‘A lot of ups, a lot of downs’: Josh Proctor Reflects on 6-year Ohio State Career

The play that comes to Josh Proctor’s mind when he looks back on his six-year Buckeyes career is his tackle at the end of the Big Ten Championship in 2019.

The tackle, or hit, rather, came at the end of the game after Ohio State had wrapped up a 14-point comeback over the Badgers. Proctor stopped Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan in his tracks near the goal line, and it sealed the Buckeyes’ third-straight conference title.

“Just that year, the way things ended, the way that game went,” Proctor said. “Just to go out with a bang that game, that’s probably my most fun, exciting play.”

Proctor’s final game as a Buckeye will come on Friday in the Cotton Bowl against No. 9 Missouri, a team riding a three-game winning streak off the heels of its highest ranking in the College Football Playoff era.

Proctor will leave Ohio State having won three Big Ten Championships along with three CFP appearances and a five-tackle performance in the CFP National Championship.

Most of those accolades came during Proctor’s first three seasons at Ohio State. Injuries took a toll on his final three years with the program, including a broken leg against Oregon that held him to two games in 2021 before playing in 11 contests in 2022, and he also saw three-consecutive losses to Michigan.

But adversity aside, Proctor is cherishing the final moments of his Buckeyes career.

“It’s just a blessing, man, because some people don’t even get to get this far,” Proctor said. “Honestly, I don’t take any of it for granted. Even though I went through all the injuries and everything, I’m here. Still here. I’m breathing, I’m living. I’m happy, so it’s a blessing.”

Proctor is a veteran of 52 games having started 16 of them while at Ohio State.

When he’s been asked to think about his Buckeyes career, Proctor feels a range of emotions.

“I got that question a few times this week,” Proctor said. “It’s honestly kind of bittersweet. It feels good, and at that same time it’s sad just to know you’re leaving this behind, all of these memories and everything you’ve been through. But it feels good. Feels good just to move on to the next step.”

Proctor arrived at Ohio State in 2018 as a top-100 recruit rated four stars.

He earned over a dozen Power Five offers, according to Rivals, and chose to leave his hometown of Owasso, Oklahoma, for Ohio State.

He made his first impacts across 11 games as a freshman. Since then, he’s played for four defensive coordinators including current coach Jim Knowles, who has gotten to know Proctor over two years.

“Josh has always been a guy with a lot of talent,” Knowles said. “He had his struggles in my first year, but he was a guy you were just waiting for him to break out.”

And in the past five games, Proctor has 16 tackles, five pass break-ups and 1.5 tackles for loss. He’s likely to earn his 11th start of the season on Friday night.

“The light bulb has really gone on for him,” Knowles said. “He’s become a premier safety. He could always hit and run, and now he’s deciphering offenses and understanding our package, which just allows him to utilize his skills and make more plays.”

Proctor said what kept him at Ohio State year after year is that he didn’t feel like he would’ve went out how he wanted. He said he felt “there was a lot left out there” and “a lot I need to prove to not others but also myself,” and he turned to his faith in those moments.

“I would just tell them just pray,” Proctor said. “I did. I had a lot of long talks with myself, a lot of talks with God just asking him and asking for guidance. And that’s one of my biggest takeaway is just pray and ask for signs.”

Proctor has seen a lot in college football change over the last six years, notably around the transfer portal and name, image and likeness.

Before Proctor got to Ohio State, players couldn’t make money using their NIL or play immediately upon their first transfer. When thinking about the flurry of change brought to college football, he said he thought back to his recruitment.

“It’s crazy,” Proctor said. “I wouldn’t trade it because now it just seems like so much. It was so much simpler when I was coming out. You just wanted to pick a school then go. There was no money, there wasn’t this involved, there wasn’t that involved so yeah, I think it was definitely a simpler time back then.”

Over the course of the 2023 season, Proctor said he played with “a different chip on my shoulder this year,” and it turned into one of his best seasons resulting in a career-high 41 tackles, nine passes defended and four tackles for loss.

Proctor said there’ll be around 22 people in attendance from the Tulsa area to support him at the Cotton Bowl, and it’ll be a memory he said he won’t soon forget.

“The first thing I think of is just the process,” Proctor said. “It’s been a long six years. A lot of ups, a lot of downs. But we’re here so I feel good and I’m happy.”