There might be no Buckeye whose stock has risen more this spring than Austin Siereveld.
In March, he was one of three Iron Buckeyes named by Ohio State's strength and conditioning staff for his dedication in the weight room. He was the prime example of the Buckeyes' emphasis on positional versatility in spring practice, training and shining at offensive tackle after playing guard his first two years in Columbus.
And most recently, on Tuesday, Ryan Day said the rotational piece of Ohio State's 2024 offensive line “is going to be a starter” in 2025. The only question is: Where?
"I thought Austin did a nice job moving around," Day said. "I think he really took a big step for us. And so, yeah, I don't think we're in a position to really get into, like, who's starting and who isn't and at what positions. Austin Siereveld is going to be a starter for us. He's an excellent player. Really had a good spring for us."
Siereveld started six games at left guard in 2024 with the last two starts coming in the College Football Playoff. He saw snaps throughout the season, however, often rotating with starting right guard Tegra Tshabola when not starting himself. He played 495 snaps in total.
Before the start of spring practice, Siereveld was thought to be in a battle with Tshabola and Luke Montgomery for Ohio State's two starting guard spots. Then, in the Buckeyes' first spring practice, in a window open to the media, Siereveld was seen playing left tackle.
He ultimately started at tackle during each session of practice open to the media and was the spring game starter at right tackle. In a competition thought to be between Minnesota transfer Phillip Daniels and redshirt freshman Ian Moore at RT, Siereveld may now be the frontrunner. But that battle is still very much alive.
"At right tackle, Phil Daniels, I thought, got better from practice one all the way to the end," Day said. "And that's an example of somebody who's, you know, playing against Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry and C.J. Hicks every day in practice. He just continually got better, especially in his pass protection. So big summer for him as well."
Day and his players feel the construction of Ohio State's offensive line staff has been a benefit to the unit's development. The NCAA removed its limit on on-field assistant coaches in 2024, and the Buckeyes took advantage by hiring two former Power 4 offensive line coaches, Marcus Johnson and Charlie Dickey, to support new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen.
"I thought our guys appreciated the way that, you know, we have Tyler, Marcus and Charlie all working together with the O-line," Day said. "And I think it's important when you have three guys with three different backgrounds come together, they have to have one voice if they're going to work like that, together. Again, in the post-spring meetings, asking all the offensive linemen what they thought and it was unanimous, like excellent. They loved it."
With more one-on-one instruction available for each player and a good amount of experience on the offensive line, Day has seen across-the-board improvement.
"I thought Tegra, Carson (Hinzman), Luke, Ethan (Onianwa) got better. Josh Padilla got better," Day said. "There's a lot of guys there that I felt like were really improving on a day-to-day basis. I feel like sometimes you look at it and you're like, 'OK, if Tyleik (Williams) and Ty (Hamilton) were in there, what would that look like? So you have to compare that part of it on each side. But I would say, overall, the offensive line probably won more than they lost over the spring."
The goal now for Ohio State, as is stated every year, is to put its best five on the field along the offensive line. Carson Hinzman returns on the interior, and Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa seems to have a hold on the left tackle position, which he was brought in to play.
With Siereveld viewed as a third starter, it could come down to who the two best linemen are between Montgomery, Tshabola, Daniels and Padilla to round out Ohio State's starting unit.
