Brendon White looking for a position to call home
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the saying goes, Brendon White, a native of nearby Powell, is a “hometown recruit.” But at the moment, on the field, White is homeless. Sort of.
A four-star athlete, White joined the program and initially worked out at linebacker during the team’s Fiesta Bowl preparation. He is now spending more time with the receivers. He spent his senior high school season at quarterback.
“Right now, I don’t really know,” White said Wednesday when asked what position he will play. “I’ve got two numbers right now for offense and for defense, and so right now I’m just working out, working hard and they’ll put me where it best fits me so I can be successful.”
“When spring ball comes, I’ll have it,” said White.
On Jan. 10, White tweeted “Zone6,” the nickname for the wide receiver corps. He was recruited by former assistant Luke Fickell, who liked him at linebacker in the mold of Darron Lee. Plans were altered, however, when Noah Brown surprisingly announced his intentions to enter the NFL draft.
Head coach Urban Meyer called White into his office and told him they were going to try him at receiver to compensate for Brown’s departure, hence the "Zone6" tweet.
“I was super excited, but at the end of the day I’m just trying to get on the field,” White said.
While White is being truthful in saying that, he has been clear that receiver is his preferred position. In fact, he said he told Meyer in their initial recruiting conversations that that’s where he wanted to play. The more time he spent around the program, though, the more Fickell liked him at linebacker.
Which is why when White took advantage of the unique circumstances he had — being finished with his high school credits and his close geographic proximity — and came to Fiesta Bowl workouts, he was at linebacker.
If he ends up at linebacker, White likes the Lee comparison.
“He's first round guy starting for the New York Jets, so who can go wrong with going first round? So I’d be excited with that,” White said.
If he ends up at receiver, White offered former Buckeye Michael Thomas, who just finished a terrific rookie season with the New Orleans Saints, as a comparison.
“He has good hands. He ran a 4.6. I ran a 4.5, 4.6, so I mean we have a good comparison,” White said. “We both have strong hands. It took him a while to learn his routes, and I feel like I can do that same thing and have fundamental routes and be a good receiver.”
While some might suggest it’s better to pick one position and concentrate efforts there, White views his positional malleability as a strength.
“So if I can’t play one position, unlike [freshman] Jeffrey [Okudah] who, say he’s struggling with cornerback, he’s just going to have to stay behind someone,” White explained. “So if I’m playing receiver and I’m struggling with that, I can go straight to linebacker. Or if I play linebacker and I’m struggling I could go to safety, so just being versatile and being coachable definitely helps you get on the field as quick as possible.”
In a recruiting class full of standouts, White stands out from his classmates in a few ways. He is one of five players in a recruiting class of 21 to finish their high school careers in Ohio. (It’d be six if you count cornerback Marcus Williamson, who is an Ohio native but finished his career at IMG Academy in Florida). And secondly, his father is William White, a defensive back and former captain at Ohio State in the 1980s.
White spent time around the program as a child, with his father taking him to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to watch practice. He said he was going to games by the time he was four. By eighth grade, he set his focus on obtaining a scholarship to come here. He’s got that. Now, his focus is on finding a position to call home.
“I guess it all depends on when spring ball comes how I do,” he said. “So from there, if I’m not doing so well, if they want me to, I’ll go to linebacker, but for right now I’m going to do the best I can with what they want me to do.”