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LB Coach James Laurinaitis (2x B1G DPOY, 2006 Nagurski, 2007 Butkus, 2008 Lott, 3x All-American, OSU HOF, National Champion)

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James Laurinaitis on the progress of Arvell Reese, what he expects leadership-wise from OSU's linebackers​

Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis went into great detail when describing what he expects from players in his room from a leadership standpoint. He also spoke at length about rising junior LB Arvell Reese who is going to step into a starting role this season.​

Linebackers coach James Laurinaitis knows a thing or two about leadership being a former two-time captain at Ohio State. Recently, Laurinaitis was asked what rising junior Arvell Reese needs to do this spring to seize the starting middle linebacker job – replacing Cody Simon who had an excellent 2024 season – and Laurinaitis answered the question. While answering the question, he also provided what can best be described as an awesome peek behind the curtain regarding his views on leadership.

"I think with Velly (Reese), a lot of it is just preparation," Laurinaitis said. "I think when you're a young player, there's so much to learn and sometimes it just goes back to habits. And we talked about it a lot last year, and he got way better as the season went on, but it's habits and then it's leadership, and I think what we've seen so far in the winter is him taking a more active leadership role. And obviously Sonny (Styles) is a great leader for us, but you kind of see the development of Arvell being a leader as well.

"Malcolm Jenkins talked to our guys last year and I thought he had a great message for everybody. He said everyone should want to be the leader, the captain of their class, and it's a mindset. So, I've kind of adopted that, and obviously Malcolm and I played together, but the whole idea of, if you're Payton Pierce or Garrett Stover, you guys should both be the leaders of your class, you know what I mean? And obviously that trickles down to TJ (Alford), Riley (Pettijohn), and Eli (Lee), but it's just a mindset.

"It's a mindset anyway – if you're a linebacker – you just naturally have to be a leader. You've got to communicate so much, so it's getting Velly to get out of the shell, which he did last year. And I on purpose roomed him with Cody Simon on the road for multiple reasons, to make sure that he was awake and coming to meetings on time, but just like there was a maturity that Cody had, having gone through it, and pairing him with Velly (seemed like a good idea). He's had a phenomenal winter so far and I'm excited to see him compete here once we get back."

Leadership seems to be an innate trait. You either have it or you don't. Laurinaitis won't go quite that far, but he did expound on his thoughts about being a leader at a place like Ohio State.

"I think a lot of times, leadership, it's hard," Laurinaitis said. "You can try to teach leadership for sure, but a lot of it's like, it's just 'caught,' you know what I mean? Like when you're around it, you just see it. And everybody has a different style. So, that's one of the things that I've stressed to Arvell. I even stressed it to Sonny, like, you guys don't have to be Cody Simon, just because Cody Simon was a great leader, he did it in his way. Like, if you try to be somebody else, and you're not authentic to yourself and your own personality, then the locker room will notice. If you're a guy who's pretty quiet, and all of a sudden you're trying to give all these uncomfortable, rah-rah speeches, and it's not who you are, that's not going to go over well. And you see, I've always seen people do that.

"And so, you have to get comfortable in who you are. A.J. Hawk was a great leader. A.J. barely said anything when we were at practice, but then when A.J. spoke, you're like, 'OK,' you know what I mean? Like, he was quiet, he did everything right, he worked his tail off.
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Ohio State’s linebackers are returning to glory under James Laurinaitis

2025 will be an exciting time to keep tabs on the Buckeye linebackers with James Laurinaitis’ impact on the unit.
www.landgrantholyland.com www.landgrantholyland.com

Ohio State’s linebackers are returning to glory under James Laurinaitis​

2025 will be an exciting time to keep tabs on the Buckeye linebackers with James Laurinaitis’ impact on the unit.

Chris Spielman, A.J. Hawk, Andy Katzenmoyer. Those are just a few legendary linebackers in Ohio State history. Now another former Buckeye great at the position is working to restore the glory at linebacker in Columbus.

Since joining Ryan Day’s coaching staff a couple years ago, James Laurinaitis has the unit brimming with confidence.

During the final few years of Urban Meyer’s tenure as head coach, as well as the first two seasons with Day at the helm, the Ohio State linebackers were largely underwhelming. It didn’t help that Billy Davis was hired as linebackers coach just because he was friends with Meyer since it became obvious that Davis was terrible at his job. With the low bar Davis set, Al Washington was able to skate by on Day’s staff for three seasons.

The ineffective coaching at the position resulted in Tuf Borland becoming a running joke when he was on the field. While it’s hard to knock Borland’s effort during his time in Columbus, he just couldn’t match up to the standard guys like Ryan Shazier and Raekwon McMillan had recently set.

Others like Pete Werner and Baron Browning have gone on to be successful in the NFL, which proves the coaches during at Ohio State during that time period weren’t utilizing players correctly.

Enter James Laurinaitis. After spending a couple years on the radio, the former Buckeye linebacker jumped into the coaching ranks, joining friend and fellow linebacker Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame as a graduate assistant and assistant linebackers coach.

When Freeman brought Laurinaitis in it felt like a huge miss for Day since it was no secret that Laurinaitis was looking to get back into the game in some capacity. The move look to bring in Laurinaitis looked like an even bigger coup since the linebacker’s first game on staff with the Fighting Irish would be against Ohio State in Columbus to kick off the 2022 season.

The way the 2022 season ended for the Buckeyes left a sour taste in Day and new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ mouth. Ohio State lost to Georgia 42-41 at the Peach Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal. Combine the loss to the Bulldogs with allowing 45 points to Michigan in the previous game and it became obvious reinforcements were needed.

Day made good on his miss the previous year and was able to lure Laurinaitis back to Columbus to learn under Knowles. The move paid immediate dividends, as the Buckeye defense gave up more than 20 points in just one game in 2023. Unfortunately that occurred in the loss to Michigan, which led to Ohio State being left out of the College Football Playoff.

After spending 2023 as a graduate assistant, Laurinaitis was promoted to linebackers coach ahead of the 2024 season. Even in the short time that Laurinaitis had been back with the football program, the influence he had on the linebackers became obvious.

Not only was Cody Simon playing with confidence as he replaced Tommy Eichenberg as the senior leader of the group, Laurinaitis was able to start molding Sonny Styles, who was moved to linebacker from safety. Both Simon and Styles recorded at least 100 tackles last year. Simon would go on to be selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

Now that Simon is in the pros, Styles now will be the leader of the linebackers in 2025. After excelling in his first full season at linebacker, an even bigger jump is expected from the Pickerington product since he’ll have another offseason to work with Laurinaitis. Joining Styles will be Arvell Reese, who impressed last season.

It’s clear that Laurinaitis is putting together a strong group of players behind Styles with Reese, as well as underclassmen Riley Pettijohn and Payton Pierce. Not even on campus yet are 2026 four-star commits Simeon Caldwell and C.J. Sanna.
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