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Buckeyes striving to learn from mistakes, hold 'repeat offenders' accountable in spring

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•04/11/23•

andybackstrom

Justin Frye by Matt Parker -- Lettermen Row --
Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye coaches during spring practice. Frye is in his second year with the Buckeyes. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — There’s a fine line between accepting that mistakes will happen and growing complacency, and that’s the line that Ohio State has been trying to toe during spring ball.

“In the fall, you win or you lose,” offensive line coach Justin Frye said last month. “In the spring, there’s winner-loser drills, but you gotta learn why you lost it.

“Why did I make that mistake? I don’t need to sit and figure out, ‘Well, maybe because of this or that. Like, was it my technique? Was it my understanding of the play, whatever that may be? And then they have to go do that and learn from that. But then they can’t be repeat offenders. So like you make a mistake, OK great, learn from it. The next time that shows, the same thing can’t happen again.”

Repeat offenders.

Words that have been repeated in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this spring, and not just by Frye. Cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator Tim Walton mentioned that this part of the offseason is all about “fixing the issues” that occurred the previous season. In Walton’s case that’s making sure his corners — a group that had zero interceptions in 2022 — get more hands on the ball, in addition to limiting explosives, the plays that ultimately cost the Buckeyes their season.

The Buckeyes staff has welcomed mistakes — that is, as long as their players use those mistakes as an opportunity to better themselves.

If they don’t? Well, then there are consequences. Sometimes that means taking a lap around the Woody. Other times that means losing first-team reps. Or maybe even both.

There are no exceptions, either. Not even Biletnikoff Award finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. is exempt. Nor are Ohio State’s two returning offensive line starters.

“In spring practice, preseason, there has to be consequences for making mistakes,” fifth-year head coach Ryan Day said Friday. “We try to simulate the game the best we can. Just to make a mistake and think it’s gonna be OK doesn’t work.”

That was clear during Friday’s practice.

An animated Day let quarterbacks Kyle McCord and Devin Brown have it after errant throws or wrong reads during team periods. He was on them like glue.

Day explained after practice how he appreciated that both McCord and Brown embraced his hard coaching, and the competition that came with it.

“Every rep wasn’t great,” Day said. “But when they allow you to coach them hard, man, you can get a lot better. And I thought they did that today.”

The week before, Day spoke more about his quarterbacks’ growing pains: “Every time you’re out there with the first team, it’s different than when you’re a backup. There are good days, there are not so good days. And the whole thing is can you learn from your failures? When you do well, it’s great. But we’re all gonna fail. And that’s the thing, when you look at the elite quarterbacks, whether it’s in the NFL or in college, they learn from their mistakes quickly. They don’t make the same mistake twice.”

That’s been the message inside the Woody this spring.

For quarterbacks but really for all players. Day and Co. want Ohio State to play loose and fast. When the inevitable offseason mistakes arrive, they must be corrected.

That’s the accountability component, a requisite for a perennial national title contender.

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