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CJ Donaldson Already Making Big Strides In His First Spring As A Buckeye · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Monday, March twenty fourth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom Or the Texas game in one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty nine days. The gaming gets Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty days. If you're planning your next event,
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  Speaker 1: make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle, Columbus's favorite food truck
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  Speaker 1: serving up smash burgers, gourmet sandwiches, and good vibes. Book
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  Speaker 1: your catering today at Grateful Griddle oh dot com. Bluck
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  Speaker 1: guys will be back out on the practice field on Monday.
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  Speaker 1: We will be back at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center.
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  Speaker 1: We're set to talk to Brian Day, Matt Patricia, and
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  Speaker 1: Brian Hartline following practice today, so that'll be exciting. We'll
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  Speaker 1: have lots of new information for you coming up all
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  Speaker 1: day at YouTube dot com, slash backa Huddle, and pucka
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  Speaker 1: Huddle dot com. But before we get there, I want
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  Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the running backs and
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  Speaker 1: can be mostly talking about the new transfer running backs CJ. Donaldson.
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  Speaker 1: Today I'll let you hear from New Ohio State running
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  Speaker 1: backs coach Carlos Lachlan and Donaldson himself about his transition
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  Speaker 1: to Ohio State, and a little bit about some of
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  Speaker 1: the other running backs as well from Lachland. But let's
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  Speaker 1: start with Carlos lachlans of all, his first day was
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  Speaker 1: just we talked to him on the first day of
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  Speaker 1: spring practice. He's always just a fascinating guy. Got to
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  Speaker 1: watch coach and to listen to talk about coaching, and
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  Speaker 1: just he came out, you know, just absolutely on fire,
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  Speaker 1: as he always seems to. Just a lot of intensity
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  Speaker 1: out of Carlos Lachlan on day one of springball.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I always tell the backs always a little things,
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  Speaker 2: so being tensional about what you're working on. So I
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  Speaker 2: got to be intentional about what I'm what I'm what
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  Speaker 2: I'm pouring into them, because everything start with me. They
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  Speaker 2: gonna take on my mindset. And if I come out
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  Speaker 2: here lukewarm with lukewarm enthusiasm, they're gonna be the same way.
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  Speaker 2: I don't coach that way. No, So every day I
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  Speaker 2: come out here, I take this feuar. That's whether I'm
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  Speaker 2: I'm feeling well, whether I'm sick. Because those those backs
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  Speaker 2: coach they hired me, I told him, they're gonna they
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  Speaker 2: gonna feed off my personality.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 2: So I always tell people all the time, if your
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  Speaker 2: kids soft, you soft, go look in the mirror.
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  Speaker 3: So that's why I come out here.
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  Speaker 1: Like that now under CJ. Donaldson. And this is Lachland
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  Speaker 1: again getting a chance to talk about him a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Someone asked about the fact that it looked like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: see Donaldson, maybe this weight was down a little bit
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  Speaker 1: from where he was as a player at West Virginia
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  Speaker 1: before he transferred to Ohio State. You're gonna hear a
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  Speaker 1: little bit from Donaldson in a little bit. But what
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  Speaker 1: were Carlos Lachlan's conversations like during the portal recruiting process.
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  Speaker 2: Yup came in at two hundred forty four pounds. I
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  Speaker 2: challenged him during the process of getting them here because
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  Speaker 2: he could have win all the places, and they said
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  Speaker 2: he wanted to be He felt like I could get
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  Speaker 2: him ready, and I told him, I said, well, part
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  Speaker 2: of that is going to be disciplined and getting his
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  Speaker 2: weight down.
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  Speaker 3: And he went from two forty four to two twenty six.
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  Speaker 2: I'm proud of him, but that just show the mindset
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  Speaker 2: that he has to be disciplined and challenge himself.
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  Speaker 3: And he looks good right now.
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  Speaker 1: Now that Donaldson is in Columbus and on the field
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  Speaker 1: for Ohio State, what are his early impressions of CJ. Donaldson.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I mean I look at him as a slasher.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he has good he has good enough to speak,
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  Speaker 2: great hands, but he's a slasher, big guy. You no,
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  Speaker 2: big guys often win with the little guy, so he's
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  Speaker 2: gonna fall forward. But I look at him as a
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  Speaker 2: slasher with power, got really good feet for a big guy,
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  Speaker 2: really good hands and good vision, so it's gonna help
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  Speaker 2: him a little bit, which is probably his longer speed.
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  Speaker 3: But he looks good. What made c J.
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  Speaker 1: Donaldson someone that Carlos Lachlan was interested in when he
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  Speaker 1: was in this in the transfer portal.
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  Speaker 3: The versatility, the fact that he played.
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  Speaker 2: I know, he was a guy that I looked at
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  Speaker 2: when he was a high school at Goes Prop.
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  Speaker 3: He was a high school receiver, a pretty good receiver.
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  Speaker 2: But then you know, he tried to they tried to
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  Speaker 2: move them the tight end and ended up getting moving
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  Speaker 2: the running back. So the versatility, he baby do a
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  Speaker 2: lot of things. A big body guy that can catch
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  Speaker 2: the ball. He can run between the tackles. His feet
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  Speaker 2: are quicker than what you think for a big guy,
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  Speaker 2: he got really good feet and good balance.
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  Speaker 3: So that's what makes him good. That's what I saw
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  Speaker 3: in him.
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  Speaker 1: Was it something that Carlos Lockan felt was important for
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  Speaker 1: them to get a bigger back, especially for those goal
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  Speaker 1: line situations and in the red zone.
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  Speaker 2: No, I have my own opinion on the side thing
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  Speaker 2: when they come into red zone. You know, I had
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  Speaker 2: Jeordan James out of Oregon and he's my red zone
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  Speaker 2: running short yards run as a freshman, he probably waited
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  Speaker 2: two ten and two or five, which is not very big.
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  Speaker 2: But they ain't got nothing to do with getting Some
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  Speaker 2: guys have got a nose for sticking the ball in
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  Speaker 2: his zone. He played with a lot of aggression down
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  Speaker 2: here running. So that could be CJ. That could be James,
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  Speaker 2: or it could be the freshman Bo Jackson. No, it's
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  Speaker 2: just whoever has a nose for getting in his zone.
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  Speaker 3: No, that's who I'm gonna roll with anyway.
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  Speaker 1: And before we get to ce J. Donaldson, gonna get
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  Speaker 1: a couple quick questions in on the freshman running backs,
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  Speaker 1: the two guys who are already here, Bo Jackson and
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah West. So what is Carlos Lawka need to see
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  Speaker 1: this spring out of those freshman running backs to know
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  Speaker 1: that they're maybe ready to go for the fall.
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  Speaker 2: And the first thing where they own the ball, No,
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  Speaker 2: what they do to the little small detailed things, take care
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  Speaker 2: of the ball. The second thing will be how good
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  Speaker 2: then pass pro because that's the hardest thing for high
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  Speaker 2: school backs because they're not really doing the high school level.
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  Speaker 2: Then you have an understanding pass pro. But all that
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  Speaker 2: falls on who me. So like coach, they said, I'm
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  Speaker 2: the head coach in my room. So but that's what
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  Speaker 2: I need to see first and everything else. I work
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  Speaker 2: under strengths and weaknesses to help him become what he
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  Speaker 2: needs to be.
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  Speaker 1: And Isaiah West is a little banged up right now,
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  Speaker 1: but it's Carlos Laughlan comfortable broadly speaking with where those
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  Speaker 1: two freshmen, Isaiah West and bo Jackson are right now.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're gonna be fine. Like I said,
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  Speaker 2: I tell all the young guys, it's a marathon, not
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  Speaker 2: a sprint.
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  Speaker 1: Now.
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  Speaker 3: First thing, first you be to earn a spot on
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  Speaker 3: special teams. No, you earned spot special teams.
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  Speaker 2: Then then you then you earn the right to be
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  Speaker 2: a buck out RB. So they get out there on
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  Speaker 2: the field so I think they're trading in the right direction.
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  Speaker 2: It was first practice, not it wasn't bad selling to
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  Speaker 2: build off of.
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  Speaker 3: Plenty of stuff to work on though.
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  Speaker 1: All right, now on to CJ. Donaldson, and then he
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  Speaker 1: was asked, you know how much he's changed physically since
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  Speaker 1: he got to Ohio State. You already heard sort of
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  Speaker 1: Harlos Locklan's side of this. Here's what Donaldson had to
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  Speaker 1: say about that.
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  Speaker 4: I'm eighteen pounds later, I'm two hundred and twenty six
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  Speaker 4: pounds now. I was two forty three. I think the
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  Speaker 4: day I got here and coach mixed it, that's going
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  Speaker 4: to change quickly. A coach Locke wanted me to get
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  Speaker 4: down to a size where I could, you know, still
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  Speaker 4: use my physical attributes very well and also be more
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  Speaker 4: explosive in a run game and play more downs than
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  Speaker 4: I did at my previous university.
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  Speaker 1: That's one of those conversations it would be hard to
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  Speaker 1: think of in having in the workplace, like hey, you
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  Speaker 1: probably need to drop some weight. That doesn't seem like
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  Speaker 1: something would probably come up around the office water cooler
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  Speaker 1: all that often. But football, well it's a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of a different situation. So what was that conversation.
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  Speaker 4: Actually, like it was like an up and down because
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  Speaker 4: my senior in high school, I'm I'm abnormal. I was
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  Speaker 4: two hundred and twenty five pounds as a senior high
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  Speaker 4: school planer wide receiver. So I was like, man, I
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  Speaker 4: did have a great year. You know, I played a
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  Speaker 4: lot more snaps that year, you know, but at two
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  Speaker 4: forty I I had some advantages, but I have more
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  Speaker 4: advantages now, you know, being at this weight, being able
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  Speaker 4: to play longer and you know, have a more impact
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  Speaker 4: on the game of football with you know, just being
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  Speaker 4: this weight.
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  Speaker 1: And how have the results been, How has he seen
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  Speaker 1: the results of that weight loss so far.
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  Speaker 4: Been off the charts, Like just you know, they developed
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  Speaker 4: me like from day one, Like since the day I
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  Speaker 4: stepped on campus. We uh, you know, worked out, We
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  Speaker 4: talk about my eating habits, where I need to get
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  Speaker 4: to my body weight, what I need to improve on
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  Speaker 4: to you know development too, NFL running back and have
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  Speaker 4: an opportunity, you know, to get to that level, and
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  Speaker 4: just them invested into me as much as possible, like
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  Speaker 4: day and day out. They invests a lot.
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  Speaker 1: What went into CJ. Donaldson's decision to transfer when to
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  Speaker 1: when he decided to leave West Virginia and what made
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  Speaker 1: him decide he was going to come to Ohio State.
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  Speaker 4: It was a lie into it. You know, you got
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  Speaker 4: to think about your family, you and like where you
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  Speaker 4: what do you want to get out of this? This
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  Speaker 4: is my last opportunity, you know, guarantee opportunity to have
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  Speaker 4: a chance to play football because the next level is
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  Speaker 4: not promise. You have to, as you say, earn that.
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  Speaker 4: So I just you know, I just took a chance
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  Speaker 4: on myself. You know, you gotta bet on yourself at
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  Speaker 4: all times.
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  Speaker 1: I was sat an adjustment to Ohio State been so far.
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  Speaker 1: You're gonna hear him talk about someone and he just
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  Speaker 1: kind of like vaguely mentions him. He's talking about Taiwan Malone,
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  Speaker 1: who is a defensive tackle who transferred from Ole Miss
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  Speaker 1: to Ohio State a couple of years ago. They're pretty
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  Speaker 1: good friends. So when he talks about someone, it was
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  Speaker 1: Taiwan Malone, and Taiwan Malone was like sitting there listening
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  Speaker 1: to the interview. So you'll hear him kind of like
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  Speaker 1: reference someone that's who he's talking here.
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  Speaker 4: Amazing, I got one of my great friends right here, Todd.
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  Speaker 4: You know, he kind of like you know that's big bro.
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  Speaker 4: He kind of like, you know, take me under his wing,
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  Speaker 4: tell me the things to do and what not to do,
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  Speaker 4: you know, because he was transferred just like me too,
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  Speaker 4: so he tells me like, hey, don't do that. We
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  Speaker 4: don't do that here. Do this, we do that here.
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  Speaker 4: So you know, just you know the family. You know
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  Speaker 4: that I got other guys on the team who I
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  Speaker 4: previously played against, like Jeremiah Smith, Brandon and Is Cayata.
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  Speaker 4: So I kind of was like familiar with like a
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  Speaker 4: couple of players on the team and they kind of
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  Speaker 4: bring me alone as a team as I was transitioned
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  Speaker 4: to the program.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Donaldson and Taiwan Malone and everyone else will be
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  Speaker 1: back on the practice field Monday morning at the Woody
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  Speaker 1: Hayes Athletics Center. We will be there for interviews with
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  Speaker 1: head coach Ryan Day, offensive coordinator Brian heartline defensive coordinator
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  Speaker 1: Matt Patricia. After that practice, we'll have plenty of stuff
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  Speaker 1: to talk about coming up all day long at pucke
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  Speaker 1: huddle dot com and YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle.
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  Speaker 1: We hope to see you there. That'll do it for today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow.