Tag: Cameron Martinez

Ohio State football issues availability report for Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Ohio State football issues availability report for Notre Dame Fighting Irish #GoBucks

The fine folks with the Ohio State Football team have issued the availability report for the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Ohio State looks like it is at its healthiest we have seen it all season. There is only one concerning name listed on the injury report and that is safety, Cameron Martinez.

Martinez is listed as out for the contest against Notre Dame and he is the only name listed on the report that sees significant action. Another safety, Latahn Ransom was listed on the report last week, but continued to play regardless and was fully removed from the report for the Fighting Irish. the following is the report in its entirety:

OUT

  • WR Kiyon Grayes
  • TE Zak Herbstreit
  • SAF Cam Martinez
  • DE/LB Arvell Reese
  • DT Will Smith Jr.
  • WR Reis Stocksdale
  • SAF Kourt Williams II

It is extremely comforting to see the Buckeyes at relatively full health for their biggest contest of the season thus far.

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WATCH: Cameron Martinez returns interception for touchdown against Tulsa

Watch Cameron Martinez with the dagger INT for a TD #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes struggled with the winless Tulsa Golden Hurricane, but Cameron Martinez and the defense did their part and stepped up to get an interception and return it for a touchdown to give Ohio State fans a respite from having a heart attack.

With just under 2:00 minutes left in the game, Cameron Martinez put the dagger in the Tulsa Golden Hurricane returning the below interception for 61- yards and a touchdown. The Buckeyes took the lead with 41-20 and helped make the final score look much better than it really was.

Now it’s back to film and the drawing board to try and continue to get better in the upcoming weeks.

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Defensive back Cameron Martinez loses his black stripe

Ohio State freshman defensive back Cameron Martinez became the latest Buckeye newcomer to shed his black stripe Thursday.

Ohio State defensive back Cameron Martinez is the latest to lose his black stripe. From Muskegon, Michigan, the 5-foot, 11-inch Martinez was listed as an athlete but will slot into the team as a defensive back. He becomes the first of three freshman DBs to shed his black stripe.

He also becomes the ninth newcomer and eighth freshman at Ohio State to receive the honor.

With these things there’s always a little fun moment in front of the team and thanks to the Ohio State Football Twitter account, you can watch Martinez jump and give some quick thoughts as his black stripe is removed by Shaun Wade.

“Hey, first I want to thank God, I wanna thank my strength coaches,” Martinez said. “I want to thank my unit, BIA (Best in America). I appreciate being out here with y’all every day. Go Bucks!”

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Ohio State commit Cameron Martinez nominated for Michigan High School Athlete of the Year

Ohio State commit Cameron Martinez has been nominated for the DAC Michigan High School Athlete of the Year.

Another Ohio State football commitment is looking to add to his trophy case. Cameron Martinez, who played his high school ball at Muskegan High School in Michigan, has been nominated for the DAC Michigan High School Athlete of the Year.

An all-around athlete, Martinez excelled at quarterback, leading the Big Reds to the state title game in both 2018 and 2019. He was long a verbal commitment to Ohio State before pausing to reaffirm his commitment when Jeff Hafley (his primary recruiter) left the program to take the Boston College head coaching position.

Kerry Coombs then accepted the defensive coordinator position with the Buckeyes and maintained the relationship, making Martinez comfortable again, and sealing the four-star athlete (according to 247Sports) for Ohio State.

We’ll keep an eye on this to see if Martinez eventually takes the award home.

Cameron Martinez confirms that he will sign with Ohio State

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez announced via Twitter Tuesday that he will sign with Ohio State. It’s a big recruiting win.

There will not be additional drama on the traditional signing day for college football recruits it appears. By now you know Ohio State signed almost every piece of its 2020 recruiting class during the early signing period save for one very, very important piece.

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez has been a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes since July 4 of 2019, but he decided to wait and see who Ryan Day brought in to replace Jeff Hafley on defense. Wait he did, and now it appears as though the home-run hire/re-hire of Kerry Coombs has sealed the deal.

According to a Tweet Martinez shared to Twitter on Tuesday, he will indeed be signing with Ohio State.

Martinez, out of Muskegon, Michigan is rated as the No. 14 athlete in the 2020 class according to 247Sports.

This is great news for Ohio State, and there’s no doubt Ryan Day and staff are high-fiving behind the scenes. It became a real possibility that OSU would lose MLive’s two-time Michigan player of the year. And the timing would not have been ideal.

OSU already lost out on a highly-touted defensive back commit, Clark Phillips III when he flipped from Ohio State to Utah. Another loss of an athlete that could end up on that side of the ball would put the back-end of the defense in an extremely thin position.

Now, none of that matters because the Buckeyes got their guy. You can think Kerry Coombs and Ryan Day for keeping this one together.

 

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Kerry Coombs visits Ohio State target Cameron Martinez

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs spent time visiting with four-star 2020 target Cameron Martinez Wednesday.

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs is wasting no time working on priorities. The Buckeyes are looking to keep four-star Michigan athlete Cameron Martinez committed, so that’s where Coombs spent time “planting flags” Wednesday.

You had to believe that paying a visit to the lone holdout from the early signing period would be one of the main things Coombs would jump on right away, and it took him all of two days on the job to get it done. How’s that for letting Martinez know how much he means to the program?

In fact, Martinez seemed to enjoy getting to know the new defensive coordinator and replacement for Jeff Hafley — with whom he developed a great relationship with. The two-time MLive Michigan football player of the year shared the visit on his Twitter feed.

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Martinez recently told the Detroit Free Press that he’s still planning on signing with Ohio State, and this sure looks like a good move towards that. We’ll all find out on February 5 when the traditional signing day comes around.

 

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Cameron Martinez says he still plans to sign with Ohio State … for now

The Detroit Free Press caught up with Ohio State’s only early signing period holdout. He says he still plans on signing with the Buckeyes.

It’s the last remaining fish the Ohio State football staff hopes to catch for the 2020 recruiting class. Cameron Martinez, a four-star athlete out of Muskegon, Michigan had verbally committed to the Buckeyes on July 4. But he decided not to sign during the early signing period in December because of the departure of Jeff Hafley, with whom he had built trust and a relationship with.

And so it remains. Will Martinez still sign with Ohio State on February 5, or will his gaze elsewhere while he figured things out result in either Northwestern or Notre Dame landing his services?

Well, the Detroit Free Press tried to shed some light on where Martinez is leaning at the moment, and if you’re a Buckeye fan, there does appear to be some good news, at least for now.

When speaking with the Free Press, the 5-11, 183 pounder seemed to still be planning on signing with Ohio State.

“Right now it’s Ohio State, at the moment,” Martinez told the Free Press. “I plan on signing with Ohio State… “If I didn’t want to go there,” he said. “I would have decommitted back then.”

So there you have it, but with a bit of a caveat. The only recruit to not sign with the Buckeyes in December has still been listening to other schools and keeping an open mind.

“I have been hearing schools out,” Martinez said. “I’ve told some schools no. I’m still in contact with some schools. Notre Dame talks about setting up a visit, but I haven’t made a decision yet.”

If you’re reading the Buckeye leaves on this one, one could easily surmise that Martinez still wants to wear the scarlet and gray, but was taken a little aback by the Hafley news and wants to see who comes in to take his place. Now that a familiar name is back with the past development history and NFL pedigree that Kerry Coombs possesses, one would think it would only bolster Ohio State’s chances at sealing the deal for a versatile player the Buckeyes so desperately want — and need.

In fact, Coombs is already on the recruiting trail as we speak and it would be a major surprise if he hasn’t already reached out to Martinez.

It might seem a little mixed, but I’d say to be patient on this one, and Cameron Martinez will more than likely be a Buckeye when it all goes down on February 5.

 

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day visits Cameron Martinez

There’s one big fish still out there for the Ohio State football 2020 recruiting class, and Ryan Day was in to pay a visit this weekend.

The official and traditional signing day for college football is quickly approaching, and although Ohio State has signed almost its entire class already during the early signing period, there’s still one big fish still out there that head coach Ryan Day and staff would love to land.

Four-star athlete Cameron Martinez verbally committed to the Buckeyes back in early July, but he decided to delay his signing until February to keep his options open.

It can all be traced to former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley’s departure from the program. He was the lead recruiter that had established a relationship with Martinez, and the news of Hafley taking the head coaching job at Boston College gave the MLive’s two-time Michigan high-school player of the year pause.

Since that time, it’s been a busy, flurry of activity for head coach Ryan Day and Ohio State. There was the whole lead up to Fiesta Bowl and the College Football Playoff to deal with that took everyone’s focus and time.

But now, it’s time to get back on the trail and try to let Martinez know he made the right decision in the first place. On that note, Day and special teams coordinator and assistant secondary backs coach Matt Barnes were on the recruiting trail, battling bad weather and travel to watch Martinez play in a high school basketball game over the weekend.

There are reliable sources pointing towards former Ohio State defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs coming back to Columbus to fill the spot left vacant by Hafley’s departure, and that would be a great hire to fill the void. Either way, Day’s selling of the program would likely revolve around him bringing in one of the best defensive backs coaches in America, and the virtues of what the program can offer.

According to a story by MLive, the visit did indeed strike a chord with Martinez.

“It meant a lot to me and also showed a lot,” Martinez said in a text to MLive.com. “They had a busy day and for them to come to the game and then come over (to the house) with the weather being bad, I really appreciated it. I haven’t seen them in a while, so it was good to catch up with them as well.”

So we’ll keep a watch on this and any news regarding a pending hire of sorts. With all the unknowns at the defensive back position, and the need that will be there after this year, getting Martinez, an athlete that could factor in there or at another position down the road will be key.

Notre Dame Football: 2020 Recruiting Class Not Complete After All?

As a result, Martinez, who was recruited by Ohio State as a defensive back, is yet to put his commitment in paper.

A week before Christmas, Notre Dame signed 18 high school seniors on the early National Signing Day and Ohio State transfer, safety Isaiah Pryor.

Shortly after they added Northwestern transfer, wide receiver Bennett Skowronek to help fill the enormous hole left with Chase Claypool’s departure.

The 20 new additions to the Fighting Irish appeared to be it for the 2020 recruiting class but the deeper we get into January, the more we see that possibly not being the case.

Cameron Martinez, a 5-11, 183 pound athlete from Muskegon, Michigan had committed to Ohio State on the Fourth of July.

Funny this is however, the early signing period came and went without Martinez signing with Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes.

So enter Notre Dame.

What appears to have happened is Ohio State’s defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley took the head coaching job at Boston College. As a result, Martinez, who was recruited by Ohio State as a defensive back, is yet to put his commitment in paper.

So Notre Dame has jumped back in and we assume they’re not the only ones again interested.

Martinez, who starred at quarterback in high school and was an incredible playmaker. So much in fact he was named Michigan’s Gatorade Player of the Year this past fall and he may want to play offense in college instead of defense where it sounds like most coaches have guided him towards.

Like Ohio State, Notre Dame is currently operating without a certain secondary coach as Todd Lyght has stepped down since the season’s conclusion.

Because of that I’m not letting myself get too excited about a potential extra member in this class, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

It may be easy to request Brian Kelly and his staff to offer Martinez to come play offense, but that’d be also ignoring the holes that remain at the corner position.

For what it’s worth I’m still not at a place where I expect Martinez to flip from Ohio State but it’s refreshing to hear Notre Dame still being linked to him and the 2020 class possibly still being able to grow by one.

Though Muskegon QB Cameron Martinez has excelled at his position, Ohio State might have other plans for him

Cameron Martinez realizes that at 5-feet-11, 190 pounds, he does not fit the mold college coaches are looking for in a quarterback, so he is willing to play safety or slot receiver at Ohio State.

MUSKEGON — Cameron Martinez was sitting in the team room at Muskegon High, discussing where he will be playing football next fall.

What’s known is he will be playing at Ohio State; what’s to be decided is his position.

“That is always the question of the day,” he said. “It’s a question I don’t even know yet. Sometimes I lean toward defense, sometimes I lean toward offense.”

But when he talks about playing offense, Martinez concedes that it will not be at quarterback — a notion that seems ridiculous, considering he will go down as one of the best high school quarterbacks in state history.

Heading into Saturday’s Division 3 regional championship game against East Grand Rapids at Grand Haven (1 p.m.), Martinez has run for 1,599 yards and 29 touchdowns on 171 carries, and has completed 53 of 85 passes for 1,021 yards and nine touchdowns.

Muskegon quarterback Cameron Martinez (13) runs against Warren De La Salle during the second half of Prep Kickoff Class at Wayne State University’s Tom Adams Field in Detroit, Friday, August 30, 2019. (Photo: Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press)

His passer rating is 124.68, placing him just ahead of Aaron Rodgers’ NFL record of 122.5 set in 2011.

So many players who are quarterbacks in high school but asked to change positions in college only do so kicking and screaming.

[ Predictions: Michigan high school football playoff picks ]

But switching positions at Ohio State is no big deal to Martinez because he sees the bigger picture as well as he sees the football field. He realizes that at 5-feet-11, 190 pounds, he does not fit the mold college coaches are looking for in a quarterback, so he is willing to play safety or slot receiver at Ohio State.

“I think it can further my career because I want to be an NFL football player,” he said matter-of-factly. “I want to be at positions where I can be successful. With a coaching staff like that, I hope that they’ll develop me into whatever position I do play and hopefully it works out.”

Read the Detroit Free Press for more.