Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Pregame Quote, 12/27/2023

KEVIN TRAINOR: Good afternoon. Welcome to the 88th Goodyear Coton Bowl Classic.

Today’s offensive breakout news conference features Ohio State Offensive Coordinator Brian Hartline, and student-athletes Devin Brown, Emeka Egbuka, Treveyon Henderson, Xavier Johnson, and Cade Stover.

Coach, appreciate you being with us here today. Before we get to questions, we’ll go down each player and have you give a comment about each of those young men. We’ll start with Devin Brown.

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRIAN HARTLINE: Devin has been doing a great job. Obviously, he’s in a different role currently than maybe he has been in all year, coming back off gettng a little dinged up during the middle of the season. He was gaining a lot of momentum through the season.

But he’s having a great bowl prep. We’re excited that he’s out there. He brings a lot of good energy to practice. The guys are excited to have him running the show. But Devin has done a great job preparing for this game. He knows the importance and his work has resembled that.

Q. Emeka Egbuka.

COACH HARTLINE: Emeka is doing great. Excited to play in the Coton Bowl. He’s coming o. again from an injury earlier in the year. He’s feeling really good.

I think for him there’s probably a point where maybe he was a little frustrated on not being fully to where he wanted to be coming out. that ankle. But he looks good, running well, running fast.

Q. Treveyon Henderson.

COACH HARTLINE: Treveyon looks fast, as we always know. Having him out there, it’s been different in the run game. He’s a major impact player. When he gets the ball in his hands, he’s always likely to take it to the house. We are definitely a better team running the ball when we have Tre in there.

KEVIN TRAINOR: Xavier Johnson.

COACH HARTLINE: Xavier Johnson, jack-of-all-trades. He’ll play a huge part in special teams. He’ll play a huge part in the receiver room. He’ll play a huge part in the backfield. There’s nothing X can’t do. He provides a lot of flexibility because of his skill set. And, yeah, he’s definitely going to be a major part of what we do through this bowl game.

KEVIN TRAINOR: Finally, Cade Stover.

COACH HARTLINE: As you guys know Cade, he’s the backbone of this offense at times. He’s tough. He plays tough. He wants his teammates to play tough. He sets that standard offensively. Having Cade in the lineup and playing the way he’s played and as produc.ve as he’s been, how consistent he’s been has been a huge part for our offense.

It says a lot about what Cade has done in the offseason to prepare for this year. Everyone has seen the growth, and he’s one heck of a player. We’re glad to have him for this bowl game.

Q. Just circling back to Devin [Brown], what’s the process been like between you and Ryan [Day] and Corey [Dennis] to get him ready to go in this game?

COACH HARTLINE: He’s put in a lot of good work leading up to this game. So it wasn’t like you were star.ng from scratch or you didn’t know what he was.

So I think there’s probably a heightened awareness on his part just because he knows he’s the guy now. I mean, that’s ‚Äì that’s just an athlete’s perspec.ve.

You say what you want, you should prepare like you’re the guy. But it’s still a little different when you are the guy. He’s had that opportunity all through bowl prep. He’s gotten better through bowl prep.

So I think it’s big on us to make sure, okay, what do we feel like Devin does best and let’s make sure we do that. He’s taken the bull by the horns and ran with it. So a lot of credit to him. And really excited to see him let it loose on Friday night.

Q. Brian, very similar but is it mentally, is it physically, is it the intangibles since Kyle [McCord] is gone that you see a change in Devin, other than that awareness?

COACH HARTLINE: I don’t know about that. I think that it changes for everybody, whether it’s year to year. When a guy changes roles and it sparks a different reaction, whether it’s a wide-out or a running back or a cornerback, it doesn’t change.

I think that when you know that you’re the guy going out there to do whatever the role is and it’s changed, it kind of asks you to be more intentful. I mean, that’s just the reality of it.

But Devin [Brown] has always had his makeup. He’s always been the same old Dev. I wouldn’t say he’s being somebody he hasn’t been. It’s just a heightened sense of “got to go, got to do it now” kind of thing. I think that’s pretty common in any athlete that grows into a different role.

Q. Doesn’t look like Marv [Harrison, Jr.] is going to play. Julian [Fleming] has already moved on. This dynamic for your room, you had this a couple years ago in the Rose Bowl where Chris [Olave] and Garrett [Wilson] didn’t play. What’s the opportunity for these younger guys? What do you expect to see? What do you want to evaluate on Friday night with that next wave?

COACH HARTLINE: Yeah, opportuni.es, right? And so what we do with those opportunities ultimately dictates the way our career is going to go. That’s just the great thing about sports.

So with a couple guys, they might be in different roles. A couple of guys will have different opportuni.es. I hope a lot of guys get to play. That’s my hope.

So it’s a hot building. You can feel it gets stuffy in there sometimes. A lot of guys are going to be ready to play, and based on how the game goes will dictate a lot of that.

But I’m really excited for those guys. Like you were saying, there’s a ‚Äì not the first seeing of these guys but, like, this is the step forward. This is what’s coming next year. This is what your role could be if you take it and run with it.

Now, nothing is a given around here. Everything is earned. The whole room, in general, is excited. I’m excited. I’m excited to see some of these guys have different opportuni.es that maybe they haven’t gotten through the year.

That’s really what prepares these guys to take those steps, Chasing Emeka [Egbuka] and chasing Marvin Harrison [Jr.] , just like they did the same with Garret [Wilson], and Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] Jackson and Chris [Olave]. That allows them to push and push and push. When their .me shows up, it seems like it’s a lot easier of a transition because they are ge.ng challenged every day.

We’re on the edge of seeing some different opportuni.es, and I’m looking forward to some guys taking it and running with it.

Q. The last five years as an assistant that you’ve been at Ohio State, college football has changed a lot. You, to my knowledge, have not brought in any transfers to your room that I can recall. Correct me if I’m wrong. Has your philosophy on how you recruit changed at all? Is it more about the mental makeup now? Obviously, physical makeup matters. But is it a different process than it was when you started? And where is it going, do you think?

COACH HARTLINE: This could be, like, an hour conversation on the change, as you guys could imagine.

That being said, we are very prideful in that mindset of selec.ng guys out of high school and then allowing them to select us. So it’s a two-way road. As much as we want them to come here, they have to also pick us. So that’s been good.

But those guys that are playing on Saturdays and in bowl games are the guys we have recruited. Nothing against the transfer world, there’s lots of reasons to do it and have it and use it. But we have not done that yet in the receiver room, which is a goal.

The goal is to pick out the right high school young men, like you were saying, that .t our mold. And we select them as they select them. And then you see those guys play on Saturdays. I think we’re very prideful on the development we’ve had in our room.

It always can be better. It’s always easy to sit back and try to pick out this or pick out that in any room, whether it be ‚Äì doesn’t matter, any position.

But there has been a lot of pride, at least in our room, that we’ve talked about loving the fact of bringing guys in, developing them.

Every single guy that you’ve seen leave, right, into the NFL, there’s been hard days, si.ng there ‚Äì I’m not going to expose anybody ‚Äì tears and crying. And “it’s hard” and “I want to go home.” “Am I good enough to play here, Coach?” “Am I good to play at the next level?” Those are hard days.

But the end result has been pretty awesome and very satisfying, not only as a coach but as the players themselves.

So, yeah, it could be a long conversation about everything. It’s constantly changing. And in the first two years, we don’t even know ‚Äì I mean, there’s only been two years of this. I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like in five.

So that being said, trying to continue to identify the right guys, develop the right guys, and hopefully they see them and chase their dreams from high school to our room to the NFL. That’s always the goal. We are prideful of that.

Q. How ready is Carnell Tate for this moment? He has practiced all year but especially this month. Number two, what was your initial reaction with Jeremiah Smith, said he didn’t know until the last two minutes he was picking Ohio State. What did that feel like to get that big commitment on Signing Day?

COACH HARTLINE: Carnell, we’ll start there, he’s played a lot as a freshman and well-deserved. Frankly, he probably would have started a little earlier if he really wasn’t a little dinged up coming out of camp. Had a great camp, came out dinged up, so kind of slowed that down. Once he got his feet back under him, I think pretty close to like the bye-week, he started ge.ng going.

Really excited for him. He’s been ready. He’s been chasing those guys just like Marvin [Harrison, Jr.] and Mek (Emeka Egbuka), and some of the guys already. They were chasing the other guys.

If you look at our progression, frankly, as a freshman, whether it be Chris [Olave] or Jaxon [Smith-Njigba] or Garret [Wilson], he’s right in that mold, especially production-wise.

And Carnell came into a room that was very deep. And so to have four older guys there and then you’re still earning playing .me because of your work. Like you said, the defensive guys ‚Äì peers always know. Coaches can say what they want, but the players know. And so you get best reactions and info from players.

And, yeah, I’m excited for Carnell in general.

As far as recruiting goes ‚Äì am I allowed to talk to him because he’s signed now? I get nervous. I don’t know anymore.

I guess I will say this about Jeremiah, he never wavered. His family never wavered. He can say what he wants two minutes before the hat came out. He always told me the same thing. His parents always told me the same thing. So from his family to him, the reality of college football is you guys see it and you guys see the clicks and you see the conversations and all those kinds of things.

Yeah, that’s all I can say. His family is loyal. They always did what they said, and I can’t thank them enough. I’ll tell you, I’m really excited for him and we’ll see him here in a couple weeks, if that. Is it a week? Two weeks? Two weeks probably, yeah. Very excited.

Q. Kris Abrams-Draine, All-American corner, what type of problems does he present to your wide-outs? Where does he rank among the quarterbacks you guys played this year?

COACH HARTLINE: Yeah, they do a great job defensively.

I think that they’re talented on the outside. They run really well, both guys. One guy more heralded than the other, but I have a lot of respect for both frankly. I think our guys do, too.

Any.me we get a chance to play a high-end defense that we get to play and go against really good DBs, it’s a great opportunity for our guys to see what we’re made of. I know our guys feel that way.

We also do a good job, I feel like, studying these guys. And so I’m not going to highlight or bring anything up that may not help us. But we have a good feel for them. We have a lot of respect for them, and our work has reflected that.

The way you work always tells you the most – shows the most respect, right? You guys hear that a lot.

Guys have been great. They’ve worked hard. It’s how to replicate high-end DBs like that. Luckily, we have some here at Ohio State, too. But scout teams, that’s hard to do it.

We are looking forward to it. We are expec.ng a lot of man coverage, frankly. They have their changeup, but that’s what they do and they are prideful of that. So we got to beat man-to-man coverage, and we look forward to the opportunity.

Q. Go back to Devin [Brown], you are saying the personality has been pretty consistent throughout. Just from going back to camp to now, what progressions have you seen in terms of fundamentals, execution, processing, those just sort of quarterback things?

COACH HARTLINE: Yeah, I think coming out of camp, the big conversation was probably consistency, right? The quarterback that was the most consistent was going to earn the job, earn the opportunity. That’s probably where it was. That was probably the difference point.

I don’t want to speak for Coach [Corey] Dennis and Coach [Ryan] Day. That was a big part. I have seen that evolve and grow.

He’s done a really good job being on target and pu.ng the ball not just to the right guy per se, but instead of on the back hip it is on the front hip, which is a major deal.

Seeing all those grow has been better. I’m sure that’s attributed to his fundamentals and his release point and everything he’s been working on, so it all plays a part.

But really, I have enjoyed ‚Äì again, being in a different role allows you to kind of maybe have your voice and speak up and push the guys. This is just a little different, right? You can be a leader, but it’s hard to be a leader if you’re not one of the guys. It’s just the reality of it in sports.

And so when your best players are your hardest workers and your starters, they can really drive. Dev has always worked hard. His consistency has continued to grow, and he’s got a little more to his voice because of the role he’s in now currently. That’s what I have seen grow and enhance with Devin.

Q. Coach, you’ve pretty much got a whole year under your belt now as the offensive coordinator. Curious, what have you learned throughout this season about yourself? I know probably not introspective at a time like this, but how has your role changed? How have you grown as a coach?

COACH HARTLINE: Appreciate the question. I’m always self-reflecting all the .me. It’s probably my problem. So it’s never good enough. I don’t have every answer that I wish I had. I’m sure other coaches feel the same way. That’s kind of the standard I try to carry myself to.

Learned a ton. I mean, I think that from a people-skills standpoint, I have always kind of had that. That wasn’t necessarily a learning part. I would say making sure I’m as diverse in my football knowledge and not just a receiver and pass-game guy has naturally been there.

But demanding myself to be an expert in a different part of the game, you always want to do that. But until you are demanded to do that, it’s a little different, right? So I’ve demanded myself to do that. I think that’s grown. My opinions and my feel of why to do things has grown. Everything is good and has gotten better.

It’s never going to be good enough, so you got to balance that. But I’m really just trying be very percep.ve of Coach [Ryan] Day and what he does and how he operates and make sure I continue to learn as much as I can from him.

Obviously, we have a great sta., even defensively. I’m trying to pick things up from Coach [Jim] Knowles as well. So it’s been a great first year. Looking forward to growing again in year two.

Q. Just wondering what some of the nuances, and key take-aways from Blake Baker’s scheme that you have seen in your preparation, especially in his third time play calling?

COACH HARTLINE: I think good defensive structure. Those guys are well-coached. I would say I rarely see them out of position. They look pretty tied-in, communication-wise.

I think that he puts his guys in good posi.ons to be successful of the pressures that he likes to bring, but it’s one of those ‚Äì one of those defenses where he’s ge.ng good calls in at the right .mes, and ge.ng the right structures, and the guys are playing con.dently. There’s not a lot of hesita.on. They’re playing fast.

Whether it is just some man coverage or whether it is some pressure packages, they have been very sound. And I have been very impressed with their defensive structure.

Q. Related to the new duties this year, I don’t know exactly how the play calling works. I’m assuming that Ryan [Day] is still doing the bulk of that. How has that worked? What’s your role in that? How do you think that it will evolve in the future?

COACH HARTLINE: Coach Day is s.ll head man and rolling. He’s calling plays. Obviously, I’m a big part of that conversa.on, especially ‚Äì I would say the biggest role is probably pu.ng it together throughout the week, right? And how it’s called on Saturdays, that’s Coach Day.

I’m sure it will con.nue to grow. Coach Day can answer more of that for you. I think the adjustments we make at hal.ime, the talking we’re having between series and really during the series at .mes, obviously, I’m a big part of that. But we really put it together, and then he calls it on Saturdays.

Q. With Brandon [Inniss] not coming until June but then having the bowl practice now, do you see him starting to get to where he needs to be in year one in your room? And then if I can add another one, can you just talk a little bit about Mylan Graham, since you talked about Jeremiah [Smith]?

COACH HARTLINE: Brandon has done a good job. Any .me you come in early, it does give you a leg up. It’s just the truth. More than anything, it’s a compe..ve standpoint. It’s hard to come in and take .me from a guy that’s been there, working it.

Nothing is ever handed to anybody. Although your future is very bright, we’re s.ll living in the now, right?

So Brandon was in a spot where beginning of June did a great job catching up quickly, frankly. But a deep room, s.ll learning and to have Xavier [Johnson] and Emeka [Egbuka] was really important. Carnell [Tate] playing a part and then having some injuries and being able to move Carnell into the slot, he can do whatever he wanted to do. That’s a sign of a good player.

So Brandon is doing everything he needs to do. His future is very bright. He’s showing day-in and day-out, he’s a football player, .rst of all. He’s making a lot of good plays, and communica.ng, and learning.

So yeah, very, very happy to see what Brandon is doing. And, frankly, with Bryson [Rodgers] as well. Bryson has really done a good job, con.nuing to grow. Those two guys really provide a bright future for the wide-out room.

And then Mylan [Graham], one heck of a football player. Talk about a guy that knew where he wanted to go, came and saw us a lot. Made no gripe about going anywhere else or whatever. His process was very di.erent than Jeremiah [Smith], which is .ne. They are both right in their own way.

But very thrilled to have him. Been at camp a handful of .mes. Came to camp and worked with me mul.ple .mes. I feel like he’s already a part of the room. Excited to be in June. He’ll be a June guy. So we have to do a good job through the summer catching him up. He’s a quick study. He will do a good job.