In James Laurinaitis’ mind, Ohio State has three starters at linebacker.
The first two are fairly obvious to OSU fans, with Sonny Styles emerging as the leader of the defense and Arvell Reese carving out a large role for himself by the time 2024 ended. But Laurinaitis holds Payton Pierce in equal esteem with the other two and says he’ll count on all three to play consistent reps this fall.
“I think just having those three, you’re able to throw them in at any time to keep them fresh as the game goes on,” Laurinaitis said Wednesday. “Coach Matt Patricia (has told me), ‘You’re in charge of the rotation and to let it roll.”
Pierce was one of the first recruits Laurinaitis called when he joined Ohio State’s coaching staff following a brief stint at Notre Dame. Laurinaitis knew Pierce's wrestling background, physicality and ability to play downhill made him a great fit for the Buckeyes’ linebacker room.
Part of Pierce’s first season in Columbus was spent rehabbing a serious leg injury in the spring. Once he hit the practice field in the fall, Pierce showed glimpses of becoming an eventual standout player. Fully recovered from his injury, Pierce set big goals for himself this offseason and had his eyes on being named an Iron Buckeye. He was one of eight Buckeyes to receive that honor when summer workouts concluded.
“It meant a lot, I feel like it was one of my biggest accomplishments in my life up to now,” Pierce said. “I think the goal one day is to be a captain here. But I feel like being an Iron Buckeye, having a big offseason and getting bigger and stronger, I think it just meant a lot because our teammates vote on it too. Just knowing that every day when we do those one-on-one competitions and leading guys, people are noticing that I was giving everything I had. So it meant a lot to have coach Mick and all of them choose me to be an Iron Buckeye.”
Not that Pierce needed more motivation to have a standout season, but Laurinaitis has taken it upon himself to educate his room about a past Ohio State standout linebacker every day, with recent examples being Pepper Johnson, Ike Kelley and Chris Spielman. He’s also informed his players that while he has a set top three in mind for now, the depth chart is always fluid. Given that, Pierce isn’t taking the potential of a large role for granted.
“I mean, I just started off with competing with (Sonny and Arvell),” Pierce said. “I feel like I've made a statement on who I am and how I fit this defense. And I'm just trying to build off that and keep playing. And my goal is to be better than the other two guys and not let any of the younger guys be better than me. And their goal is the exact same thing. And it just builds competition.”
The competition has led to mutual respect throughout the linebacker room. Without revealing too many specifics, Pierce said Reese and Styles’ athleticism allows them to have more flexibility in their roles in Patricia’s defense — the “fun stuff,” as Pierce calls it — while he feels most comfortable in the box.
“I feel like I'm pretty confident in the box,” Pierce said. “And I feel like it kind of lets (Reese and Styles) open up and do whatever they wanna do. And this fall camp, I've gotten to do a lot of different things. And we're all playing different spots and stuff. I'm just real excited for this season.”
Pierce was one of Texas’ best high school prospects in the 2024 class, and he’ll see his biggest role to date against a team many of his friends and family members grew up watching on Aug. 30 against the Longhorns.
“It’s pretty exciting, we’re going to have a lot of family members there,” Pierce said. “Got all my buddies from back home texting me every day. A lot of people will be there … it’s been a lot of Horns Down emojis recently.”
Despite being thrown into the fire on a big stage early, Laurinaitis feels confident in the redshirt freshman’s ability to step up for the scarlet and gray when called on.
“He has this tough-guy leadership qualities that's similar to Tommy (Eichenberg),” Laurinaitis said. “And it's just like, you know when that ball is run between the tackles that he's going to go down there and you'd be surprised if he got through a practice without chips off of his face mask, you know? And obviously that's the way that I think the LB position should be played.”
