Marotti, the assistant athletic director for football sports performance, has spent eight years at Ohio State and is currently leading the team through winter workouts. On Wednesday, he fielded a wide range of questions, including those about the offseason, injuries and individual updates. Here's a bullet-point rundown of everything Marotti discussed: Marotti on the early enrollees: "You're talking about the largest mid-year group that I've ever been a part of." He says it's "pretty impressive" from a size standpoint. He also mentioned the freshmen have been great "taking care of their business." He says Gee Scott is "Austin Mack-ish" as a physical talent. Marotti says the early enrollees are separated from the rest of the team as the integrate themselves into the program. On the freshman wide receivers: "I think they can be as good as they want to be, but the receivers in the past have put in an inordinate amount of work to get where they got." Marotti on whether they use the Fiesta Bowl loss as motivation: "No doubt." He says there's a sign with the score in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center weight room. Justin Fields is "completely different" after having gone through a year at Ohio State and lost to Clemson. Fields is working out with zero restrictions right now, per Marotti. In the offseason, the strength coaches gave players a six-question self-evaluation project with a list: (1) what motivates them, (2) give three individual goals of the offseason, and then there are a couple other questions about what your unit can expect. Then, the staff put all the goals on each of the lockers for everybody to see. "We're trying to be very transparent, more than we've ever been." Marotti says Paris Johnson stands out as having been trained as a high level for years. Marotti says players from the states of Ohio and Texas come into college more physically ready for strength programs. Javontae Jean-Baptiste currently weighs 248 pounds, Marotti says. They intentionally put weight on him over the past two years. In January, they are in general training, which is split into three groups: developmental group, advanced group and "new guys." He says February is what "you hold your hat on" at Ohio State when practices are early in the morning and important in long-term development. "I call it perpetual development...You're trying to get better every day you're in here." Marotti says coaches are able to be involved in some drills in the offseason, which has been beneficial. Marotti says you can tell how good a team is based on workouts. How does he evaluate them right now? "Way too early." Leaders emerge as the season progresses, which happened to Jeff Okudah. J.K. Dobbins had a visceral chip on his shoulder at this point a year ago, Marotti said. On whether Marcus Crowley will be ready for spring practice: "I'm not sure." Marotti says Kamryn Babb is "participating in all training." He calls Kerry Coombs the "Energizer Bunny." Having been in the NFL, Marotti says, Coombs has "put more tools in his toolbox ... That's a big hammer now." Marotti says it's beneficial when there are more early enrollees because there are more chances that positive leaders emerge. Marotti's favorite day of the year? Mat drills. On Julian Fleming: "Obviously he's talented. So far, so good." On the freshmen quarterbacks: "You can see at least the vision of, 'I've got to get there, I've got to get there.'" On Jonathon Cooper's injury: "That's the worst part of this job." He says Cooper is "such an outgoing, positive, energized, juiced-up leader." Now, Marotti says, he has to slow down Cooper because he's so eager. On Tuf Borland: "He's one of the most dependable players I've been around for 30 years." He says Borland wants to be a strength coach, so "obviously he knows what he's doing." Borland's leadership didn't come naturally, Marotti said. On J.K. Dobbins: "J.K., for example, great worker, great dude, great teammate, but he really wasn't that good of a leader." They worked throughout the summer of 2019 to improve his leadership skills. On the defensive backs: "They've got a lot of work to do. There's no doubt." He says he talked to every player individually in the first week back on campus. In 2016, Marotti says, the defensive backs had to step up. He says he's hoping the younger cornerbacks and safeties step up like they did in 2016. Marotti says in recruiting coaches have to "be nice" to prospects. When they get on campus, though, they get a dose of Marotti: "I don't have to be nice to anybody." On Master Teague: "There's very few out there who are physically fit like he is." When Zach Harrison was getting recruited, he was so quiet that Marotti wondered, "What are we doing?" Then the first day he was on campus, he "I hated it. I didn't want to talk." He says Harrison is like J.K. Dobbins where you can "see" and "feel" him around. Marotti on Dawand Jones: "I love him. He's a great kid, smiles all the time." On keeping Jones' weight down: "We've got to be creative." He says there's no goal weight right now because "his body fat's not real high." He says Nicholas Petit-Frere is over 300 pounds and "doing good."
Mickey Marotti using loss as workout motivation for Ohio State football team https://t.co/Tu4XLCmQcg— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) January 23, 2020
“From the time they walk in that door from the first day to the time they leave to go play in the Senior Bowl, it's perpetual development. You're trying to get better every day you're in here, every month, every year as you go through.” https://t.co/qrF0GR7dqJ— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) January 24, 2020
Dedication has no offseason.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/RD6dCa70ls— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) February 18, 2020
Raise puts Ohio State's Mickey Marotti at No. 1, for now https://t.co/U1KLrVxjQB— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) March 9, 2020
Come for the 45 minutes of answers from Mickey Marotti, stay for the story about how Nicholas Petit-Frere got in trouble at home. https://t.co/ahivVm15ZG via @TonyGerdeman— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) May 13, 2020
Ohio State's Mickey Marotti says this has been his most difficult time ever as a strength and conditioning coach and explains the challenges of home workouts. https://t.co/mxgFSaw2Y7— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 13, 2020
Ohio State strength coach Mickey Marotti's in-your-face style put on hold https://t.co/EBVSlM0AVV— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) May 14, 2020
Ohio State strength boss Mickey Marotti turns to former pupil for advice https://t.co/D4gB3awlt0— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) May 20, 2020
The #Buckeyes returned to the facility today and Mickey Marotti's work will never be as important as it is now: https://t.co/g4ZKs4ATgt via @TonyGerdeman— BuckeyeScoop (@BuckeyeScoop) June 8, 2020
Ohio State continues to benefit from the decision to keep the infrastructure Mickey Marotti and Mark Pantoni helped build when Ryan Day took over. https://t.co/euMT3dOnib pic.twitter.com/StoqsqgxMW— Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 16, 2020
Mickey Marotti said the past six months have been "by far the most challenging time" in his career. Here's a look at what they entailed for Coach Mick.Via @GriffinStrom3 ➡️ https://t.co/N7v6VeHcfr pic.twitter.com/4AUcSDmuHa— Big Me Kickoff (@BigMe_Kickoff) August 27, 2020
Mickey Marotti will reportedly remain at Ohio State even if Urban Meyer does become the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. https://t.co/0mDigzhLc2— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 14, 2021
As “one of the best in the business,” Mickey Marotti is another valuable recruiting chip for the Buckeyes as they continue to churn out a bevy of top NFL talent. https://t.co/79s5hkaomY— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 3, 2021
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. https://t.co/ETKCB6ZsEi— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 7, 2022