Ohio State's Matt Guerrieri breaks down his safety room heading into 2024

how is Caleb weeks into Camp how has he just continu to M into this group been great I think um you know obviously in the spring he's he's learning everybody he's learning new coaching Styles he's you know obviously we've had relationships but you know getting to know each other still where now you know you've been been over my house he knows my family he knows you know all of us right the player relationships are at a deeper level you know so I think that there's a comfortability from that you know to be able to say okay I know what to expect and obviously from a schematic standpoint been in the system in the spring in the summer so you know there's a level of understanding that you know is really really high and what have you see just in him specifically over just the last three weeks obviously was here in the spring just sets him I'm not say sets him apart you know makes him special obviously preseason all americ you all this kind of stuff what from your bus point what is it yeah physically he can do it all he can cover he's can go drop down in the box and go play physical he could play deep he can play man he can play zone he can Blitz I mean he he's versatile from that standpoint uh but mentally is what's his separator I mean he's he's unique his preparation level is unmatched uh he sees it from a coach's lens uh he's got to have one of the best football Minds in the entire world he's a special special guy what surprised you about yeah yeah incredibly fast incredibly fast yeah for him to be able to you know take the entire packaging from Jim nolles and be able to run with that and then direct traffic it's one thing just to know it and go function and play and if you play safety in the system you have to be able to direct traffic you know so we put the checks on those guys and Run game Throw game they have to they have to know it all you know and he's been great from that standpoint obious see a young guy in terms of you know age but when it comes to experience of what he got last season playing at you know another high level program how much do you see that carry over into you know what he's been able to do here yeah I think it does I think you know confidence is built through data you know and to be able to perform at a high level in the SEC like he did and be on Big St ages um so I think there's a an expectation of himself of hey I've done this before and I can I can do this again at an even higher level um so yeah there's there's no doubt about that I think that's that's helped him and he and I have you know one of the projects that we did initially was to watch every single snap that he took from a year ago so we go game by game and um pretty special I mean though I'll tell you guys this the over you know the the screen comes up and uh you've got overlays on there normally defensive calls and that kind of stuff obviously I don't have their calls and things like that right so all I would have is down in distance time and score the play would come up he could tell me the defensive call and what happened on the play before the film even started that's from over a year ago that's that's pretty special when you start saying okay you know what's the the mental makeup of this young man you guys get Beyond those top withan Caleb we got veterans there yeah you get to that next wave what are what's happening there with a healthy Malik the coming yeah Jaylen Malik I mean there's been a pool of guys that have done a really good job competing this Camp I know Jim talked about it you know the other day when he had his press conference with you guys of just growing the depth of the safety position I knew that you know coming here that was an critical thing of you okay you've got these guys guys that are battle tested at the top but as a season goes you got to have more than just a couple guys you know so that's been a huge point of emphasis for us put them in different rotations throughout Camp uh putting a lot on their plate and holding them accountable they've done a really good job of of responding for sure says that he wants to see more it sets off you know panic and alarm outside ear there's not enough depth there do you do you not do you feel that's correct or do you feel better with what you have to work with he does no I feel good with the group of guys right you have to prove it on a consistent basis you know so I think when he says hey you know we have to continue to grow that depth is you know accountability to make sure hey the performance level there's no drop off right I mean that's the the standard Ohio State it doesn't matter who's in there wearing scarlet and gray that the expectation is is for it to be the best in the country so um that's I think what he means from a depth standpoint of growing that position you know and uh it's our my job and our job to have those guys ready would the leik be the first guy in JIS like where is CC yeah so we've uh We've rotated those guys at different positions you know what I mean so I I I'm not a big like you can only play you know we call him a duster Bandit right different names things like that we different places we've been we call them different things right so um I I think uh it's wrong to just only know one position from that standpoint right so um how guys are performing you want the best players on the field you know so we've cross trained all those guys so we've continued to grow that depth you know Tim and I OB meet together to be able to grow the depth of the entire DB pool you know so that's that's something that's critical for us um so it's not just hey one guy at one position but a group of guys and they're competing every day to to be the next man what does surprise do about Caleb anything I don't know I I don't think from a a surprise standpoint you know I think what you've heard about and and uh read about is um you know all all true you know and the thing that probably isn't talked about enough he's a great teammate you know you could talk about hey this Talent or the way the guy sees the game or the play that you've seen on the field but this's a great young man who's a great teammate he cares about his team he cares about his family I this is a special young man of who he is as a person J really seem to rise pretty quickly um through the offse as a freshman what has impressed you specifically yeah he doesn't act like a freshman what I mean by that is uh we talk about routine a lot you know and uh he's a guy who wanted to gain a little bit of weight when he got here in the spring so he would be my office at I don't know I'd say probably no later than uh 5:30 in the morning in the off season eating two chicken breasts and a bowl of rice you know that was his every he doesn't love breakfast food right so that was his hey I'm going to make sure I'm eating breakfast it was prepared by the nutritionist every morning but literally 5:30 to 5:45 he was doing that every morning you know so um that's an example of just a maturity level and a seriousness about what he wants to get done here you know so he didn't come here and waste any time um and that's our job is to you know find the guys that want it that way and the guys that have the mentality and and you know give them the tools to be successful how have you seen that approach translate on the field yeah I think I think it's the same it's that same seriousness so okay if you're going to be that way about your diet you're going to be that way about the Playbook too right so whether we put him in a coverage or a blitz padn whatever it and he's going to know that obviously there's freshman bump along the way hey the game's moving fast or we got a motion we didn't expect or things like that and it's my job to have him ready to go but he has that seriousness he has a real approach and a routine like a vet Matt you've known Jim a long time coach Jim for a long time he's talked this offseason about trying to find that striking that balance aggressiveness not being and not giving up big play what have you seen being back in under him that maybe has changed from first time you were here toate or even when you guys were together yeah I think one is uh understanding of who we're operating with you know I think that you know obviously our time at Duke or his time at Oklahoma State um different different types of players that you're operating with right so the Ohio State caliber you know two years ago we gave up too many big plays a big growth last year from the defense here was there there weren't many big plays given up you know but there's times that maybe you want to knock somebody back or be able to get a stop in a critical moment you know so we've been you know hard on oursel from a self Scout standpoint and uh Jim's you know Jim can adapt that's what you know people don't talk probably enough about him is if you look at him over the years he can adapt to his Personnel he can adapt to a conference and and you know he's as hard as critic right so he's going to say okay hey what went really well great we acknowledge those things let's watch all the negative plays that's the first thing we do hey let's watch all the negative plays right and then we say okay where can we be better here and come up with schematics that fit our Personnel but then also attack the teams that we're trying to play people who who know Jim or known Jim for a long time always think of him as this defensive Mastermind now that he doesn't have a position C I assume that frees him to kind of just a little deeper kind of things what has that been like to see him get back in kind of like the details of yeah um Jim's a great teacher first you know so um he is able to maybe take a step back and get into the schematics you know um but he's in every meeting he runs every install he's in position meetings all the time you know what I mean I think that that's what he does great is he has a feel for the players and knows I mean you can come with all this great scheme but you can have so much scheme on the boards that what's really functional right I mean and that's not what he does you know he's able to say okay hey here's schematics here's what fits our guys and let's be able to teach it to those guys and he takes really he does all the installs right so we obviously do positionally afterwards to really get to the you know ins and outs of each little specific thing but um he does a great job teaching the guys but yeah I think that you know he enjoys that role to be able to you know develop the entire plan and then Coach the coaches us to be able to present it the best way we mentioned some of the preseason accolades that Caleb has got you talk to him at all about those or is that just something that he kind of you know knows comes with the expectations of being a great player yeah we don't talk at all about that now all I care about is today when he showed up into the building the work that he put in the mentality what it looked like out on the field right I mean that you know that's that's for everybody else to talk about right it's about the work that we put in and at the end of the year then we'll gather up whatever we have and and go from there you know so um yeah we don't we don't talk about that it's just uh focused on what we can control and that's not one of the controllables that we have last question got a lot of Opp yeah you're good yeah yeah no i' I've been pleased with uh jadon's development as well you know he brings a physical presence you guys have seen him you know um he's done a good job in the spring I thought he took steps forward I thought in summer and fall he's been able to take step forwards as well you know what I mean so um know he's a guy that and we talk about the depth of the safety room he's another critical guy to keep Kean last yeah Keenan as well absolutely absolutely yeah for sure no he's done a good job he's made some good plays yeah not he's a guy that busts his butt coming in learning a new system um no but he's he's you know I was just meeting with him before you know early before meeting today um we don't know if he has a voice we haven heard yeah no he's awesome he's a great young man awesome family serious about his work came here with a mentality and you know wanted to be a part of the best in the country you know and that's um you know what he what he came here to do but no he's done an awesome job yeah I mean so you've got a pool of guys that when we talk about growing that depth all those guys are at play there yep all right coach thank you thanks