FORMER BUCKEYES TRAINING POWERS
On a smoking-hot Tuesday afternoon with barely a cloud in the sky and the slightest of breezes bearing down on them, Marysville (Ohio) linebacker Gabe Powers and a group of teammates are being pushed to their limits by the direction of a 6-foot, athletic figure on the Impact Stadium turf.
That figure is Donald Washington, a former Ohio State cornerback who played in 38 games for the Buckeyes from 2005-2008 before being selected in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft. Right now, he is cycling Powers through hip, footwork and change-of-direction drills, with today being the latest workout Washington is putting him through since the two linked up toward the end of 2019.
In addition to Olympic gold medal winner and former Ohio State sprinter Butch Reynolds, Washington is one of two former Buckeyes who has been training Powers in the offseason and guiding one of Ohio State’s highest-priority targets in the 2022 class into his ascension to becoming the No. 2-ranked outside linebacker in the country.
Doing ladder work, drills in which he flips his hips as many times as possible in a short amount of time, five-yard explosions and plenty of sprints with Reynolds and Washington is all morphing into an impactful evolution for Powers as he prepares for his role the next two seasons at Marysville – a role that will likely have him dropping into pass coverage a lot more, which he'll need to be able to do in college, as well.
“They’ve helped me a lot. That’s probably the best coaches and trainers you can find out there,” Powers tells
Eleven Warriors. “Just with Butch, the training and the mindset he has, he’s all around. It’s great coaching. (Washington) works the hips and the footwork, which works the speed and the explosion. You couldn’t find two better trainers.
“They change your mindset a lot when you get around them because they’ve been at the highest levels. One’s won a gold medal, the other’s been in the NFL. They’ve seen those things. They know the challenges. As far as a mindset, they get you ready for it.”
Former Ohio State defensive back Donald Washington watches Gabe Powers during one of their training sessions at Marysville (Ohio) High School.
That work is helping to supplement the natural gifts and athleticism Powers has possessed for a long time. Even as a sixth-grader, Powers was able to dunk a basketball – with picture proof provided to us by his dad, Mike Powers, showing us old videos of him slamming home one-handed dunks off an alley-oop and then a pair of one-handed jams on breakaways at seventh-grade summer basketball tournaments.
Washington noticed Powers’ potential and abilities pretty much right away when he began working with him, and his thoughts on how good Powers can be have only grown stronger.
“His overall comfort in space is getting better. I see him just becoming a more comfortable, better overall athlete,” Washington told Eleven Warriors. “When you hear the term linebacker, you think of a bigger, slower, stiffer guy. But Gabe’s got good hips and good feet, he’s light on his toes a little bit. He can handle his body well to be so big. And I tell him that all the time. I’m not saying nothing on this interview that he ain’t heard me say already. I keep it real with him. What you see is what you get.”
And what Powers gets from Washington is what the former NFL corner says “is just a genuine perspective of the pass game.”
Washington does not claim to be any sort of defensive back guru, but he’s played a lot of football and has a lot of experience in the secondary. He’s seen how the game has evolved and is able to bring that knowledge to the table when teaching Powers and his teammates.
