Ryan Day talks about J.T. Tuimoloau's development entering second year at Ohio State

As Ohio State defensive lineman J.T. Tuimoloau enters his second year in the Buckeyes program, he is gaining some valuable experience during the spring. That is a luxury that Tuimoloau did not have when he came to Ohio State as a freshman at the end of last summer. Now, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is really excited about the development of his second-year defensive lineman.

Day recently touched on Tuimoloau not having the spring to prepare last season, which illustrates how talented and competitive he is to have still been ready to contribute right away as a freshman.

“Well he didn’t have a whole offseason, he didn’t even have a summer,” Day said of Tuimoloau’s introduction to Ohio State last season. “That’s probably one of the more unique ones we’ve had, although we’ve had a few in the last couple years. But he got here a week before training camp. That was one of the concerns we shared with his family, was that if you show up at the end of July, you’re not gonna have a lot of time to prepare to get on the field. All you’re gonna have is August and that’s really hard. To his credit, he got on the field and played despite not having that lead up time, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.

“So it says a lot about him. But now he’s had a whole offseason. Well, hasn’t had a whole offseason, but he’s had seven weeks of winter conditioning, training, he’s gotten stronger, and now he’s kind of diving into the spring practice. So I think as we head into August, it’ll be a whole year of work under his belt. The season an offseason, the spring, May and June, summer. I think he’ll look a lot different.”

Day thinks that the next few months at Ohio State camp can really help Tuimoloau’s physical development

Tuimoloau arrived at Ohio State in a pretty good spot physically. Even without a lot of offseason preparation with the Buckeyes, he forced his way onto the field, totaling 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks as a freshman last season in 11 games. But as Tuimoloau continues to learn the ins and outs of Ohio State’s defense, he still has room to grow physically as well.

“You’ve got to think so,” Day said when asked if these spring and summer months can help unlock more physical development for Tuimoloau. “I mean our experience is that just to show up at this level of college football out of high school and just play is very difficult. I mean I can only count on my hand a few guys who’ve ever done that. I’ve never seen anybody show up at the end of July and even play like he did. So exciting to see where that goes with the whole year under his belt.”