Sophomore Middle Linebacker Payton Pierce 'A Throwback'

As a senior at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas in 2023, Payton Pierce amassed 181 tackles and 40 tackles for loss. Those are the kinds of numbers that generally label a linebacker as somebody who has “a nose for the football.”

As a true freshman Buckeye last year, however, Pierce’s numbers dropped to four tackles in 13 games, the last seven of which were all on special teams. It wasn’t an unexpected drop, given the fact that there were a number of older players ahead of him.

The same is true this year, though the number of players has dipped. Last year’s starting middle linebacker Cody Simon is gone, but senior Will linebacker Sonny Styles is back, as is Simon’s heir apparent Arvell Reese, who is a junior.

Over the last few years, however, the Buckeyes have regularly played more than just two linebackers. Simon was the third linebacker in 2022 and 2023, playing plenty. Reese was that guy last year and he ended up being a key piece of the Ohio State defense.

That third linebacker spot is now open, and Payton Pierce is making a very loud claim for the job.

“Payton’s awesome,” OSU linebackers coach James Laurinaitis said after practice on Thursday. “Payton’s awesome. Tough. Just like an absolute natural. Absolute natural. His feel in the box and his ability to maneuver and feel blocking schemes. He’s got that wrestling background, so his striking ability and the way he snags and then runs his feet on contact, it’s just a throwback, man. I love Payton. I expect Payton to have a lot of playing time.”

Laurinaitis himself was a three-time All-American middle linebacker at Ohio State (2006, 2007, 2008), so his words carry more weight than most linebacker coaches.

Told of the praise that Laurinaitis had given him, Pierce instead talked about the process and his experience so far this spring.

“Yeah, I mean, just trying to be the best I can every day and compete with the guys we got in the room and just keep getting better every day,” Pierce said. “It’s been a heck of a two weeks we’ve had. It’s been real competitive and I’m having so much fun. I mean, football’s great.”

On The Mat

It is generally offensive line and defensive line coaches in college who like to recruit high school wrestlers. They understand the need for leverage and the physical strain that goes into every battle. They’ve seen it all before. But wrestling has also been key for Payton Pierce in his time as a linebacker.

Pierce was 30-1 as a high school wrestler, only losing his final match.

“That just shows the mentality of it,” Pierce said. “I mean, if you ever let up, it’s so easy to slip up in that sport. And I think it builds a mentality in you and it touches you differently when you grow up wrestling.”

According to Pierce, it’s not just the physical side of wrestling that prepares you so well for football.

“There’s nothing harder than slapping hands on the wrestling mat and stepping out there and you gotta take a guy down,” he said. “He’s trying to take you down one on one. So I think just the mentality of it helps at linebacker a lot.”

Just Act Naturally

The idea of a middle linebacker “just being a natural” ignores all of the work that goes into looking that way. There is film work, footwork, and every other kind of work in between.

But there is also something natural to playing middle linebacker for Payton Pierce.

“I think it could be a little bit of both,” he explained. “I think Arvell is a good example of someone who’s kind of been taught how to do it and he’s real good at it too. But yeah, I think I kind of naturally had a knack for it and just from wrestling and your body position and stuff and playing smart. But yeah, I think you gotta have a little — just naturally you gotta be able to do it a little bit. So I think I got it.”

The Third Man

There is a legitimate opportunity for Payton Pierce to have a role in the 2025 Ohio State defense. Arvell Reese is proof of that. After playing just special teams as a true freshman in 2023, Reese forced his way into the rotation and saw time on defense in every single game last year.

When the Buckeyes needed three linebackers against a certain lineup or down-and-distance, it was Reese out there. When they wanted to give Cody Simon a breather, it was Reese that replaced him.

This year, that job is wide open but Pierce has already made a convincing claim for the spot.

“I’ll play whatever coach wants me to play,” he said. “I’m just trying to learn all the positions, and that’s including all the way from defensive end to corner, just to know where everyone’s going. So if someone goes down in those linebacker spots, I can be ready.

The Know-It-All

The Buckeyes are in the early stages of finding themselves defensively. Last year’s defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is off to Penn State. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is learning this current Buckeye defense so that he can add his own touches.

Payton Pierce wants to be ready for anything, which he is now equipped to do. He played Will linebacker last year and is now at middle linebacker. He is comfortable at either spot and willing to do whatever is asked.

The process has been over a year in the making, and it hasn’t always been easy. Pierce missed spring ball last year with an injury, so his first time on the practice field was in fall camp. That was a learning process that doesn’t really wait for a true freshman.

But he survived. And now he’s working on thriving, just as a middle linebacker at Ohio State needs to do.

“It feels good,” Pierce said of spring ball and having a year under his belt. “I was kind of just thrown right into it in fall camp. I thought I did a pretty good job, just kind of getting thrown into the fire. But now after coming back this year, things click a lot easier. I feel like this defense, everyone’s clicking.

“I’m really studying as much as I can. I just live up here all day and it’s great having Sonny. And then just even a guy like Cody last year, just the level of preparation he had every single day was unlike I’ve ever seen. He knew what everybody was doing every single play. I’m just trying to have trust in the coaches that I can know what’s going on at all times so I can go in there and do my job.”