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Fresh Off Earning Iron Buckeye Honors, Payton Pierce Has Developed Into a Starting-Caliber Linebacker at Ohio State
James Laurinaitis views Payton Pierce as a starter for Ohio State and the Texas resident says his friends have been sending him “a lot of Horns Down emojis lately.”
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
Well, once more, a former NFL Buckeye is coaching at his alma mater, and appears to be doing a great job of it, imparting his knowledge to his players/students. PS, on the B10 preview last night, it appeared to me that Brian Hartline was definitely more ripped than Laurinaitis. Was I fooled, or did anyone else note that as well?
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Fresh Off Earning Iron Buckeye Honors, Payton Pierce Has Developed Into a Starting-Caliber Linebacker at Ohio State
James Laurinaitis views Payton Pierce as a starter for Ohio State and the Texas resident says his friends have been sending him “a lot of Horns Down emojis lately.”www.elevenwarriors.com
In James Laurinaitis’ mind, Ohio State has three starters at linebacker.
The first two are fairly obvious to OSU fans, with Sonny Styles emerging as the leader of the defense and Arvell Reese carving out a large role for himself by the time 2024 ended. But Laurinaitis holds Payton Pierce in equal esteem with the other two and says he’ll count on all three to play consistent reps this fall.
“I think just having those three, you’re able to throw them in at any time to keep them fresh as the game goes on,” Laurinaitis said Wednesday. “Coach Matt Patricia (has told me), ‘You’re in charge of the rotation and to let it roll.”
“It meant a lot, I feel like it was one of my biggest accomplishments in my life up to now,” Pierce said. “I think the goal one day is to be a captain here. But I feel like being an Iron Buckeye, having a big offseason and getting bigger and stronger, I think it just meant a lot because our teammates vote on it too. Just knowing that every day when we do those one-on-one competitions and leading guys, people are noticing that I was giving everything I had. So it meant a lot to have coach Mick and all of them choose me to be an Iron Buckeye.”
“I mean, I just started off with competing with (Sonny and Arvell),” Pierce said. “I feel like I've made a statement on who I am and how I fit this defense. And I'm just trying to build off that and keep playing. And my goal is to be better than the other two guys and not let any of the younger guys be better than me. And their goal is the exact same thing. And it just builds competition.”
“I feel like I'm pretty confident in the box,” Pierce said. “And I feel like it kind of lets (Reese and Styles) open up and do whatever they wanna do. And this fall camp, I've gotten to do a lot of different things. And we're all playing different spots and stuff. I'm just real excited for this season.”
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“He has this tough-guy leadership qualities that's similar to Tommy (Eichenberg),” Laurinaitis said. “And it's just like, you know when that ball is run between the tackles that he's going to go down there and you'd be surprised if he got through a practice without chips off of his face mask, you know? And obviously that's the way that I think the LB position should be played.”
Just sayin': WOW, it looks like he has really "stepped up".
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