Zach Harrison making noise on, off field as new Ohio State captain

COLUMBUS — From reading what’s coming at him from an offense, to reading a room, to gaining a read on individuals, Zach Harrison has improved on all of those fronts in his two-plus years at Ohio State.

Put those together, and it’s a main reason the junior defensive end is considered one of the primary leaders of the Buckeyes, heavily favored to win a fifth straight Big Ten title. He has stepped up in a big way among his teammates, something that became obvious to coach Ryan Day and his staff during the winter workout months — and in training camp as he earned the votes to become a captain.

“His work ethic is off the charts,” Day said in March. “He’s leading, he’s in front of things. I mean he just looks different.

“Hats off to him for a great offseason. He just has a different look in his eye. There’s several guys that are like that, but he sticks out for sure.”

The trend has continued, and even the media has noticed a more sociable Harrison, especially during the summer and preseason camp as he has been thrust forward to speak. The man who before didn’t seem to have much to say has been engaging, but with an explanation. 

“This is who I’ve always been,” Harrison said this month. “I just didn’t give you all the insight. I remember during recruiting everyone was always like: ‘Yeah, Zach’s a nice quiet guy. He’s calm and collected.’ And I’m like, if you ask anybody who actually knows me, quiet would be the last word they would use to describe me.”

It wasn’t just the media that had that read, though, especially during the recruiting period when Harrison, from Olentangy Orange, was considered a must-get for the Buckeyes, who were in direct competition with Michigan for his signing. He remembered his demeanor even struck the team’s renowned performance and conditioning coordinator Mickey Marotti sideways.

“Coach Mick always says: ‘I hated you in recruiting. You would show up and not talk and mope around,’ “ Harrison said. “I’m like, ‘Coach, I didn’t like recruiting.’ I didn’t know anybody, so I’m not just gonna be [open] like this around people I don’t know. It might be a little off-putting.”

Hey, everybody is different. But to become a leader, stepping up and speaking, offering an ear or providing advice where needed, those are prerequisites. That’s where college has helped Harrison bloom. Initially a psychology major, the scholar-athlete has switched to criminology. But both afford valuable keys when it comes to reading a person and/or a room.

“It’s definitely helped in my leadership style,” Harrison said. “Because I feel like to be a good leader you can’t [do it just one way]. Coach Day always describes it as there are different golf clubs for different situations. You can’t hit a driver every single time or you’re never going to win a golf game.”

It’s the same in dealing with teammates, many of them younger than him now. He reads the person and the situation and reaches for the interaction club that’s best for the moment.

“That’s something I take pride in, being able to change up my style,” Harrison said. “Some guys can take it. I can really get on some guys by yelling. ‘Tighten up.’”

But some don’t like being called out in front of the group, and for those Harrison has other options.

“You’ve got to take them to the side, have a sit down and really talk with them, like ‘Yeah, what’s going on? … Why is this going on?’” Harrison said. “That’s something I feel like is my strongest ability as a leader, to be able to change my leadership style, depending upon who I’m talking to.”

It also helps for a leader to be an achiever on the field, whether it be offseason workouts, preseason practices or games. The 6-foot-6 Harrison, who has upped his weight to 270 pounds at the urging and then molding of Marotti and still looks like he could add more, seems primed for a breakout season. 

Always relentless, his efficiency of moving from point A (stance) to point B (the quarterback) appears to have improved. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson is not surprised.

“The more you play the more confident you become,” Johnson said. “Right now he’s playing much faster, at the pace we like him to play at. His leadership is off the charts right now. 

“But he put the work in. He’s 270 (pounds). He probably played last year around 255. So  he’s a bigger, stronger guy going into his junior. So we kind of like where he’s at right now.”

Working on the details — as urged by Johnson — can shave a milli-second here and milli-second there off by eliminating wasted movements. They can be the difference between getting a sack instead of just a quarterback hurry or tap. He stresses that with his fellow defensive linemen, too, who have pledged to step up the team sack totals after a stat of 2.62 average per game a year ago, merely No. 37 nationally.

“So Coach is making sure we’re working on our Ps and Qs, and that’s with each other, too,” Harrison said. “During the reps I’ll talk to all the other defensive linemen about maybe you need to tighten up, or do this, that or a third thing to get there instead of just getting a pressure.”

He’s not bashful about it, and he’s continually reading the group and individuals to be even more effective. 

“That’s definitely something I continue to work on, my leadership skills,” Zach Harrison said. “I always have room to improve. … Being more vocal as opposed to a leading by example guy, which I’ve always kind of been. That’s something that I’m working on every day.”