Ohio State Buckeyes: James Laurinaitis likes what he’s seeing from C.J. Hicks this spring

And focus apparently is what his position coach wants to see from Hicks.

“You know, you’ve gotta keep pressing him and making sure he is really tapping into everything he can offer,” James Laurinaitis said Wednesday. “I think C.J. sees the opportunity, and he’s certainly making a case to be on the field this fall. I think it’s been a really good spring for C.J.”

As far as game snaps, Hicks has been limited mostly to special teams the last two seasons despite coaches consistently saying they were impressed with what they saw from him.

The sky is generally believed to be the limit for 6-foot-3, 233-pound junior, but with great expectations comes great responsibility.

“Whenever you have a good day, you’ve gotta follow it up with another good day,” Laurinatis said. “That’s what a pro does. That’s the expectation. He’s had some really good days, and he’s had some days where you’ve gotta push him a little bit, but I think C.J., where he is now compared to last fall, he’s a lot better football player.”

An eight-year NFL veteran, Laurinaitis knows pros.

He also knows Ohio State linebackers, having been one of those for four years, including three as an All-American from 2006-08.

The new starter at his old position, fifth-year senior Cody Simon, shares some traits with Laurinaitis, who got by more on his wits than pure athleticism, but the biggest task facing the coach this spring is figuring out how to get the most out of two juniors who were five-star prospects in the class of 2022: Hicks and Sonny Styles, who are competing at WLB.

Styles started his career as a safety, though, and was a starter last season first at nickel then boundary safety. He also played some “Sam” linebacker on there rare occasions the Buckeyes would shift from their base 4-2-5 defense to an old-fashioned 4-3.

Moving Styles to linebacker full-time makes sense given his 6-4, 235-pound frame, but it could create a logjam at WLB.

That is unless Ohio State uses more 4-3 sets — an idea defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has floated — or Laurinaitis substitutes more than he did last season.

“I think Coach (Ryan) Day has talked about a lot it’s going to be a long season,” said Laurinaitis. “I’ve always been of the opinion if you have two guys, you have two guys and you ride with them. If you have six, you have six and that’s a blessing.”

He estimated he has five at this point, though he did not identify them.

He also recalled knowing players themselves don’t want to leave the field.

“I’m old school so I used to yell at (then-linebackers coach) Luke Fickell when he’d take me out. I’d get so mad,” Laurinaitis said. “It could be 42-whatever against Youngstown State and I’d be so upset coming out of the game, but seeing how violent the game is from this perspective, now you have to say, ‘Hey OK, not only within games do we have to keep guys fresh, but can we do that so when you get to the last few games of the season that are the big ones we’re judged off, when we get to The Game, can we be healthier?’”

He also said he does not plan to have a set-it-and-forget-it approach to his rotations from September to November.

“It’s going to be week to week, and it could be week to week who starts,” Laurinaitis said. “If you display during the week of practice, if you’re locked in and someone else a bad mental week, well I can’t reward you with starting if you have six mental errors just because you started last week. I think it needs to be that iron sharpens iron, constant competition through the whole fall.”