Columbus -- Three years ago, Jim Tressel described why Jermale Hines would become a "star," before the Buckeyes ever tried Hines at that position, before Hines had ever taken the field in an Ohio State game. "We were impressed with the way he knew the game of football," Tressel said during Hines' freshman season in 2007. "Obviously he has...
Columbus -- Three years ago, Jim Tressel described why Jermale Hines would become a "star," before the Buckeyes ever tried Hines at that position, before Hines had ever taken the field in an Ohio State game.
"We were impressed with the way he knew the game of football," Tressel said during Hines' freshman season in 2007. "Obviously he has great physical talent, but he just has a sense for the game."
That sense is why Hines is a senior this season instead of a fourth-year junior. And that sense, or instinct, or feel for the game, is why it's appropriate that Hines will spend much of his final home game against Michigan on Saturday at the position he was born to play -- the star.
"I love that name," Hines said with a laugh. "It's different."
The Glenville High grad moved to that star position, what the Buckeyes call their fifth defensive back, as a sophomore in 2008 and played there for most of two seasons. He shifted to starting safety full time this year, but after injuries to Tyler Moeller and Christian Bryant, the Buckeyes were forced to slide Hines back to the star in the last month, "back home," as Hines called it.
He's still the starting safety in Ohio State's base defense, but against a team like the Wolverines, with their spread offense, the Buckeyes will play mostly nickel, which will put Hines at his playmaking best. Because making plays is the only real job requirement of the position.
"He's a difference maker," Moeller said of Hines. "Right now, if I could take one player from our defense, I'd take Jermale. He's tough, he's fast, he's strong and what I really love about him is he has heart. He runs around and hits people, and he brings everyone up to another level around him."
Playing the star, Moeller may have been the Buckeyes' defensive MVP in the first month before tearing his pectoral muscle in the fifth game of the season. When it comes to which Buckeye has made the most consistent yearlong contribution to the defense, Hines makes a strong case. He's showcasing what the Buckeyes saw in 2007, when, after he missed the first five games of the season while the NCAA finally approved his academic transcript, the Buckeyes still chose to play him instead of redshirt him. That's why he's a senior now.
"We knew how quickly he showed he could help us," Tressel said then.
At that point, Hines was a young linebacker who immediately made his mark on special teams. That didn't last. He was shifted to the star, where a linebacker's size and attitude and a safety's speed and coverage skills are all needed.
"We always joke around and tell him he came in as a linebacker but he couldn't handle it, he had to get out of there," senior linebacker Ross Homan said. "Jermale is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen. He's having a great, great senior year, his best by far. He's making plays all over."
Now, he's an old star, having celebrated his 23rd birthday this month. And he's all over the Buckeyes' young safeties.
"Jermale is the kind of guy that whether you want his help or not, he's giving it, you know what I mean?" Tressel said. "Because he wants a good team, and he doesn't care how young you are, he expects you to be in the right place. Jermale's a good football player. Jermale's a good leader, there's no question."
At times this season, that leadership has included guiding freshman Bryant, a fellow Glenville grad, through his star experience.
"He's a coach on the field," safeties coach Paul Haynes said.
Sometimes he's a life coach, too.
"I feel like when I came to college, it was a big culture shock and I didn't have people on me all the time, telling me don't do this, don't do that," Hines said. "So when I tell [young players] things, sometimes they still do what they want, but in the end hopefully they'll realize that I just want what's best for them. I feel like I owe them that. I still drill it into their heads, no matter what they say, whether they agree with me or not."
"When he does talk, people are sitting up in their chairs and they're listening," Haynes said, "so he's very good in our [meeting] room because when he tells someone to do something, they're going to do it. They respect him that much."
Preparation and that sense for the game allows Hines to anticipate the next play on the field. Hines believes he has the same instincts off the field, the ability to sniff out what's about to happen.
"I feel like I read people really well," Hines said.
The Buckeyes read Hines. They figured out the kind of player they had and put him in the best position to make plays. He's not a captain. He's not a future first-round pick, though two draft websites project him as a fourth-round pick, and ESPN's Scouts Inc. ranks Hines as the No. 12 draft prospect at the safety position. He's not the player who should draw the loudest ovation from the Ohio Stadium crowd when the seniors are introduced Saturday.
But there's no doubt that in his way, a way that fits perfectly into this Ohio State defense, Hines is a star.