Tyseer Denmark made a statement the first time he touched the ball at Ohio State’s 7-on-7 camp Thursday.
The 2024 wide receiver out of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia was found on an out route along the right sideline. The nearest defensive back wasn’t even close, coming only within two or three steps of the 5-foot-11, 180-pound receiver that has gotten the attention of programs like Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M and USC.
But that was just the start.
Denmark continued to dominate on slants, staying two or three steps ahead on crossing routes with opposing defensive backs barely touching him, bringing him down in the two-hand touch event.
There’s a reason why wide receivers coach Brian Hartline was there for every snap. There’s a reason why both quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis and head coach Ryan Day made sure to stop by.
Denmark showed off talent that was worth watching. And he knew people were watching.
“I definitely feel comfortable up here. It feels like home,” Denmark, the No. 21 wide receiver in the 2024 class, told Scarlet and Gray Report. “Every time I come up here, it’s love.”
More importantly to Denmark, though, was the opportunity to get back in front of Hartline.
As soon as the Ohio State wide receivers coach offered him in December, the 2024 four-star receiver said he’s been talking with him seemingly once per day, eager to teach him how to improve on his position, whether it's getting in and out of reads or developing more efficiency catching balls.
Really, for Denmark, Hartline is preaching to him everything he preaches to the receivers in his locker room.
“Everything because up here, he makes his receivers go 100% every day,” Denmark said.
When he got the Ohio State offer, Denmark said that his recruitment exploded, saying that Notre Dame, Michigan State, Michigan, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Oregon and USC, along with the Buckeyes are showing him the most love.
But it doesn’t matter how much love the schools show, Denmark said. It’s about how he feels, a part of his recruitment he’s going to wait on until he can have coaches reach out to him in September.
Ohio State was different for Denmark, though.
“When I got Ohio State, I cried,” he said. “Coming from where I came from, I grew up kind of rough, getting it, fulfilling my dreams the way I really dreamed of it was amazing to me.”
For Denmark, that work ethic came early, crediting his family for instilling in him the ability to be two or three steps of the defensive backs he faced Thursday.
When he was 5 or 6 years old, he said, members of his family would wake him up at 5 a.m. to work out.
"I would catch bricks," he said. "You don’t want to let the brick hit you, so you had to catch it. I would catch bricks, I would catch tennis balls.
“It was there at a young age. Them pushing me that hard at that age, you know, the best criticism comes from your family.”
And it’s something Denmark continues to do: push.
The 2024 four-star receiver continues to work out, aiming for faster and stronger hands, aiming to improve his finishing ability and efficiency on routes.
He knows he’s good. He knows he has “super efficient” hands and can catch the ball easily, but that he can still improve.
It’s why he’s not looking back to where he came from, but instead looking forward.
“I gotta keep going,” he said. “You can’t go backwards. I got to continue to pursue forward. If you go backwards, take a step backwards, someone else is going to get better than you, and I don’t want anyone else to be better than me.”
