Mickey Marotti says “everybody had to look in the mirror” after last year’s loss to Michigan, and he thinks better leadership is key for Ohio State to get back on track this year.
Mickey Marotti experienced his first loss in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry last November, and it came in a fashion that no strength and conditioning coach would want to see.
“I think everybody had to look in the mirror. Everybody,” Marotti said Friday while meeting with the media for the first time since that loss. “Everybody in this building from players, coaches, athletic trainers, nutritionists, equipment managers, everything and just kind of go back and look at what happened, why. And then turn over every stone and try to come up with a plan.”
“I think the principles are lasting. You're gonna work hard, you’re gonna show up on time, you're gonna be a great teammate, you're going to be a leader, you’re gonna do all those things. But I think with the sports science initiative that we've been working on the last five, six years, it's evolving, it's always evolving,” Marotti said. “Just like offenses and defenses, always evolving, always changing, always developing, always growing. And that's been good.
“I don't want to say it’s perked everybody up. But I think if the volume was already turned up, you're looking for a power button that gets it to 12 or break it or smash it and get another one with more power,” Marotti said. “Obviously we know how important that game is. All those goals. And if you don't reach those goals, you got to figure out why.”
Now four months into the 2022 offseason, Marotti believes the Buckeyes are back to where they’re supposed to be. They placed a big emphasis on building leadership during winter workouts by selecting a 24-player leadership committee and assigning each of those players to lead one of 12 offseason workout groups, which both Day and Marotti believe helped create accountability throughout the team.