew (17:55.771)

Of course, of course.

Stephen Means (18:21.418)

Nairt flaws where they gave up some explosive plays, but it built on itself. It does seem like that is going to be more prevalent with Matt Patricia that he’s going to be kind of out there. Now, is he out there boots on the ground traveling around the country recruiting? I guess we’ll see right when another open period opens up and these players are going, Hey, great to get a visit from this guy. May is going to be interesting to watch from Matt Patricia, but at least in terms of

There were a lot of kids in the building on Monday, like lot of kids, like full fledged, whole schools were in the building on Monday.

Andrew (18:57.232)

Yeah, Winton Woods out of Cincinnati, which is obviously home to Jermaine Matthews, Justin Hill last year committed to Bama. Really, really good football program done in Cincinnati. They had like eight kids or 10 kids, it felt like.

Stephen Means (19:07.724)

Yeah, yeah, so it’s it but that’s what’s happened. That’s what’s been practices. It’s practicing and also recruiting where the kids get some come see you so at least from that standpoint he seems to be involved there. I guess we’ll see in May how involved he is in terms of being boots on the ground out in these different high schools and whatnot. That’s going to be interesting to watch as well. Cardinal Tate and Brandon Ennis will be participating in Ohio State’s pro day on Wednesday.

Ryan Day said they’re still finalizing some things. It doesn’t sound like Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are be doing it. I know in the past they’ve had young stars do it and those are the two biggest stars in the sport. I think Caleb Downs not doing it, it’s not that shocking. mean, it’s a safety and you know, safety don’t rely on other people in order to go through their pro days. Wow, I do think it’s interesting if Jeremiah Smith actually doesn’t end up doing it, they’re not doing it. I wonder whose decision that was for a guy that I’m sure.

NFL scouts while paying attention to the 17 guys who are going through pro day. They would be salivating over him as well. I am a little intrigued that he’s not doing it, but Kayla Cardinal, Tate and Brandon is who will be draft eligible year from now. We’ll be going through the process and I think that’ll be fun to watch as well. In terms of stuff we heard. This again, one of the most newsworthy day, but there was, as Andrew kind of hinted at there, a lot of recruiting things.

going on, have been some interesting people in the building over the last couple weeks. So let’s take a break and then we’ll talk about some people here on Buckeye Talk.

And we’re back on Buck I Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis coming to you after we talk with Ryan Hartline and Matt Patricia after their fourth spring football practice. Andrew, there have been a bunch of interesting people in the building and a lot of them have circled around the offensive line. I swear every other day there is an offensive lineman tweeting out a picture that he was in Ohio Stadium. Where would you like to start?

Andrew (21:11.344)

I want to start with Sam Greer because I think Sam Greer, this is going to sound hilarious. I think Sam Greer might be more important than anybody else on Ohio State’s recruiting board at this moment in time. And the reason why I think that is this.

Stephen Means (21:32.077)

Okay.

Andrew (21:36.162)

Sam Greer is a really, really talented offensive tackle out of Archbishop Hoeven up in Akron. have talked for, Stephen, how long have you done podcasts on this here program and talked about, talked about offensive line recruiting? One of the things that we have talked about a lot was basically, Hey,

Stephen Means (21:54.126)

I dunno.

Stephen Means (21:59.182)

Well, I’ll try.

Andrew (22:04.402)

you need to lock down your state’s borders and more specifically, you need to improve your offensive line recruiting. Well, Sam Gur the number 188 overall prospect for the 247 sports composite rankings. He is the number seven player in Ohio, the number 17 offensive tackle. I talked with him, he only had just a few minutes, so I was able to, but I was able to talk with him about his visit down here last week.

Couple things stand out, and I think Sam Greer is the perfect vehicle to talk about a couple other guys. Sam Greer, again, is a really, really talented offensive lineman, and it’s very clear Tyler Bowen is aggressive as all you know what in this cycle, and he has been. They have other kids that, again, we can talk about here in a few minutes, but Greer talked about immediately hearing

from Bowen on Zoom and FaceTime calls. And he mentioned to me, it’s always great to have somebody that has played the offensive line. He said, typically you talk offensive line coaches and they’re guys that have been in that position for 20 or 30 years, but he’s been a play caller. He has that experience and that was really cool for him. From the vibe that I got from Sam Greer, I liked what I heard of

where Ohio State’s chances are now. He said Michigan, Miami, he was just at Michigan, so this has already happened, but Michigan, Miami, Georgia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Florida, and Florida State are all on the docket for him over the next few weeks. He does have an Ohio State official visit scheduled, but he is still finalizing things. So he said, I’m not gonna announce that until I have everything ready to go, until I have all of my official visits scheduled and locked in. So he will get back on campus for an Ohio State official visit here.

in these next couple of weeks. Well, I guess a couple of weeks now, because we’re already in late March. I think that this is a great vehicle to talk about because he proves that Tyler Bowen is being aggressive as all get up trying to get these kids down here, which there has been a lot of them. He is one of Ohio State’s most important recruits left just because he is at a position of need. He is from an in-state school.

Andrew (24:26.73)

And he is from a program that has produced former Buckeyes in the past. Like this should be something that Ohio State does win. And, you he mentioned to me like, Hey, look, you, you know, you hear all the time, like, you know, all fans tell you to go to Ohio State or whatever, but you got to find a place that fits you. So he is taking a very smart, you know, level-headed approach to this. He’s a great kid. And a couple of times that I’ve talked to him, seems very level-headed, incredibly nice, just as...

He’s approaching this as objectively as you can, which is the way that you should approach it. He’s letting everybody kind of give him, you know, their pitch and kind of hear what everybody has to say. He wants to make a decision that he knows is going to be best for him. And I think when you map it out, Sam Greer landing at Ohio state, that would give you two top 200 prospects in the class. have Maxwell Riley, who just committed a couple of weeks ago, two weeks ago today, actually, as we record this.

He’s a four star offensive lineman, number 114 in the rankings. He’s probably going to be an interior player at Ohio State, but you locked down two top 200 kids in the first two months of, or first couple of months, I should say, of your coaching tenure. If you’re Tyler Bowen, that’s a big deal. And that is why I think Sam Greer is the biggest target left and maybe the most important because yeah, you can go big game hunting for a couple other guys. And there are other guys, certainly nationally.

Ohio State wants. But if you lock down your borders, as we have said for time and time again on this podcast, Ohio State’s going to like where their offensive line recruiting is

Stephen Means (26:06.776)

So that’s two. If they block this down, number one, 88 player, number 17, offensive tackle in the country. And as you mentioned, they’ve already got Maxwell Riley, number one, 14 player, number nine, offensive tackle in the country. You know, I’m looking for the big fish and those are big fish that are in your pond. Tell me about the big fish out in Missouri and what his, because I’m looking at his list here.

I know he was just here last week. There’s only one week left in June where he doesn’t have an official visit schedule. And that’s the last weekend in June. He’s going to Miami in May, Missouri in May, Georgia, Michigan and Oregon. Is Ohio State going to get this kid back on campus this summer? Or is this like a, came here in the spring, it was cool, winning culture, all this is great, but this is not really headed.

Andrew (26:59.76)

You know, I think they probably will get him back on campus another time. think one of the things with Jackson is, again, this is a national recruitment. is from Nixa, Missouri, the number one overall prospect in the class, and that’s the composite ranking. So obviously the number one offensive tackle. This is a kid that I think Ohio State is probably trying to play catch up a little bit with.

Stephen Means (27:11.65)

You know.

Andrew (27:27.856)

which is maybe not the best place you want to be, he had Ohio State in his top six, which I thought was notable, despite the changes on the offensive line for Ohio State, and that specifically means Justin Fry. So, Justin Fry leaves, it’s tumultuous, you don’t really know what’s going on. Some people shy away from that. Jackson Cantwell still put Ohio State in his top six. So, to me, that indicates a pretty long-standing interest.

and an interest in more than just one position coach. I think it’s up to Tyler Bowen. I mean, look, if you had to put your money right now on where he ends up, I don’t imagine it’s going to be Ohio State. It doesn’t seem like there’s. You know, a huge groundswell or anything like that, like there’s another kid that we could talk about here in just a second that I feel pretty good about, you know, but with Jackson Cantwell, it’s like, OK, well, he’s got all these other OV scheduled. It felt like these other schools were maybe ahead.

in his recruitment, they’ve already got Michigan June 13th, Oregon June 22nd, Georgia June 6th, Miami and Missouri there. He’s trying to get one with Ohio State. It’s like, okay, well, that to me pretty well indicates that you’re trying to catch up to those schools. So right now you would probably say no. This is a little bit...

I’m trying to, I wouldn’t compare it to the David Sanders Jr. Commitment, like our recruitment. Like I wouldn’t say that that was the mix because you know, that was Ohio State, Tennessee, Georgia, Nebraska. And it felt like Ohio State was like maybe going to get him and then one weekend they weren’t and then one weekend they were going to get him and then one weekend they weren’t. And then remember he visits at the end of the year and it’s like, my goodness, signing day soon. What’s going to happen? He visits for the Indiana game. Now we might visit for the Michigan game. What’s going on?

It like, it always felt like that was neck and neck between Ohio State. And I had his family members and people close to his circle tell me like, man, you have no idea how close Ohio State was for him. He almost went to Ohio State. I don’t know if I get that same sense right now. I think this is kind of a, I think this is a recruitment that Ohio State is trying to play catch up on. Just when you read the tea leaves and you kind of look at where things are at. But I mean, look, this kid is awesome. Like he’s a great offensive tackle. You watch his film and it’s just.

Andrew (29:53.018)

Like you see a like a future NFL tackle. Like that’s really what you see. Both of his parents were former Olympic throwers. He ran out of the tunnel in his junior season with a Waffle House flag that he was carrying onto the field. Like if that doesn’t tell you offensive lineman, then I don’t know what does. So yeah, this kid’s great. And I’m really interested to see how this one goes. But right now, if I was, you know, an Ohio State fan, I would not be banking on.

Jackson can’t well committing to Ohio State.

Stephen Means (30:25.016)

So Greer is...

That’s a must get I get it because he’s from Ohio. Those homey kids can be difficult to get sometimes. Who is the next most likely offensive line recruit?

Andrew (30:37.948)

So one of the kids that I really like is Micah Smith. He played high school football with TJ Alford down in Vero Beach. I spoke with him last year and basically just kind of like gauged the interest like, hey, like, what do you think? Like, because sometimes you can tell a kid, you know, sometimes they just don’t pick up the phone and, you know, you don’t hear from them. But sometimes you...

you talk to these kids and they can, can really sense like, no, like this is a thing. You know, this is real. And, you know, I think he really likes Ohio state and really is, you know, not all that worried about leaving the state of Florida, which is something that you hear a lot about. And I’m sure, you know, there might be people listening to this that go, wow, why are we talking about another Florida kid? You know, he’s going to get pushed late in the game from Miami, from Florida state, from Florida.

They’re just gonna throw money at him and he’s gonna decommit at the end. I’ve seen this movie before and blah, blah. Well, didn’t happen with TJ Alford. And I really like Micah Smith. He was just up here for a visit a couple of days ago. This to me is probably the next most likely kid. I like Ohio State here. And frankly, mean, you look at, he’s listed as an interior offensive lineman. I think he does have a little bit of that Maxwell Riley in him, which is to say that if you wanted to play him at tackle, you...

I think Riley’s probably going to be a guard or a center. think Micah Smith definitely has more upside at tackle. I mean, you watch him on film and, you know, I talked to his coach and you talk to him frankly and say like, what’s your best attribute? He says his athleticism and that’s something that you typically hear. He plays right tackle for his high school team. I think this is a kid that Ohio State is in a really good spot for. And if you can land him.

Yeah, you might miss on Cantwell, but he’s the number 134 overall prospect and number nine interior offensive lineman number 18 player in the state of Florida. That’s three top 200 kids, including two top 150 kids. You’re feeling really good about that. So I like Micah Smith. I think Ohio State’s doing pretty well.

Stephen Means (32:48.45)

He was at the practices we were at. is a large human being.

Andrew (32:51.202)

He’s, whoa, he’s a big boy. Good shoe game too. He had nice Jordans on. That doesn’t matter in a recruitment, but I just thought I’d throw that in there.

Stephen Means (33:02.422)

Solid compliment to throw out there about a kid. Okay, so let’s wrap with this.

Stephen Means (33:10.284)

Most pressing recruiting question for Ohio State as I mean, there’s seven days left in March. Look at that man. Just the other day we were in Atlanta watching them raise the trophy and now it’s about to be April. Most pressing question heading into April for Ohio State with a recruiting trophy.

Andrew (33:28.466)

Most pressing question, I think it still has to be the offensive line and who fits where on the offensive line and what this class is gonna start to shake out at because I mentioned Riley who’s already committed and then we talked about Greer and Micah Smith and it’s like, okay, you land them, then where do you go? Zayden Crampon, an interior offensive lineman from Texas, he was on campus today trying to get a hold of him with, you know.

looking forward to hearing about that, because I know Tyler Bowman reached out to him at the beginning of his tenure at Ohio State. you know, I think mapping out maybe the back half of this class, because look, Ohio State could have six offensive linemen committed. And then if at the 11th hour, Jackson Cantwell says, hey, guys, I want to come to Columbus, they’re saying, cool, now we have seven offensive linemen committed to Ohio State. Right. Like, like this is something where you take him no matter what. So that recruitment, I don’t think is going to stop.

I am curious, like, okay, like they’ve got him coming to visit here in the next couple of weeks. The interior offensive lineman, Darius Gray, he’s going to be here on, let me check my list here. I believe April 5th. I believe that’s April 5th. Darius Gray was that kid, Steven, if you remember, J’Keem Stewart was here over the summer and there was one kid who really kind of held his own against J’Keem Stewart and it was Darius Gray.

Stephen Means (34:46.764)

Yeah, he’s pretty good.

Andrew (34:53.958)

And Darius Gray earned an offer. So Darius Gray is coming back to Ohio State. He was here for the Ohio State Michigan game. You know, he’s a kid. think he’s now gotten a fifth star.

Stephen Means (35:03.906)

Yeah, I wouldn’t call him holding his own now. I would just say two five stars battled that day. Now.

Andrew (35:09.244)

That, you know what, fair point, good point. So I’m curious what happens there. Felix Ojo is another offensive tackle. He’s from Texas. I’m trying to think here. There’s a couple other kids. Pete Eglitas, I believe I’m pronouncing that last name right. He attends local Bishop Watterson. He’s a big boy. He’s like six, six and a half. He’s probably a tackle at the college level. Ohio State has not offered him yet.

So I am curious to see like if Ohio State gets into the mix. I just, offensive line is such a pressing need right now where I know they don’t have a quarterback committed in 26, but you feel good about where you’re at in the quarterback room. You feel good about where you’re at with the way that Carlos Loughlin is recruiting. And you know, there’s a kid favor a key from, from Delaware, you know, which Delaware, city, you

for those not based in Ohio, it’s like 30 minutes north of Columbus. You feel in a decent spot with him. Brian Hartline, LOL. Keenan Bailey’s done a good job. Defensive line, Larry’s done a pretty solid job. James Orinaitis, Macareri, Tim Walton, no questions there. It’s just you trust those guys. And for me, I’m not trying to, I’m not saying I’m hating or anything like that. It’s just...

The early returns from what you would have wanted to see from Tyler Bowen have been really, really good. I wanna see that come to fruition, or how does that come to fruition, or what steps put you in position for a good May and June? That, to me, is the biggest question, because the offensive line has been something that we’ve talked about time and time again, and they are, I think, putting themselves in a really good spot with Riley Artie in the fold, with Greer and Smith as somebody that you could look at.

There’s a kid, Chancellor Campbell, just offered Aaron Thomas another tackle. They’re really putting an emphasis on tackle. You know, they’re getting a couple other kids.

Andrew (37:14.822)

Brock Colage, a kid from IMG Academy. I believe he’s originally from California. He was just here. Like they are being as aggressive as can be on the offensive line. So my question is, how does that play out in April and May and in June?

Stephen Means (37:31.854)

It’s been a while since we talked to recruiting here, but Tyler Bowen has clearly been getting to work here on getting as many kids to campus as possible as they try to reload that offensive line room. I think you’re right. Like quarterback is the least of their concerns on the recruiting trail right now, especially since you just promoted from within. I’m sure that’s something they’ll continue to figure out.

throughout the summer here. Get the text, 614-350-3315. Two weeks free trial, 399 after that. All that information coming to your phone first before it goes anywhere else. As you’re listening to this, we are back in the Woody talking with Larry Johnson in a defensive lineman, which means tomorrow is CJ Hicks Day. I’m just gonna be real with you. Tomorrow is CJ Hicks Day, because it just seems like the way Matt Patricia talked about CJ Hicks and

I think the phrase he used was explosive power. And it just, I’m just intrigued for what this front is going to look like, not just whether it’s going to be good or not, but what it’s going to look like. And I think that Matt Patricia gave us a little insight to that on Monday. We’ll get more from Larry Johnson and CJ Hicks and Kenyatta Jackson and Kaden Curry and on down the list there when we talk with those guys.

today as you’re listening to this pod. we’ll to text 614-350-3315 and pro day later this week for Andrew Gillis. I’m Steve, it means that was Buckeye Talk.