Mar. 26—COLUMBUS — A year or so ago, Ohio State fans were uncertain what they had in Tim Walton.
The Buckeye secondary remained shaky in Walton’s first season as cornerbacks coach, and he was facing a recruiting season in which some big scores were available that he couldn’t afford to miss.
Now Walton is one of the most popular members of Ryan Day’s staff after producing impressive results on and off the field, but Walton said he hasn’t changed a thing.
“We’re just authentic,” he said of his recruiting approach that has helped produce commitments from 11 four- or five-star defensive back prospects and impact transfers Davison Igbinosun and Caleb Downs in the past two years. “Really don’t get into a lot of recruiting talk. It is what it is. Try to shoot straight. Honest communication. Honest assessment. The character, the value, the work ethic.”
The 53-year old Walton played cornerback at Ohio State and is more than halfway through his third decade as a football coach.
He speaks like the veteran mentor he is while finding a way to connect with players before and after they decided to don the Scarlet and Gray, as he did in the early 1990s.
The turnaround of the secondary has been impressive, including a defense that led the nation in passing yards allowed and finished second in defensive pass efficiency last season.
When he arrived in 2022, Ohio State was low on numbers and especially experience in the cornerback room.
Competition was hard to concoct — unless you count his guys getting torched in practice by Ohio State’s future first-round NFL Draft picks — but that has changed in a hurry.
After adding cornerbacks Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Calvin Hunt-Simpson from the high school ranks and Igbinosun from Mississippi last winter, Walton cleaned up in the summer by beating Michigan and many other major programs for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-secondary-looking-build-184200148.html
Author : Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Publish date : 2024-03-26 18:42:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
