From his earliest days in elementary school, Luke Farrell has loved football.

The Ohio State tight end was eager to make the switch from soccer to football as a youngster and quickly gravitated towards the gridiron, playing everything from linebacker to center in his youth.

“I pretty much fell in love with it I think right when I started playing- maybe even before, because you know, I always wanted to play because I had an older brother who played,” Farrell said.

Growing up in a football-crazed state like Ohio, there was little doubt Farrell would take the field from the very beginning. He quickly advanced to the varsity team as a high-schooler, switching from wide receiver to tight end as an oversized sophomore.

It wasn’t until his high school coach received a call from Urban Meyer that Farrell saw the unique path he was on.

“I think when I realized I could be really good was not really until maybe, I got a phone call through my head coach in high school from coach Meyer and just actually being on the phone with him was like, ‘Oh, okay. This is real. I can actually do something with this,’” Farrell said. “That was pretty big for me.”

Farrell ended up committing to Ohio State in July of 2015. Fast forward five years, and he enters season No. 5 in Columbus.

His career at Ohio State has been solid. 29 receptions for 343 yards and three touchdowns combined with countless crushing blocks give Farrell a solid chance to make an NFL roster when his time with the program comes to an end.

But it isn’t over yet.

In the extended off-season, Farrell, his fellow tight ends, and position coach Kevin Wilson studied the professional ranks to find areas for the group to improve.

Wilson said Farrell is already as physically advanced for a tight end as he has seen, and the next step for the senior is to become quicker and more explosive from the jump- similar to the NFL players he has watched.

“We obviously had a lot of time at home to isolate those specific things. Like coach Wilson said, we were watching the NFL guys, a bunch of NFL tight ends, and how they do things,” Farrell said. “In regards to the pass game, I guess I was really focused on getting a good release off the line, bursting in and out of cuts.”

Beyond the individual improvements, Farrell has high expectations for his final season.

“It’s hard to look at the whole thing as one,” Farrell said. “We’ve got it all over the screens here- we’re just focused on winning game one: Nebraska. But obviously, being at Ohio State we have high expectations every year and I think we can- as an offense- be one of the most prolific offenses we’ve seen around here, if not in all of college football.”

Always one to shine light on his team before himself, the Perry product was hesitant to lay out any specific goals for his senior year.

Instead, he said he bases his personal success on helping the Ohio State offense as a unit.

“We have high expectations for the offense and for the team,” Farrell said. “I just know with those expectations, my individual stuff will come. I don’t have to really necessarily worry about that. If we’re successful as an offense, I’ll be successful as an individual.”

As a fifth-year senior and one of the most experienced players on the Ohio State roster, Farrell has seen a lot. He has learned a lot.

Still, the tight end is hungry for more in his last ride.

“Anything we do here, just learning how to become better is more fun than learning to do almost anything else,” Farrell said. “Every aspect of the game has been exciting to get better at.”