Iron Buckeyes: Inside the offseason award that fuels Ohio State football

“The kids we bring in our program, they want to do right, they want to please. They want to be recognized by their teammates.”

Jaylen McClain (left), Brandon Inniss, Garrett Stover and Jeremiah Smith were Ohio State’s Iron Buckeyes from winter workouts. (Photos by Doug Lesmerises, graphic by Daria Lesmerises)

COLUMBUS — Once upon a time, they gave out shirts to those who earned the title of Iron Buckeye. The Ohio State Buckeyes don’t do that anymore.

Nobody cares about the shirts. It’s something else that some of the best college football players in the country crave.

In March, at the champions gathering in the team meeting room signaling the transition from winter workouts to spring football, honors were bestowed for offseason dedication.

“It’s so juiced up in there. It’s probably the most juiced other than winning a big game,” Mickey Marotti, Ohio State’s Director of Football Sport Performance, told me.

Four players earned the title of Iron Buckeye for this winter. Marotti read their accomplishments, and explained what they meant to the team, to Ryan Day, to Marotti, to their families. Then he called their names and welcomed them to the front of the room. Marotti wrapped each player in a hug and received his twice-a-year reminder of what being an Iron Buckeye means, of why shirts aren’t necessary.

“I had so much emotion,” said linebacker Garrett Stover, one of the four from the winter. “I don’t even remember what I did. I just got up and hugged all the strength coaches and was really happy.”

“The guys are crying,” Marotti said. “It’s unbelievable. It is unbelievable. You hug them and it’s like, ‘My god, I can’t breathe because we’re squeezing so hard.’”

They react that way because that moment is what they worked for, what they fought for.

“The kids we bring in our program, they want to do right, they want to please,” Marotti said. “They want to be recognized by their teammates.”