Get Ready for Next Act in the J.T. Barrett Roller Coaster
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four years ago, J.T. Barrett contemplated ending his college football career before it ever began.
For those of us who follow the sport—and especially Ohio State fans—thankfully he didn't.
As the 2016 season approaches, you'd be hard-pressed to find a college football player who's taken a more unique path to superstardom than the Buckeyes redshirt junior quarterback. And if Ohio State is going to remain a national championship contender, Barrett will be the primary reason why, as he should provide the rare consistency for a team in the midst of replacing 2,424 rushing yards, 1,979 receiving yards and 16 total starters from last year's team.
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"It's his show," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said at Big Ten media days in July. "And he knows it."
It's the first time in Barrett's college career that he's entered a training camp being able to say as much.
For as much as he's already accomplished, it's easy to forget this is the first time Barrett has been viewed as a known quantity in Columbus. Contradictions, however, are nothing new when it comes to Barrett, who has already experienced a career's worth of storylines, despite only being at the midway point of his college eligibility.
He's one of the primary reasons Ohio State won the 2014 national championship, despite not playing in any of the Buckeyes' three postseason games. He broke school records for total offense and touchdown passes as a freshman but had to wait until the eighth game of his sophomore season to regain his starting status. He's received consistent praise for his poise and leadership despite having also received a one-game suspension last season for operating a vehicle while impaired.
In a sport often full of convenient—and sometimes contrived—narratives, nothing about Barrett's career has made sense.
"I've never really thought about it," Barrett said of the unique journey he's taken heading into his junior season. "I wouldn't change it because I've learned so much. Without that, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now."
Where he's at right now is on the cusp of arguably the most important season for any individual player in all of college football this year.
Reach another peak on the roller coaster that's been his career and Ohio State will continue to ride the momentum that Barrett has already helped the program generate. Suffer another unexpected drop and the Buckeyes will soon join him on his rocky ride.
No player in college football in 2016 means as much to his team as Barrett does.
But three years before he found himself with the hopes of his program on his shoulders, Barrett first had to decide whether he wanted to remain a part of it.
'Do I love football?'
As he lie awake in his hotel room bed at 5 a.m. on an early August morning, Barrett knew the knock from Ohio State director of player development Ryan Stamper was coming and, more importantly, what it meant. The first two-a-day practices of the Buckeyes' 2013 season were upon them, prompting an important question to pop into the mind of the first quarterback recruit of the Meyer era at Ohio State.
"I was like, 'Man, do I love football?'" Barrett recalled. "At the time I told myself, 'Nah, not really.'"
For most of the other freshmen in the Buckeyes' vaunted 2013 class, their college careers were just beginning, but Barrett had already been on campus for nearly eight months. Despite still recovering from the torn ACL and meniscus that brought his career at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas, to a premature end, the 4-star signal-caller opted to enroll early at Ohio State—a decision he would soon grow to second-guess.
"I can still remember the days me and Eli [Apple] came in together, graduated high school early and in the dorms and talking about how awful we hated Ohio State," Barrett said. "I can still remember my freshman year. I didn't like going to the Woody [Hayes Athletic Center]—and that was to practice. I didn't like practice at all. It just wasn't a fun time."
For what it's worth, Barrett wasn't alone.
"They had come off the bowl ban [in 2012], so they had a lot of time off. We came into like a storm," defensive end Tyquan Lewis, who also enrolled early in 2013, told Bleacher Report. "We all felt the same, honestly."
But whereas upperclassmen Jack Mewhort, Michael Bennett and Andrew Norwell were picking on Lewis and fellow freshman Tracy Sprinkle, Barrett's tormentor happened to be the man who helped lure him to Columbus in the first place. When it came to offensive coordinator Tom Herman, the sales pitched stopped as soon as his prized prospect arrived on campus.
"In spring ball, I don't know if Coach Herman knew my name," Barrett says now.
If Barrett didn't pinpoint a pass perfectly, resulting in it being knocked down by a defender, practice would come to a precise halt. Even if his attempt was successful, the same scenario would sometimes play out.
"Little things would just blow up," Barrett says. "He would just erupt and it was all my fault and I was like, 'What else did you want me to do? I hit him in his facemask.'"
Still, Barrett stuck it out, with Herman's attention shifting toward upperclassmen Braxton Miller and Kenny Guiton as the 2013 season approached. With Miller in the midst of his second consecutive Big Ten MVP season and the Buckeyes riding a 24-game winning streak into the Big Ten title game, Barrett wouldn't be needed on the field. A redshirt season would allow his knee to fully heal.
Off the field, however, his classmates got the first glimpse of the J.T. Barrett we all know now at a freshmen-only meeting held once the entire 2013 class had arrived for summer workouts.
As the early-summer get-together came to a close, assistant coach Kerry Coombs asked if anybody had anything to say. The Buckeyes team meeting room fell silent until the only quarterback in the class spoke up, displaying the leadership skills that have since become synonymous with his name.
"He said, 'I don't know about y'all, but we got the best recruiting class and we're gonna win a national championship," Lewis recalled of Barrett's impassioned speech. "From Day 1 we were like, 'OK, he's the leader.'"
And as for his initially rocky relationship with Herman? That too became more understood over time.
"That's how he showed that he liked me," Barrett said. "He told me that in the middle of my redshirt freshman year. He was like, 'Man, you can take a good chewing out.'
"It made me better. Because those little details, they do matter and it showed later on."
They also wound up being needed sooner than anyone in Columbus anticipated.
Next Man Up
Before heading back to Columbus for the start of his second season, Barrett first attended a family reunion in Texas. Some of the more distant relatives in the Barrett family tree knew enough to ask, but not enough to know what exactly his role would be upon returning to campus for his redshirt freshman season.
"Are you going to play this year?" they'd ask, apparently unaware of the already established pecking order at Ohio State.
"We've got a guy named Braxton Miller," Barrett would respond. "He's pretty good."
Having not played in an official game since his senior season of high school came to an unceremonious end, Barrett had plans of sneaking onto the field anyway. After a spring quarterback battle to be Miller's backup between himself and Cardale Jones ended with Jones slightly ahead, the redshirt freshman set his sights on securing the No. 2 spot on the Buckeyes depth chart, which would afford him regular playing time—just not in the way his inquisitive family members imagined.
"I was like, 'Yeah, you'll see me out there on the field goal team,'" Barrett told them, referencing the duty regularly reserved for the backup quarterback. "'I'll be out there jogging out and holding field goals.'"
Two weeks prior to the start of the 2014 season, Meyer announced Barrett had made good on his goal, proclaiming him Miller's primary backup—although in doing so, he accidentally referred to the newly crowned understudy as "J.T. Barnett."
Two days later, he would permanently learn the correct pronunciation of Barrett's name. With a torn labrum in Miller's throwing shoulder bringing the star signal-caller's senior season to an end before it ever began, Barrett went from Buckeyes backup to Ohio State's new starter, taking the reins of a team with national title aspirations before having ever played an official snap in his college career.
"It just kind of hit you in your face," Barrett said. "I was just flying by the seat of my pants."
After a steady, albeit unspectacular debut against Navy, any hopes of a national title run for the Buckeyes seemed to come crashing down with a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech. But as Ohio State suddenly found itself under the radar, Barrett became more comfortable, routinely compiling 300 yards of total offense on a weekly basis.
By the time the Buckeyes headed to East Lansing for a highly anticipated game against Michigan State in early November, the offense was hitting on all cylinders. With Barrett throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for another 86 yards and two additional scores, Ohio State re-secured control of the Big Ten East with a 49-37 victory over the Spartans.
The Buckeyes weren't just back in the playoff picture; Barrett was a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender, the newfound star quarterback on college football's hottest team.
"It really started clicking for me," Barrett says. "I was starting to react better to things and the game slowed down a little bit for me, whereas against Virginia Tech and Navy, I was still flying around, learning on the fly, still trying to grasp everything I could."
But after completing an 11-1 regular season with an ensuing Big Ten title game the only step left before clinching a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff, Barrett wouldn't be there to see it through.
On the first play of the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes' regular-season finale against rival Michigan, Barrett was stopped for a no-gain on a routine rush when his leg twisted under a pile of Wolverines defenders. The diagnosis: broken ankle, out for the season.
That propelled Jones, Ohio State's third-string quarterback at the start of the season, into the starting lineup for what would be an unfathomable postseason run. Beating Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon, the Buckeyes captured the first College Football Playoff National Championship with their first two options at the most important position stranded on the sideline.
Showcasing the cannon-like arm that had only been the stuff of folklore in Columbus until he got his opportunity, Jones became the unlikely face of college football, his dazzling personality creating a constant stream of headlines during the usually mundane offseason. Even after his record-breaking debut season, Barrett wasn't even the most famous quarterback on his own team.
But whereas Miller was typically withdrawn throughout the 2014 campaign, Barrett remained front and center for Ohio State throughout the playoff, despite his mobility being limited to the use of a scooter. After all, this was Barrett's championship too, even if it was Jones who ultimately wound up hoisting the trophy.
"I know," Barrett said at Big Ten media days when it was mentioned by a reporter that he already has a national championship on his resume. "Best believe I know it."
Lessons Learned
As it turned out, Ohio State's wild ride was just beginning.
When Jones declined to cash in on his three-game run and enter the 2015 NFL draft, it set the stage for an unprecedented quarterback battle in Columbus. Even after having just finished fifth in Heisman voting, Barrett's starting spot was no longer guaranteed.
With Barrett limited in the spring, the competition continued through the summer, everybody saying all the right things about a potentially awkward situation. And when the Ohio State offense took the field on Labor Day for a season opener that doubled as a revenge game against Virginia Tech, Barrett stood on the sideline as Jones commanded the huddle.
"He was not himself during training camp," Meyer admits now of Barrett. "He was in a battle with a quarterback who won three games and won the national championship and he was running No. 2. It wasn't his team."
Nevertheless, teammates voted Barrett a captain—a rarity for a sophomore at Ohio State—and as the Buckeyes offense sputtered under the direction of Jones, playing time came more frequently. After successfully serving as Ohio State's primary quarterback in the red zone for two weeks, Meyer reinserted Barrett into the starting lineup for a Week 8 date with Rutgers. His 223-yard passing, 101-yard rushing, five-touchdown performance sent the Buckeyes into their bye week with positive vibes in a season that otherwise seemed to drag due to unrealistic expectations.
They would only last so long.
Despite Ohio State enjoying an off-week, Barrett became the talk of college football on Halloween morning when his arrest for operating a vehicle while impaired threw another wrench into the Buckeyes' ongoing quarterback drama. According to Meyer, Barrett claimed he was on his way to give a ride to a friend and was unaware that he himself was over the legal blood alcohol driving limit. He eventually pleaded guilty to the charge.
Off the field, Barrett was hit with a $400 fine and 180-day license suspension, in addition to the public humiliation that comes along with being a 20-year-old under the spotlight. On it, he was suspended for a game heading into the homestretch of Ohio State's national title defense, the leadership that had come to define him now questioned for the first time.
Looking back now, Barrett manages to put a positive spin on 2015.
"The things that have happened in my past, I don't regret them by any means, because who knows where I would've been? Let's just be honest," he says. "Good or bad, those things make you who you are. That's a real thing and I'm not afraid or going to shy away from those things. Like I said, they make me who I am today and I like who I am. I think I'm a better person for them."
After serving his suspension, Barrett returned to the Buckeyes' starting lineup, but a home loss to Michigan State—which included a paltry 46-yard passing performance on his part—derailed Ohio State's hopes of successfully defending its crown. In the final two games of the 2015 season, however, Barrett returned to his 2014 form, combining for 559 total yards and five touchdowns in wins over Michigan and Notre Dame.
On a unique journey of his own, Jones opted to enter the 2016 NFL draft at season's end, leaving no question as to who the Buckeyes' starting quarterback will be in 2016.
"He's more than ready to go now," Meyer says of Barrett.
The Best J.T.
Engaging, candid and willing to offer examples, it shouldn't come as a surprise Barrett is so comfortable talking to the media. After all, he's spent the past two years answering questions.
But no longer does he have to deal with being thrust into the starting lineup two weeks before the start of the season or wondering whether he or Jones will be receiving the next Saturday start. All that's left to wonder is what's next in a college career that's already provided so many compelling chapters.
From a leadership standpoint, Barrett continues to evolve, the bullied having since become the bully. When freshman offensive lineman Michael Jordan arrived on campus in January, the starting quarterback he was charged with protecting refused to call Jordan by his real name, instead informing the early enrollee he'd have to earn it.
"I was like, 'You're Marcus. Marcus Jordan,'" Barrett recalls with glee. "I had to change his name. I was like, 'You're named after a legend.' It was nothing to his parents or anything, but I was like, 'That's a lot to live up to.'"
According to his classmate, Sprinkle, the leadership Barrett is showing now is just an extension of what he witnessed three years ago.
"When we first got here, it was just maybe a couple of us, but I could still sense the leader in him," Sprinkle says. "Now he's reaching out to everybody more and more."
On the field, Barrett's transformation remains a work in progress as he continues to break in a brand new receiving corps and running back stable. But for the first time in his career, he's spent an entire offseason knowing he'll be the Buckeyes' starter and taking all of the first-team reps he wasn't previously afforded.
Perhaps more importantly, for the first time in recent memory, Barrett finds himself distraction-free. What that will mean for him this year still remains to be seen, but after two very different seasons started his college career, he insists the best version of himself could still be revealed in the coming months.
And it may not have been possible without all he's already endured.
"I've been through a lot," he admits. "I like where I'm at, still trying to continue to grow and be a better football player, be a better quarterback and a better person in order to help our team be successful. I think with the things I've gone through in the past, I think that's going to help me be able to do that."
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod.
Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. Recruiting and class ratings courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings.
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