COLUMBUS: Sixteen Ohio State starters are gone, including nine juniors.
The mass exodus to the NFL prompted OSU coach Urban Meyer to predict that the March 11 pro day will be the biggest in the history of college football. On Monday, 38 scouts showed up for a briefing on the draft’s early entrants.
That’s enough to make even die-hard fans worry about how the Buckeyes will fare this season against “The Team Up North,” Michigan, and “the green team,” as assistant Kerry Coombs referred to Michigan State on Wednesday.
But as the Buckeyes brought in a 25-man Class of 2016 that was ranked second in the nation by Scout.com, third by Rivals.com and fourth by 247 Sports (ahead of Michigan in all cases), Meyer coined a new phrase. And with it comes an encouraging precedent.
Meyer will surely think of something to match “The Chase” and “The Grind” in the next few months, but for now this is “The Year of Development.”
If that sounds alarming, Meyer compared this juncture in the program to the same period in 2014. But the spring of 2014 laid the groundwork for the Buckeyes’ run to the national championship.
“I consider it a lot like ’14, and ’14 turned out real good,” Meyer said during his weekly radio show on 97.1 (WBNS-FM). “Our coaches did a really good job developing them.”
But as he discussed his fifth Ohio State recruiting class, Meyer acknowledged during a news conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center that “this will be as critical an offseason as we’ve ever had.”
While seven of the recruits have already enrolled, Meyer expects 18 of the 25 to play this season. As he so painfully saw with nine players leaving early for the NFL after he expected at most seven, Meyer knows many of his recruits will be in Columbus for only three years. So he will insist that freshmen play more than he ever has.
“Sometimes position coaches protect themselves by saying ‘The kid doesn’t know what he’s doing, so I’m not going to give him those reps,’ ” Meyer said. “I’m not going to allow that this year. Last year was so hard because we were very loaded, an older team. This year, we’re pushing them out there.”
That should eliminate comments from players like safety Vonn Bell, who said at the Fiesta Bowl that he believed the Buckeyes would have beaten Michigan State in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game if he had been allowed to play as a freshman. There may no longer be a remark like one a Buckeye made before Troy Smith took over at quarterback that they had a player on the scout team who was as good or better than their current No. 1.
Not that J.T. Barrett is in danger of being usurped. But with so many holes to fill, Meyer doesn’t care if several are filled by freshmen.
The approach, and the comparison to 2014, puts the pressure on the coaching staff, especially as spring ball starts March 8. Meyer brought in Greg Schiano as associate head coach/safeties coach to replace Chris Ash, who left for Rutgers, and hired his former Bowling Green assistant Greg Studrawa to direct the offensive line. He said they are excellent teachers, just like the rest.
It will be up to them to bring out the best in the returning Buckeyes and determine the 18 freshmen who will contribute, perhaps heavily.
Meyer couldn’t help but think back to two years ago and remember the transformation.
“Eli Apple wasn’t Eli Apple. Zeke Elliott was a guy that looked very average his freshman year,” Meyer said. “Then you throw in Steve Miller, Curtis Grant, Darryl Baldwin, all these guys that became very good players.”
Earlier on his radio show, Meyer went further.
“Who’s going to be the Darron Lee, the Eli Apple who steps up?” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunity. Ohio State usually doesn’t have this much opportunity if you’re a young player coming in.”
Meyer will use those memories to push his players, his assistants and his support staff to make sure there is no drop-off from a 26-2 record and victories in the College Football Playoff and the Fiesta Bowl the past two seasons.
While pro day may be historical, in Meyer’s eyes it may be only the warm-up act.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.