Ohio State’s Meyer loves walk-ons

Coach carves out niche for guys on periphery

Most studentathletes at Ohio State entered the football program as high-profile recruits, with the vast majority opting for the Buckeyes over offers from a veritable who’s-who of the sport’s elite — including Clemson, the opponent in the Fiesta Bowl.

Ohio State’s recruiting success since Urban Meyer’s arrival in the winter of 2011 bears out this point. During this span, according to composite rankings compiled by 247Sports.com, the Buckeyes have reeled in five signing classes in a row ranked in the top seven nationally, with this group providing the backbone of a program aiming for its second national title in three years.

But there are those, such as senior Joe Burger, who elected for a non-traditional route. Burger, a backup middle linebacker and key special-teams contributor, turned down scholarship offers from several Mid-American Conference programs to walk on at Ohio State.

The walk-on path is, after all, a family tradition. Burger’s father, two uncles and an older brother were walk-ons at Notre Dame; his father, Bob, began as the seventhstring center during his first day on campus before becoming a starter during his senior year.

“My goal was, I always wanted to play football at the highest level and compete for a championship,” Joe Burger said. “I just thought this was the right place to be.” NEXT FOR DUO: MED SCHOOL Quarterback J.T. Barrett is the face of Ohio State’s football roster; others, such as linebacker Raekwon McMillan and safety Malik Hooker, are undisputed college standouts likely destined to continue their careers on Sundays, as the next crop of stars to parade the Buckeyes’ flag through the upcoming NFL draft. In comparison, the next stop for Burger and fellow walk-on linebacker Craig Fada is medical school.

But in their own way, players such as Burger and Fada have notched an equally impressive feat: Both have lettered four times as walk-ons, an achievement so unheard of that, to the best of Ohio State’s knowledge, it stands unmatched in the program’s history.

“I’m kind of disappointed in those two guys. They’re just typi- cal losers,” Meyer cracked. “I’m trying to talk them into coaching, and this darn med school keeps getting in the way. That’s a tough one, to say goodbye to those guys.”

Even at Ohio State, where the depth chart teems and nearly overflows with five-star talent, the important role played by Burger, Fada and the rest of the Buckeyes walk-ons — including kicker Tyler Durbin, an all-Big Ten Conference pick — cannot be overstated.

“Those guys are the foundation for this team,” senior center Pat Elflein said.

The most noticeable impact of Ohio State’s walk-on program can be felt on the scout team, a group of non-starters and little-used reserves tasked with imitating the Buckeyes’ upcoming opponent. Leading into the Fiesta Bowl, for example, many walk-ons will be tasked with replicating, to the best of their abilities, the varied talents of Clemson’s offense and defense.

“They help us get better every day,” junior offensive tackle Jamarco Jones said. “You might not know who they are, but they go out there and bust their butt just to try and make the team better. And not get any recognition for it, really. It’s just kind of humbling to see that those guys are willing to do that.”

QUITE A PROCESS

Each offseason, in addition to the coaching staff ’s normal recruiting efforts, Ohio State digs through game film to find between five and seven preferred walk-on prospects. In nearly every case, these are high schools stars either not quite strong enough, quick enough or athletic enough to be given scholarship offers — though, as with Burger, most receive attention from lower-tier Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

“We recruit them,” Meyer said, which is true. Ohio State approaches the walk-on process in a similar vein as its normal evaluation process, eyeballing and rating potential student-athletes for their ability to add value to the Buckeyes’ championship credentials — a process repeated at most programs across college football.

Eventually, the plan is to ma- triculate these walk-ons, as Meyer put it, to special teams. Burger, for example, spent his true freshman season holding blocking bags; by his redshirt sophomore year, he began to be an integral cog on the Buckeyes’ coverage and kicking teams, even making a key punt block in last season’s narrow win against Indiana.

“You realize you’re way onto the field is on special teams,” Burger said. “You’re not going to have a whole lot of recognition, but you just try to have fun, play as hard as you can and make a difference in the game.

“You’re not going to start out as the highestranked, but if you do the right things day in and day out, we believe that we’ll get rewarded and you’ll get what you deserve.”

But the bigger difference, perhaps, is felt off the field. Walk-ons aren’t unique to Ohio State, obviously, but there’s something deeply meaningful about the idea that non-scholarship players can carve out impactful roles among the many NFL-bound players littering the roster — that walk-ons will pay their own way to be beaten up, knocked down and used as “a scout-team dummy,” in Burger’s words, despite the slim chance of cracking a supremely talented depth chart.

It’s a fact that even the team’s stars notice. “It’s impressive to see that,” Elflein said.

“Especially at a program like this, with how tough it is, with the amount of hours you have to put in. And you’re not getting anything for it, you’re just doing it out of pride and for the love of the game.”

Meyer, a walk-on defensive back at Cincinnati while playing baseball in the Atlanta Braves organization in the 1980s, uses his walk-on players as examples: Fada’s and Burger’s efforts were rewarded with scholarships as fifth-year seniors, with Meyer highlighting their under-the-radar, under-recognized efforts as the backup singers for the Buckeyes’ starring cast.

“There’s a special place in my heart for those guys,” he said. “I will give them a better opportunity than a scholarship kid. If it’s close, I’m taking the walk-on. I’ve always been that way. I just appreciate guys like that.”

“They ... bust their butt just to try and make the team better. ... It’s just kind of humbling.” Ohio State offensive tackle Jamarco Jones, discussing the team’s walk-ons