The two players above never played a meaningful down at Ohio State.
After a redshirt in 2014 as a true freshman, former four-star cornerback Joshua Norwood watched Gareon Conley and Eli Apple run Kerry Coombs's cornerbacks ship as the Buckeyes went 12-1 and thumped Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl to close out the 2015 season.
Norwood participated in 11 games this past season, recording eight total tackles and even a tackle for loss during the team's 62-3 blowout win at Maryland. With most of his work on special teams in 2016 and a horde of young talent already enrolled at his position like Jeffrey Okudah, Marcus Williamson, Shaun Wade and Kendall Sheffield, Norwood saw the writing on the wall. He plans to transfer out of Ohio State, reportedly to Georgia Southern.
Torrance Gibson redshirted his first season on campus as well, got suspended last fall by the university for violating the Student Code of Conduct and is now at Cincinnati State trying to finish an associate's degree. If he does, he then plans to transfer to the University of Cincinnati to play for new head coach Luke Fickell.
While Norwood's news puts Ohio State at the magical 85 scholarship limit more than three months ahead of the beginning of training camp (with a caveat), he also becomes the fifth Buckeye to transfer out of the program from the team's 26-man 2015 recruiting class. The other four: Gibson, Alex Stump, Jamel Dean and Grant Schmidt.
Last month, Urban Meyer called the 2015 group a "misfit class" that showed signs of progress during spring practice. But Norwood's exit is again an example of Meyer's point, one he has made multiple times recently.
“We have a void in the middle here that we have to get more production out of that group. That’s the ’15 class.”– Urban Meyer
“That was not a good class and the good thing is they’re allowed to change and they’re starting to change,” he said then. “That class, that was a misfit class, is starting to buy in and they better.”
Attrition happens everywhere to college football programs, especially one like Ohio State where spots among the 85 scholarships are so incredibly valuable and cannot afford to be wasted. In a world where Meyer has lost only six games in his first five seasons at the helm in Columbus, nitpicking is the name of the game.
Meyer's 2015 recruiting class finished ranked seventh in the country according to 247Sports, the lowest since he has been at Ohio State. The rankings of the classes, in order, starting with 2012: fifth, second, third, seventh, fourth, second. So, all top-5 classes with one exception, the "misfit" group that Meyer said must take steps forward this offseason if the Buckeyes are to attain their lofty goals in 2017.
“It’s that ‘15, that group of players in there that haven’t performed,” Meyer said March 7, the first day of spring drills. “We’re very strong at the top, we’re very strong at the bottom and now we gotta squeeze it to make sure everybody’s productive and provides value.
“You do that, you’ll have a fine team. If you don’t, you won’t.”
This isn't to say there are not some terrific players among the group. Jerome Baker, Mike Weber, Dre'Mont Jones, Denzel Ward, Isaiah Prince and Liam McCullough are all starters. K.J. Hill is in line to play a massive role in Ohio State's passing game this fall at wide receiver, Damon Arnette and Matthew Burrell are vying for starting positions, while A.J. Alexander and Robert Landers are rotational players at their respective spots.
“I take it personal,” Baker said of Meyer's public criticism of the 2015 class. “I feel like our class is a very good class and just like getting on the field and playing as well, you should take it personal. When people talk about our class is not producing and everything like that, you take it personal.”
Baker has a point being that he blossomed into a star on defense last season and there are plenty of others doing the same. Health obviously has played a major role in the perceived lack of production from Meyer as well. The class's top-rated player, linebacker Justin Hilliard, has missed the majority of the last two seasons with torn biceps muscles. Nick Conner sat out the bulk of spring with an injury and Kevin Feder has done the same.
Additionally, Josh Alabi just moved from defensive to offensive line during spring practice and Eric Glover-Williams switched from safety to wide receiver. DaVon Hamilton saw his snaps increase for Larry Johnson at the end of last season on a unit that is incredibly deep. The same goes for Rashod Berry, a defensive end that serves as a gunner on the kickoff team.
Depth is needed for the success of any team, which is all Meyer wants to see established this offseason from the 2015 class — like any offseason. Yet Norwood's decision to move on hurts that part of the equation at cornerback, though things aren't exactly dire in Coombs's room.
Meyer just feels he needs to see more from that group. There still is time. But with Norwood now gone, another body is gone from the 26.
“We have a really strong lower class. Our [2017 early enrollees] are really impressive, the nine guys that are here. Our ’16 class [is too], and then we have really strong leadership,” Meyer told Paul Keels and Jim Lachey on his call-in show on National Signing Day in February. “We have a void in the middle here that we have to get more production out of that group. That’s the ’15 class.
“I think [strength coach Mickey] Marotti said it best. It’s like an Oreo cookie. You’ve got strength at the bottom, strength at the top and then there’s a squeeze from some of the guys who haven’t done enough around here to produce and be a part of it.”
