We’ve gone through the positives and negatives from the 2025 season so far. Now, I get to lay out where I think the program is, where it’s going, and what the future holds. I very briefly touched on how Ohio State currently stacks up against the team up north, but we’ll get even deeper on that subject in the next few paragraphs. I’m going to try to contextualize the current state of the program against the success of its Big Ten peers, as well as point out potential trends for the future. There’s been a few rewrites of this post, because stuff just keeps happening over and over. For the ADHD among us, here's your TL;DR: Buckeyes have the best staff since 2020, need to replace a lot, and have really good talent coming in. Be optimistic. Cautiously.
If I’m going to sit here and say a program is measured by national relevance, then Ohio State is radically underachieving in this sport. Ohio State women’s hockey, rowing, wrestling, pistol, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball, and team handball (club) have all won national titles within the past decade. Even the club football team has won national titles. Men’s hockey is consistently a contender, despite getting largely outclassed by some more established powers. The men’s lacrosse program is not living up to the standard of other non-revenue sports at their own university, let alone other lacrosse schools.
I talked in the negative postmortem about how the Buckeyes stack up against the Wolverines. If we expand that to the Big Ten, Ohio State’s standing is absolutely bleak. The Buckeyes and Wolverines are tied for the FEWEST quarterfinal appearances since 2017. At one apiece. Rutgers has been there twice since then. Johns Hopkins has been there 3 times. Penn State? Also 3. Penn State’s been to the Final Four 3(!) times since Ohio State went there the first time. Maryland’s record stands for itself. As much I am a homer, Maryland earned the 2-seed based on their record. This season, and every season under John Tillman.
Maryland’s been to 5 Final Fours since 2017. Been to 6 of 7 quarterfinals in the same period (remember, nothing in 2020). Understand, even including this season, Ohio State has inarguably the worst record of success in Big Ten lacrosse history. In 10 years of the league’s existence, no team has performed WORSE than Ohio State on the national stage. And without 2017, it’d be laughable. Feeling bad? A small recap to make it worse.
Ohio State has not won a national tournament game since 2017. The team has only been a participant in the tournament twice in the seven tournaments held since the 2017 edition (2020 didn’t have a national tournament). To be clear, that is unacceptable with Ohio State’s resources, fan interest, and recruiting base. The Wolverines have had the exact same number of national tournament appearances as Ohio State since 2017. The Wolverines have won MORE NCAA tournament games since 2017 than Ohio State (1).
Ohio State’s biggest rival has won MORE Big Ten Tournament titles than Ohio State (2 to 1). That program hasn’t been in DI long enough to matriculate to high school. Ohio State is not where it could be, should be, or is even on the incline.
That’s the context for the next 12 months. How things progress from here is going to largely depend on if the staff can get alignment right, get the necessary personnel in place, and putting together the wins that will get the Buckeyes back into the national tournament for the 2nd year! A row. That would be only the second ume In program history that has happened (2003 and 2004).
I’m not an insider, but I’m getting a feeling that the 2026 season is a bit of a show-me season for the new-look athletic department. There’s 2 years left on the current coach’s deal, and just about everything for the program will have changed in some capacity going into next season.
If I’m going to be honest, the 2025 season, in all its glory and tragedy, may turn out to be as much a curse as it was a blessing for the program. This past year was great, on the whole. I highlighted that at length. Now, however, you’re looking for more. All! those wins, the championships, the success, show what this program can be. And, frankly, should be. One of the most resource-rich athletic departments in a lacrosse crazy state shouldn’t have a lacrosse program that takes the better part of a decade to win a national tournament game. Losing all of the offensive players that made this season happen is going to be a bitter pill to swallow come next season.
While the Buckeyes are coming off a tent pole year in the course of program history, it was on the backs of a now departed offensive unit that performed better than any unit since 2020. Ohio State is now moving into the House settlement era, with unknown financial implications. If the Buckeyes get more scholarships (2026 recruiting may indicate that), then there’s some real built in advantages coming down the pike for the staff, program, and hopefully all of us. But in order to get the most out of this, Ohio State needs to win. Now. Al Davis, for all his faults, was right. Just win, baby, and it all gets better. The major question is can they?
There is an absolute metric ton of young offensive talent coming into the program this offseason. In just about every form. In the high school class, Ohio State brings in a massive gunslinger (Jack Bickelmeyer), a prep school scoring machine (Christian Hogan), a small public school box phenom (Winter Rivera), and the most touted offensive recruit in Ohio State history (Khalif Hocker), who also happens to be a native Ohioan. Add to that a pair of experienced midfielders from Yale, along with a former Syracuse starter, and you can really start getting a great feeling about the possibilities next year. All I can say is, they better be ready.
With the lights off there’s going to be yet another massive culture shift. Half the roster is going to be brand new to Columbus, new to the program, and an extraordinary number will be new to lacrosse at the Division 1 level. That includes a former Ohio Bobcat football player, who likely is coming in to play SSDM. Garrett Haas and Liam White, the most impactful offensive players still on the roster, will have to exhibit a lot of leadership to get the offense in fighting shape for the opening faceoff in 8 months.
Additionally, the departure of the faceoff and goalie coach opened up a new spot on staff. That position closed very, very quickly (like a week), and the hire has already been made. The Buckeyes are adding a sitting head coach in James Purpura, who has frankly done an outstanding job for the Virginia Military Institute’s lacrosse program. The Keydets are a very, very poor version of the service academies. There’s no funding, there’s no social life, there’s military regimentation, players pay their own tuition and there’s essentially zero fan support.
And yet, Purpura got the Keydets playing well, despite the program’s limitations. Not even well, exceptional is probably the best adjective. The Keydets got 10 wins this past season, which is outstanding for that program. This smacks of the Dylan Sheridan hire from a few years ago, minus the extremely untenable family dynamic.
I am, frankly, impressed that Myers was able to pull this hire off. The addition of Purpura looks like a home run get, as VMI has coalesced into a decent bottom-tier program. No disrespect is intended to VMI, it’s just not an institution where you’re going to get massive exposure, resources, or long-term success. You can’t blame Purpura for wanting to get to a bigger program, and I for one hope he has all the success in the world.
You all know that I run very hot and very cold in my opinions. I think that this team, on paper, is weaker across the board on offensive talent, even with the additions through the portal. I believe that the production, top to bottom, isn’t there.
On the other hand, I can’t think of a better coaching hire to be made for this position than Purpura. The offensive coaching, I think, will be very, very good. This year’s squad, obviously, was much improved from previous iterations. But adding Purpura should take the unit into the stratosphere. Why do I think this?
The Man Up numbers for VMI. Man Up/Down is a very interesting microcosm that speaks a lot about a team’s skills. In both half field spheres. VMI was elite in both categories, but was utterly insane in converting 54% of their Man Up opportunities.
A team is adequate at 35%. Great at 45%. To almost hit 55%? That’s unheard of in DI lacrosse. The Keydets were a really good team last season for their level of talent. Probably the best in the country, frankly, pound for pound. This was a flyweight program battling at welterweight levels. And winning. The Keydets had multiple 40-goal scorers, and a 38-goal scorer in a team that historically has been bereft of talent.
Furthermore, the Keydets improved in shooting percentage each year of Purpura’s time at the helm. Not by a little, either. The Keydets went from shooting 23% to 34% in about 2 years. That’s unfathomably good.
I’ve been critical about coaching, but this is exactly the type of hire you would want to see to address that shortfall on the offensive side. 1’m waiting to see what other names tried to jump in, but this is a scenario where you see a pathway to Purpura becoming the head coach at Ohio State if things go a certain way. I won’t say that as a guarantee by any stretch. But it could happen, if the chips fall right.
If you couldn’t tell based on all of the above, this has been an extremely transformative offseason. Between departures and arrivals, the entire program is in transition. Again. I won’t say that it’s going to be easy. But I also won’t say that things are setting up for a massive step back like I have hinted at previously. I think the issues that needed addressing have been looked at.
The offense was not where it needed to be. There’s now a proven winner in the fold as offensive coordinator, who has never had a tenth of the resources that Ohio State can bring to bear for lacrosse. Maybe a twentieth. This is a whole new offensive era. And it has to work.
The program needs wins again in 2026. Lots of them. There’s a heck of a lot more to be positive about today than there was in May. That’s a shocker for some of you. But it’s irrefutably true. Ultimately, there’s nothing that matters except results now. The slack is gone. The friendly assistant AD for this program is on the way out.
Another overhaul in 2026 is not in the cards after the recent turnover. Ohio State has long been a sleeping giant in lacrosse. The program needs to finally wake up and get wins. Time is now. Everything that can be done, has been done. Win, and the vibes run high with the future stabilized. Lose (fail to make the national tournament, I reckon), and this program gets completely rebooted. I want them to win.
Emphatically.
The next 8 months will be critical. Problems facing the program for 2026 are: identifying offensive personnel, getting the personnel on the same page, getting the defensive middies sorted out, and faceoffs. Solve two of those, and the Buckeyes are 50-50 to be in the national postseason. Sort out 3, and you’re securing a berth.
Solve all 4, and this team is a Final Four team. I think, generally, the staff can survive even without winning a national tournament game if the team makes the tournament in back to back years for only the second time ever. That’s the absolute minimum at this point, though. Winning the first national tournament game since 2017 should be the expectation with the talent and coaching in this program.
An upgrade in coaching on offense should offset any downgrade in talent, and the defense should be good enough to at least get to 3-2 in conference. If the new freshman FOGO has the impact he should, this team could be extremely formidable. For the first time in a while, I’m genuinely excited to see what the new season brings. That’s instead of extremely anxious. And, for all the ups and downs you’ve all been privy to, that should be absolutely beautiful omen going into the fall. Recruiting season begins in 11 days for the service academies, September 1 for the Buckeyes. Should be an extremely interesting 8 months until next season. Buckle up, Buckeyes.
