Four members of the Bobcats' recruiting class from this season are already on campus and practicing with the team.
Allen Iverson might not have liked practice much, but for some Ohio football players it’s the whole reason they’re on campus.
The Bobcats welcomed four early enrollees into the fold for spring practice. Wide receiver Kyle Belack and cornerback Maxwell Howell both graduated early from high school while offensive linemen Josh Cooper and Joe Anderson each transferred in from junior colleges.
For most of Ohio’s 25-man recruiting class, Feb. 4 was the start of their Bobcat’s careers. For the early enrollees, it was already their fourth week on campus.
It’s not an easy decision for some athletes as it means they must miss out on events such as prom and graduation. Each realized that in order to succeed at the collegiate level it would be beneficial to acclimate themselves early with not only the speed of the game, but college life in general.
“Well I talked about it with the coaches a little bit and they said if I can come in early that would obviously help my progression and everything—just being able to learn the playbook faster,” Belack said.
The biggest test for athletes transitioning to the college isn’t always on the field, but in the film room and better understanding where they need to be on the field.
“You have to know everything,” Belack said. “You have to know your plays and formations. You have to be able to play at a speed that everyone else is playing at and then faster than that to excel. It’s been a really challenging transition.”
Luckily for Belack and the other early enrollees, Ohio’s opening kickoff against Idaho is over seven month away, giving them plenty of time to get up to speed with the playbook.
It also gets them experience on the field. Belack has already started to see time with the first team in four wide receiver sets.
Another one of the early enrollees who has received notable time on the field has been Howell. Before committing to Ohio in September, Howell held offers from Maryland, Cincinnati, Indiana and Purdue according to 247sports.com.
“The coaches had a lot to do with that; they have been recruiting me since my sophomore year,” Howell said. “They showed me a lot of interest and they basically told me that I was going to get better. They weren’t worried about my intangibles and stuff.”
Howell is a part of a deep defensive back class that was sought after by power conference schools around the country. For him, those offers, although nice on paper, didn’t matter as much as the connection he had with the coaches and the tie he had with Ohio University.
Enrolling early also gives Howell a chance to start on not one but two degrees. He plans on majoring in both geographic information systems and computer science.
“It has definitely been worth it so far,” Howell said. “At home, I could still go back to it at the end of the day, but I’m just trying to get in early and get used to the speed of the game and just try to get better against better guys; which is a lot better than sitting home and doing nothing.”
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