COLUMBUS, Ohio — As he walked off the field toward Ohio State’s mirthless locker room on New Year’s Eve, the scoreboard at the University of Phoenix Stadium congratulating Clemson on its 31-0 thrashing, it started to click for Parris Campbell.

Campbell’s third season had concluded in disappointing fashion, the nadir of a career which so far has been chock full of disappointments. The then-redshirt sophomore knew that his collegiate hourglass was running out of sand.

“I haven’t had the career I’ve wanted to so far,” Campbell said on Monday after the Buckeyes’ wrapped up practice. “I think that’s what kind of clicked in me, and I have totally different mindset this year.”

Campbell's thoughts after the Fiesta Bowl, he said, were, “It’s time to go. You’ve been here for a while and got to make an impact now."

By all accounts emanating from the team during spring practice, Campbell seems poised to turn those thoughts into on-field production in the fall. Campbell’s impressive offseason led head coach Urban Meyer in late March to call him "dynamic" and “one of our best playmakers right now," and it prompted wide receivers coach Zach Smith on Monday to say, “He’s playing at another level right now.”