Tony Alford wore Stacy Gage out Wednesday afternoon.
Between Ohio State’s lineman and skill position camps, the Ohio State running backs coach was out on the grass fields with his four-star 2024 target, taking him through drills, working on flat routes out of the backfield with 2025 quarterback prospect Colin Hurley.
Gage knew it would be tough, hearing what to expect from 2023 four-star running back Richard Young, who Alford put through the same workout.
“He said it was going to be brutal, and I believe him,” Gage said.
But it was nothing Gage couldn’t handle. The IMG incoming sophomore views himself as one of the best running backs in the country, saying that all he’s heard from coaches is how perfect of a fit he would be in their offenses.
“All coaches say they love my mentality,” Gage said. “I always come with a dog mentality, always think I’m better than the next guy. Every coach says I can fit into their program… I feel like I can fit into any program.”
When he was on Ohio State’s practice field, working with Alford, Gage just viewed himself as next in line. He’s not intimidated by being on the same practice field that J.K Dobbins and Ezekiel Elliott were and where TreVeyon Henderson currently practices.
Gage sees himself in the same vein, working one-on-one with the one who developed each of those running backs, aiming to match or possibly exceed what they did in the college game
“With all the good running backs coming out of this program, Coach Alford coaching them, I always thought I could be one of those guys and probably even be better,” Gage said.
It’s potential Alford sees in Gage too.
The Ohio State running backs coach has been in contact with the Bradenton, Fla. native since the summer of his eighth grade year. More recently, the pair has been talking almost every week, talking about how well he could fit into the program that produced Dobbins and Elliott, how he could become a Buckeye.
Gage said he and Alford are building a relationship. But he’s not the only voice he’s hearing from to join the Buckeyes.
Ever since he committed to the Buckeyes May 9, starting Ohio State’s 2024 class, five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola has been recruiting Gage, texting the running back every day trying to bring him into the class.
Gage is also teammates with one of Ohio State’s newest commits at IMG Academy in five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate, who, according to the four-star running back, would always talk about the Buckeyes even in the midst of his recruitment.
“With him being here, that’s a plus too, just playing with him at IMG,” Gage said. “One-two punch: you can throw the ball and you can run. With him being here, we can do the same thing we did at IMG.”
Even though he is about a year away from making his college decision, saying he wants to be committed to a program before the start of his senior season, Gage sees a potential future at Ohio State, continuing the IMG-to-Columbus pipeline that Tate, Taron Vincent and Marcus Williamson was a part of.
He sees everything he wants in Ohio State, even after getting worn out by Alford on the program’s practice field in the middle of the day Wednesday.
“Really, all I am looking for is getting to the next level, being coached by great coaches and being around good players and winning a national title,” Gage said. “I really want to get to the next level, and I feel like this could be a program to do that.”
