Ohio State announces dates for spring ball

COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Spring football is rapidly approaching for Ohio State, as a program spokesperson announced upcoming dates for the Buckeyes' return to the gridiron Tuesday.

Spring drills will begin March 19, and the team is holding April 17 as the potential date for the Spring Game.

"At this time we don’t have details as to what this game will look like from a fan/attendance perspective," team spokesperson Jerry Emig said.

Last year's Spring Game was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19, and the Buckeyes had just a handful of practices before the entire spring period was halted due to the pandemic.

At the end of last week, the program Twitter account began posting photos and video of team workouts at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

On a Zoom conference with media last week, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said the Spring Game would be a non-ticketed event, meaning the athletic department would not charge for admission.

But even with recent hope from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on the potential for capacity at open-air sporting arenas to open up to 30,000 in the spring, Smith said seats may not be available to the general public.

“My hope is that we’ll have an opportunity to develop a strategy to recognize our frontline people. Our nurses, our doctors, our custodians, our bus drivers and all those people who’ve made so many sacrifices for us for a long time now,” Smith said. “That would be my hope, is that we could come up with a strategy to recognize them and invite them to the Spring Game.”

Details may not be concrete as of yet, but plans are certainly underway for the Buckeyes to have a much more productive spring than what was possible at this time last year.