Ohio transfer running back C.J. Hilliard is adapting to a new team and city.
C.J. Hilliard knows he’s the newcomer to the already established running back situation, but that won’t undermine his playing time aspirations.
Hilliard, who was originally recruited by the Bobcats, went to the University of Iowa instead, and redshirted in 2014. But after a year in Iowa City, the running back has relocated to Athens.
“He was our number one guy and then he went to Iowa,” Tim Albin, Ohio’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach, said. “So we’re very glad to have him and we’re looking forward to him having a great future here.”
Hilliard considered his first year at Iowa a development year, where he wanted to focus on gaining weight and getting faster. But then, citing homesickness, the Cincinnati-native wanted to come back to Ohio.
“Iowa wasn’t the best fit for me,” he said. “It was in the country and I just wanted to be closer to home.”
Hilliard is ineligible to play in 2015 per the NCAA’s rules on transfer students, but he is still working each day in practice. He does workouts with the scout to team and is learning the offense. But that doesn’t mean he’ll just glide onto the depth chart in 2016.
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Albin has continuously said he believes Ohio has the best running back corp in the Mid-American Conference.
The Bobcats play a one-back offense, yet they utilize three running backs. Senior Daz Patterson and sophomore A.J. Oullette entered the season as the two players to receive the most playing time.
But since Ohio’s 21-10 over Marshall on Sept. 12, redshirt freshman Papi White has been an explosive flex back.
So Hilliard has a challenging journey ahead and is trying to learn as much as he can this year to better himself for the next.
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The depth in the backfield could pose a complication in Hilliard’s goal of being a starting tailback for Ohio, but he is continuing to learn from Patterson and Oullette.
Oullette and Patterson were two of the first guys to greet Hilliard and introduce him to the offense and help the transition to his new team.
Hilliard doesn’t try to look too much at when his playing time is going to come, and instead he is focused on his task of adapting to the offense.
“It will be interesting to see how he progresses in this offseason,” Albin said. “I will definitely be looking forward to that.”
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