‘Blessed’ With Adversity, Carson Hinzman Intent On Being Leader Buckeyes Need

Leadership and experience were two strengths of the Ohio State offensive line last year. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, four of those experienced starters from that offensive line are now gone.

Donovan Jackson was a three-year starter, while Josh Simmons and Josh Fryar were both two-year starters. Seth McLaughlin only spent one year at Ohio State after transferring over as a graduate from Alabama, but his leadership and experience helped propel him to the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center.

Carson Hinzman began last season on the bench before eventually starting at left guard when Jackson had to move to left tackle in place of Simmons. Then when McLaughlin went down for the year, Hinzman returned to the center spot where he started in 2023 as a redshirt freshman.

As a returning starter last year, the 2024 season was not the kind of season Hinzman was expecting — especially right out of the gate.

“At first I felt like it was a lot of adversity for me, but I think that was the adversity I really needed,” Hinzman said this spring.

Most players wouldn’t think adversity would be a necessity but Hinzman lives in reality and he has seen enough to know that nothing goes as planned, and if somebody can’t overcome the unknown, then they’re not going to become the player they set out to be.

The latest bit of adversity for Hinzman was the departure of the only offensive line coach he’s had at Ohio State. Head coach Ryan Day brought in Tyler Bowen to handle the offensive line, which Hinzman is also seeing as a positive.

“I’ve continued to just learn so much and try to better myself, better my game, because it’s different when there’s the new set of eyes on me,” Hinzman explained. “They’re exposing a lot of my game that I need to work on. And I completely agree, I know I’m definitely not the player I need to be right now. I’m very grateful that they brought a new set of perspective in that because obviously you want to be the best player you can for your team. I think that’s the goal that everyone’s trying to achieve here. So it’s been fun. And I’ve really appreciated all that adversity up to this point.”

The nature of the center position requires leadership. Leading is something that Hinzman is much more equipped to handle now than he was back in 2023 when he was starting as a redshirt freshman. Now that he’s a fourth-year player and at a position as important as center, leading has to be part of the job.

“I don’t feel like it’s natural to anyone to immediately step up, and that’s something I’ve been working on every day and talking to God about, but I obviously understand that,” Hinzman said. “That’s something I want to continue to work on. I want to be able to be a guy that people can fall back on.”

The message to Hinzman and his teammates from the Ohio State coaches is to be the kind of person and player that your teammates can set their clocks to. That’s the goal for Carson Hinzman this year. There is a leadership void on the offensive line based on the losses from last year’s team, but Hinzman and others are doing what they can to fill it. 

“I mean, I’ve been blessed with a lot of adversity,” Hinzman said. “I think that’s definitely made me better on the back end, Coach Day talks about it. A lot of people can just talk about it, but to be about it is important. And I think to me, I went through a lot of adversity. I went through a lot of that stuff, and my testament has been written in an interesting way. But I think for me to take that next step is really important for not only this team, but for myself personally.”

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