Tim May: Tegra Tshabola off to strong start at Buckeyes camp
COLUMBUS — As preseason camp opened for Ohio State this week, for once at least, third-year offensive lineman Tegra Tshabola not only looked the part, he played the part.
With Carson Hinzman missing due to an unspecified illness on the first day of camp Thursday, Tshabola took the first snaps at right guard with the No. 1 offensive line. You know, the only position on the front that still seemed to be up for grabs headed into camp.
The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Tshabola, a third-year player from West Chester Lakota West High School whose physical presence would enhance any program’s team photo, resolved in the spring he wants to be in the picture in terms of playing time this fall. Just before camp started, he retweeted a team-taken photo of himself and added the caption:
“Doubt me [shouting emoji] !!”
He didn’t run into the transfer portal, where he likely would have been snapped up by many schools and shoved straight onto the starting line. He stuck around and stepped up in the spring and offseason workouts, according to coach Ryan Day, proving his desire.
“He wants to be here,” Day said after practice Thursday. “He wants to be a contributor at Ohio State, and that does matter.
“I mean, there’s other places he could have gone and tried different avenues, but he stuck with it. And it’s going to pay off for him, the will, if he just continues to get better and continues to show discipline and consistency. But we’re excited about what he did this offseason. He pushed through that and he’s got every opportunity to go become a major contributor on the offense.”
The offseason workouts designed by the Ohio State director of football performance, Mickey Marotti, aren’t just to build muscle, lessen fat and sharpen skills, speed and endurance, they also push focus and will, and test players’ resolve once fatigue hits. Day said the reports about Tshabola “have come back good.”
Tshabola has all the makings to be a major contributor if he keeps ticking the boxes.
“The first thing is, you show that you know what you’re doing … And I know it sounds simple, but like you have to know your assignments cold,” Day said. “And there’s a lot of preparation that goes with it. I think he’s he’s done that.
“And the second thing is [proving] you know how to do it, and you know the technique, you know the you know the calls. There’s so much that comes with you know how to do your job. And then can you do it consistently over time, Tegra has shown that he can do it. He’s shown that he knows what he’s doing. The big question is now …
Staying power. Fortitude. Day said indications from the summer workouts looked favorable for Tshabola.
“Mick does a great job of putting them in tough situations, you know, creating conflict amongst the team … putting them in situations where, when they get tired, they have to stay focused, because we know we’re going to [try to] wear teams down this year, win games in the fourth quarter,” Day said. “And if that’s our goal, then we have to be able to be able to do that, especially up front with the offensive line.
“If he can consistently show this preseason that he can do that, he’s going to find himself in games.”
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