Leadership, hard work earns three Buckeyes captain status
COLUMBUS — Ohio State shook up its offseason leadership structures this offseason to maximize the summer workouts. That hard work cultivating leadership has led the Buckeyes to officially name their captains for this season.
The program unveiled its three captains on Saturday morning as training camp continues through its third week, electing two players on offense and one on defense.
Tight end Cade Stover and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg are returning captains for Ohio State, giving them the honor of being two-time captains for the program. Former walk-on wide receiver Xavier Johnson is the third team captain for the Buckeyes this season.
All three senior leaders are from the state of Ohio. Stover is from Mansfield, Eichenberg is from Cleveland and Johnson is from Cincinnati.
Naming so few captains is rare for Ohio State. The Buckeyes had six captains last year and haven’t had fewer than four since 2009. But they feel they have a strong trio of leaders.
Stover is the most vocal of the trio. He’ll lead the way for the Buckeyes offense that returns nearly all of its skill talent from a season ago but has plenty of question marks, especially at quarterback and along the offensive line.
He spoke about what he has improved on as a leader and on the field earlier this week during his media session.
“I’ve just grown up,” Stover said. “I think I say it all the time: a year for an 18 to 22-year-old dude, you do a lot of growing and a lot of growing up in that situation. Mentally, maturity wise, whatever you got to do. So I’m just older, I understand things better, I see things quicker, and it allows the game to really slow down more.”
Then there’s Eichenberg, who certainly isn’t the most vocal of the three. He leads by example on the field, leading the Buckeyes in tackles last season. He will be expected to do so again from his post at middle linebacker.
it means a lot hearing that,” Eichenberg said when asked what it means to be the leader of the defense. “But you know, I know just about every every single person on the defense is a leader.”
Johnson has become the spiritual leader of the team because of his faith. After a breakout season last fall, he will be in the offensive equation for the Buckeyes.
Of course, the Buckeyes have more than just three leaders. But they decided to pair down the captains to just three entering this season, the fewest in the Ryan Day era. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We have a lot of good people just like last year,” Stover said. “We came back with a lot of good people. We lost a lot of good people but we brought in a lot of good people. I feel like we have the right people. You have to gel guys. Every locker room needs those kind of people. Everybody has a role.
“I think everybody understands our role to be able to be successful.”
Three Ohio State players have a new role: team captain. They’ll lead the way for the Buckeyes this fall.
