After a “roller-coaster” start to his Ohio State career, Ronnie Hickman has established himself as a defensive leader for the Buckeyes, and he’s thankful to be in that position.
Ronnie Hickman may not have been quite as obvious of a choice as C.J. Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba to represent Ohio State at Big Ten Media Days. But bringing Hickman to Indianapolis wasn’t a hard choice for Ryan Day.
As Day alluded to, Hickman had to overcome some obstacles early in his Ohio State career to get to where he is now. He did not play at all as a true freshman in 2019 while recovering from a torn ACL, then suffered another injury that cut his 2020 season short after five games. Going into last season, Hickman was largely overlooked as a potential breakout player, as most preseason depth chart projections had him backing up Craig Young at the bullet position.
Day said Hickman “really has put his time into this program” and has “really taken to the new scheme with Jim Knowles.” Knowles offered similar praise when he talked about Hickman this spring. “I just see the look in his eye,” Day said. “He's fun to be around, he's got great energy, he's got really good leadership. Just when you see him, it’s like he looks you right in the eye and he daps you up and gives you a hug. And it’s just, when you're one more year into the program like that, that veteran maturity, just the confidence level has just been off the charts. And I think he's poised to have a really good year.
Beyond the injuries he suffered early in his career, Hickman has also had to adapt to coaching changes throughout his career as a Buckeye. The primary coaches who recruited him, Greg Schiano and Alex Grinch, were replaced by Jeff Hafley and Matt Barnes before his freshman year at Ohio State. Hafley was at Ohio State for just one season before he was replaced by Kerry Coombs.
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