Boston College wasn’t trying to fool any opposing defenses back in 2013.

The game plan was clear: line up 6-foot, 227-pound Andre Williams behind three tight ends and a full back at the 50-yard line and pound. There was no question as to what the Eagles’ play-call was going to be, but it worked, as the senior finished with 2,177 rushing yards in 2013, ninth-most all time in a single season, and finished the season as one of six Heisman finalists.

Justin Frye, the offensive line coach for Boston College at the time, wasn’t reinventing the wheel. He was just taking advantage of the personnel he and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Day had in their arsenal.

When Frye began to cut up film, dissecting Ohio State’s offensive line for the first time in January as one of the program's most recent hires, this season was on his mind.

This is what Day, now the head coach of the Buckeyes, hired him to do again.

To the former UCLA offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, it’s all about seeing what he has in his arsenal at Ohio State, what each member of the offensive line does well and creating a game plan and structure to maximize those skills, however that may look.

Frye’s plan is adapting to the players’ strengths, not for them to adapt to his playbook.

“Your identity becomes what those kids can do, really,” Frye said. “You get through spring ball and figure out how those kids run and how they pull, whatever they do, how they change direction and some of the things they can do. Then you start to hang your hat on ‘We can do this and here’s how we can window-dress it a couple different ways.’”

This is what worked when he was at UCLA under head coach, offensive play-calling guru and Day’s former mentor Chip Kelly.

The job itself was similar: revamp a Bruins run game that needed a boost, a run game that in four years turned into one of the best units in the Pac-12 and in the country, averaging 215.2 yards per game, five yards per carry and 31 rushing touchdowns, along with an offensive line that allowed 23 sacks in 12 games.

Working under Kelly, Frye learned the word “no” doesn’t exist. Instead, he developed a philosophy of wrinkles, being open to ideas of adding tiny changes to throw off opposing defenses even if the scheme remains the same.

To Ohio State’s newest hire, offensive line play comes down to the basics of football: blocking and tackling. But Frye’s goal is to create a culture of dominance, a line that makes its presence apparent each time it lines up.

“I’ve said this all the time: when the offensive line position is felt, meaning there’s a presence there, you feel it, it’s something that’s tangible, that’s when you are cooking,” Frye said.

“When my daughter is in the 10th row of the stadium and it’s third-and-two and she says ‘Daddy’s going to run it to the right,’ and everybody in the stadium knows it and you still go do it, that’s when people feel you.”

What does it take to get there? It’s the same thing Frye did with Day at Boston College.

It’s development, he said, putting tools in the tool box, figuring out what his room has and what it needs.

And it’s not something that comes instantaneously, Frye said. It’s molded with repetition, film study, getting to a point where lineman can rely on those skills at instinct.

“For all those guys, you put them all in the room with you and you are watching film. You are communicating and you’re talking. You just grow and get a pretty good feel,” Frye said.

No matter if it's Paris Johnson Jr., a third-year lineman who is likely making the switch from guard back to tackle, which he was recruited to play at the college level, or second-year center Luke Wypler, or even a player like five-star guard Donovan Jackson, who is aiming for one of the open spots on the line, Frye’s plans to start from the beginning, reinstalling and seeing how fast the linemen acclimate and accelerate.

“For all those guys that have played before, when you are watching a cut up, you say, ‘Why did you do this? What was your thought? What was there?’ And then you kind of enhance that or correct that,” Frye said.

This time, though, it’s with the mind of a coordinator, being able to understand the big picture of the offense to members of the Ohio State offensive line, whether it’s the perimeter or how the play-action sets up the run.

Frye’s plan for Ohio State’s offensive line is to widen their gaze from inside the box to the big picture.

That's where Ohio State’s offensive line coach is going to find his starting five linemen: seeing which players accelerate the quickest.

But that’s all still in its infancy stages. Frye’s getting his bearings on his new program, something that’s already felt more at home because of who’s at the top of the totem pole.

Frye knows why he’s in Columbus. Day expects him to continue to perfect the process he’s been refining since their days together with Williams at Boston College.

Everything’s under Day’s vision, something that Frye, in his first months with the program, is already not far from.

“I don’t need to come in here and reinvent the wheel,” Frye said. “The offense here was really damn good. It’s my job to come in here and supplement that.”