COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Spring practice has returned in as much of its typical semblance as it had pre-COVID-19 pandemic, although the coronavirus has not vanished.
Buckeyes football head coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes practiced outside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday and will practice with pads beginning Wednesday. It’s all part of a schedule of Monday-Wednesday-Friday practices that Day said will be “extremely important” as spring practice was cut short last year.
“It feels like things are somewhat getting back to normal,” Day said. “It’s extremely important. We’ve had different shutdowns and different things get in our way, but now we’re really getting to the meat of it. It’s something that I think has hurt us, it set us back some as a program, and so we desperately need these practices, got to do a great job in the meetings and make sure we’re continuing to improve our techniques and our fundamentals so that foundation is there moving into the summer.”
Ohio State paused workouts for one week after an increase in positive tests for the coronavirus, but are returning to getting the on-field reps necessary after seven weeks of winter workouts.
Day said a bunch his players are “rolling” within positions rather than defining specific first-team and second-team units. Day added the Buckeyes typically split into two teams, with the second- and third-string players mixing in at different points as they go.
“Right now, it’s really about individuals getting better,” Day said. “We will do a little bit more scrimmage-type team work in the middle and towards the end of spring, but right now it’s all about getting guys better. We’re gonna roll guys in and out and work different combinations.”
Competitions at numerous positions will heat up as the weeks progress, and no more eye-catching of a battle will be at Ohio State’s quarterback.
Sophomores Jack Miller III and C.J. Stroud have been taking reps alongside four-star freshman Kyle McCord, and Day said he’s seen “good things from all three.”
The Buckeyes also lost four starting linebackers on defense as well as the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in Shaun Wade. On special teams, punter Drue Chrisman and kicker Blake Haubeil both moved on from the program, and so a variety of positions may see names shuffle along the depth chart.
Day said the most important idea is to get each player as many reps as they can.
“We just want to get guys a bunch of reps,” Day said. “It isn’t so much about the team. We talk about how the spring is about getting guys better individually, and then as we head in towards the beginning of the summer and then towards the preseason, that’s when we want to start bringing the units together and the team together and get some chemistry that way.”
Looking ahead, Ohio State has held April 17 as its tentative date for its Spring Game, which was canceled last year. In the immediacy, eyes are locked into Wednesday when the Buckeyes practice with their equipment.
“I think the big part is we’ve been doing some decent amount of team work, but really it comes down to taking care of each other, and then once the pads get on you can really start to compete,” Day said. “We’ll see, when the pads get on, that’s when the real football starts.”
