2023 Ohio DL camps at Ohio State, and talks about his visit

It was a short trip from Pickerington (Ohio) to the Ohio State campus for class of 2023 defensive lineman Kobi Gorman, but a half-day of work could lead to some big things for the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder out of Pickerington Central high.

Wednesday was Ohio State’s first on-campus camp of the season and that provided Gorman an opportunity to work closely with Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson and learn from the iconic teacher.

“I got to work with coach Johnson a lot, he taught me a lot of good stuff. It was definitely great working with him, because he knows exactly what he’s talking about.” Gorman said. “It was great learning from him and having him get to finally see me work out.”

Gorman already holds a handful of offers including Indiana, Toledo and Cincinnati and that list is sure to grow as the rising junior has two more years of high school football left to play.

This is not just about offer hunting for Gorman however, he is working hard at improving his game and make himself out to be the best player possible.

Up until now, most of his college correspondence has been by way of Zoom or other electronic means. Having the chance to work with Johnson along with coaches like Kennedy Cook and under the watchful eye of other coaches from around the MAC and beyond, it was a day well spent, both on the field and off.

“After the workouts and all the camp stuff, I got a chance to visit and go to Coach Johnson’s office. We broke down some film of practices he has his actual players do, and he showed me some of the stuff they do.” Gorman said. Then he went back on the camp stuff that we had just done, and he showed me some little things I can work on.

“He just really breaks stuff down for you in slow-mo so you can really see what he’s talking about. They’re just small things but I can see how they can make a huge difference in the end.”

That off-field coaching meant a lot to Gorman as he got plenty of reps during camp, but the more individualized attention really allowed the young player to break things down.

That opportunity also allowed Johnson to give the talented lineman some things to work on as both sides work on developing a relationship as this recruitment starts to take off.

“Coach Johnson and (myself) got to talk in private about where he sees me and how he wants to see more. This June… he would like to see me and then when everything opens up again in September, he wants to see me a lot.” Gorman said. “He wants to see me a lot then so I can just keep building the relationship with him.”

Working out on the field of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was a treat as well, and while Gorman has been to the facility before, he got to see parts that he never had the opportunity to visit.

“I had been inside of the indoor field multiple times, but I had never been in other parts of the Woody, so that was a first time for me to see all of that. Gorman said. “The whole place just has a lot of history to it, that’s a huge part of the University. You walk through the halls and everything has something to do with the history of Ohio State football. It was one of the coolest things for me to see, I just loved it.”

There has been a steady pipeline of players from both Pickerington high schools to Ohio State and if Gorman did end up at Ohio State, he knows his family would not be unhappy about Kobi’s opportunity and being part of the visit was just as big of a treat for them as it was for Gorman.

“Both my parents grew up around Columbus and they always grew up Ohio State fans. So, for them to see it all in person, it was amazing, and really special to them.” Gorman said.

And if Ohio State did eventually end up offering?

“It would be a real hard one to turn down once considering everything. I think I’ll just have to wait and see but I hope it happens.” Gorman said.