J.T. Barrett is among the most veteran quarterbacks in all of college football, having been a starter for most of three seasons. The Ohio State senior, however, is going through a spring of transition. Barrett not only has a new offensive coordinator in former Indiana coach Kevin Wilson, but also a new quarterback coach in Ryan Day. While being a relatively young coach (38) Day brings NFL experience to Ohio State, having coached the QB's for Chip Kelly's staffs in Philadelphia and San Francisco. However Day says coaching Barrett is not unlike working with an NFL veteran.
"I'm really impressed with how he's gone about his business. It's like dealing with a pro," Day said after the Buckeyes had their third practice of the spring Tuesday morning. "When you show up to work every day you better be prepared and you better give him a good plan. He's out here working to get better every day, just like everyone else."
Day isn't the only new Buckeye coach with NFL experience. On the defensive side of the ball, Bill Davis is now Ohio State's linebacker coach, replacing Luke Fickell--now head coach at Cincinnati. Davis and head coach Urban Meyer go way back--all the way to college when they were teammates on the UC Bearcats football team. When Fickell moved up--Meyer called on Davis to step in. He has a mountain of NFL experience having been an assistant coach for 24 years, including three different stints as a defensive coordinator.
"It's been great," Davis said of the transition to college coaching. "The age group is different...that's probably the biggest thing--the age difference and also school work...in the NFL, you don't have that, but what a great group of young men that we have here. They're fun to work with and it's been exciting to see the big bright-eye, wide-open guys that are more of an open book than you find in the NFL."
The first hour of Buckeye practice was open to the media. There isn't much to see that's earth shattering---it's mostly drills, but some of my media brethren captured some of it. You can take a peek below--and also check out what the Ohio State Football Twitter account posted.