Ohio State Linebacker Notebook: ‘He’s the ultimate pro’

Year Two Should Be Good

In his first season as a linebacker last year, Sonny Styles was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection. As a junior, he posted 100 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, broke up five passes, and forced a fumble in helping lead the Buckeyes to a national title.

He was active throughout the season, but also got better as he got more games under his belt. After spending time at safety and nickel his first two years, last year was a learning experience at linebacker. Now in year two at the position, the expectations for Sonny Styles continue to grow as well.

“I think it’s just the way Sonny goes about it. He’s the ultimate pro,” said linebackers coach James Laurinaitis. “He’s been that way. Obviously, his dad and mom have done a great job in raising him and Lorenzo and how they go about their business. Very intentional.”

What Styles showed last year and what he will continue to show this season is why Laurinaitis was wanting the position switch to be made as quickly as possible.

“I’ve been secretly pounding the table for Sonny Styles to play linebacker probably since I got here,” he said. “You just saw that frame and you knew, like, just let the kid eat a cheeseburger and he’ll get to the right weight. From day one that we said we’re making the switch, man, he just wanted to work on his feet and work and work and work.”

Replacing Cody

The 2025 Ohio State football team is going to have many of the same expectations as the 2024 team. It’s not quite ‘Natty of bust,’ but everybody wearing the Scarlet and Gray is working towards a championship this year.

But while the goals remain the same, the team itself will look quite different. Gone are 16 starters from last year’s team, and the bulk of the leadership as well.

New leaders are stepping up, such as returning starters Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, and Davison Igbinosun. They were all three leaders last year, which means what they’re doing this year is nothing new.

For a linebacker like Styles — as well as junior middle linebacker Arvell Reese, picking up the leadership void left by Cody Simon’s departure for the NFL is critical.

“Cody set such a good example,” James Laurinaitis said. “Tommy [Eichenberg] set a great example the year before, right? Like everyone leads in their own way. Cody didn’t lead like Tommy, and Sonny won’t lead like either of them. We all have our own form of leadership. You have to be authentic when you’re a leader. That’s hard because everyone’s looking at you to step out of line, right? So Sonny’s done a great job kind of taking that over.”

Being an Ohio State linebacker is about more than just playing defense and making tackles. It’s about leading the defense as well as the team.

“It has to be,” Laurinaitis said. “If you’re getting recruited here as a linebacker, you better be the captain of your team. You have to be. You’re talking in front of the huddle every single play.”

Improving As A Coach

Coaches and players are always asked about the process of progression for a player.

“How have you grown since last season?” “Where have you made the greatest strides since your freshman season?” “What do you know now that you wish you knew then?”

It’s not every day, however, that coaches are asked how they themselves have grown and progressed.

For Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, however, it’s an interesting question because he is a young coach. This is just his second full year as a full-time college assistant. The two years prior to that he was a graduate assistant first at Notre Dame then with the Buckeyes.

Even a three-time All-American like Laurinaitis can still learn a thing or two.

“Probably just a lot more organized,” he said this spring when asked where he’s grown. “You get better as a teacher. I think you have to start with a foundation. I think when I first got into coaching, I didn’t realize how little college kids actually knew about what I would consider obvious football. That comes from, like, the last time I was playing football was when you’re in your eighth year, you’re 30 years old. You’ve forgotten more football than the kids that you’re going to coach know. So it’s like you have to almost shrink back. ‘When I was 18 years old, what did I know about football?’ Nothing. Nothing.”

Laurinaitis is already one of the bright, young coaches in college football, but he’s been around the game long enough to know that if you’re not progressing, you’re regressing.

“I always tell people the story, in high school, the linemen are about the same size as you. You just kind of go run and try to run through them. There’s no technique,” he explained. “And then you get here and you’re on scout team and Nick Mangold’s the starting center and you’re getting just absolutely destroyed every play because you’re trying to run through Nick Mangold and he’s just baptizing you play after play after play. So that’s just part of it. I think I’ve got a long way to go. You’re always learning in this game. If you’re not, you’re gonna get humbled fast.”

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