COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tyler Friday thought the 2021 season was going to be his season to shine. It’s what the redshirt senior defensive end thought about the entire offseason, doing everything he was supposed to do to live up to the expectation: “This is the year.”
Instead, he was sidelined, hindered after planting his foot wrong, getting it stuck in the turf and tearing his ACL during defensive line drills four weeks before the 2021 season started.
At first, Friday was heartbroken. He felt he was ready to play. He felt he knew everything there was to know about football. He thought he was fully prepared.
But when the defensive end was forced to take a step back, he realized there was so much more to learn.
“After I got hurt, I realized I had a lot more room to grow as far as like mentally,” Friday said. “Not even the physical part of the game, just like football IQ, you know, play recognition, things like that. “
Friday began to see the game from a whole new perspective.
He worked on raising his football IQ, working with defensive line coach Larry Johnson in almost a coach's role, seeing things he wouldn’t be able to see while playing: the formations of each offense, learning the role of the secondary, things he says will make him play faster and be a better player.
But Friday also saw the newest generation of Ohio State’s defensive line come to life, watching freshman defensive ends J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer step up out of necessity and thrive early in their college career.
“Just watching the young guys, they had to become men quickly. They had to take a lot of snaps at a very young age. Like more snaps than I took my freshman year,” Friday said. “I just saw them mature, and they had to grasp the playbook, you know, play at a way different speed to be able to play so many snaps at this level.”
Heading into 2022, Friday is healthy. He’s currently in a non-contact spring practice program, taking baby steps and progressing gradually, but knows he will be a full go by fall.
With Friday back, with veterans like Zach Harrison on the outside and Taron Vincent and Jerron Cage on the inside, and with Tuimoloau, Sawyer and Tyleik Williams coming in for their second seasons, the redshirt senior defensive end doesn’t see a young room.
He sees one with experience, no matter the age of the player.
“It’s a way different vibe, atmosphere in the room right now,” Friday said. “And I feel like the things we’re going to be able to accomplish this year, it’s like the sky’s the limit.”
In Friday, Harrison sees a player that’s going to play a major role in the depth of Ohio State’s defensive line.
The senior defensive end said he takes a lot from Friday’s game, watching his strength, his quickness, his speed and his athleticism and tries to incorporate that into his own game.
But with the room set up as it is heading into 2022, Harrison sees a group of players that know what to expect and know what is expected.
“We’re hitting on all cylinders and we know when we’re not, and that’s not a secret because we all know, so we can be open about it and call each other out and knowing that we’re only doing this because we got to,” Harrison said. “We know what it’s supposed to look like.”
Sawyer knows what success looks like, finishing his freshman season with 13 tackles and three sacks. And while Friday, through his four seasons, has only 18 tackles, four tackles-for-loss and three sacks, Sawyer sees an example, someone he’s looked up to and relied upon ever since he arrived.
“He’s wise beyond his years, you know what I mean?” Sawyer said. “He’s kind of like a bigger brother to all of us, kind of checks in on us, sees how we’re doing.”
That’s what Friday wants to be: a mentor, someone with the ability to have an answer to every question asked of him.
The redshirt senior defensive end wants to know the game of football so well that he can help everyone around him, helping other players on the line and throughout the defense feel comfortable and play fast.
Friday was heartbroken that he never had the chance to play last season, the season he thought was going to be his.
Now he knows why it wasn’t.
“Initially it was tough, you know. But as time went on, I started to realize like this is probably for the best,” Friday said. “Like everything happens for a reason.
“Right now, I feel the best I’ve ever felt. I feel like I can be a better player this year than I would have been last year. I’m ready for it. I think things went the way they were supposed to.”
