COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State linebacker Baron Browning saw his opportunity coming before Nebraska snapped the ball.

On a third-and-1 scenario in the second quarter of the Buckeyes’ recent blowout in Lincoln, Nebraska tried a jet sweep with its talented freshman, Wan’Dale Robinson. By the time Robinson took the handoff and turned the corner, Browning had stormed in from his middle linebacker spot. He stood Robinson up and combined with Robert Landers on a tackle for loss.

Browning recorded six other tackles that day. That one, however, reverberated the most. A year ago, he had not committed himself to the kind of film study that makes such a play possible.

“I’d seen it so many times that week on film,” Browning said. “Even when I wasn’t in, especially in walkthrough, I was in the back acting like I was in, getting in mental reps, stepping through it.”

Browning played a central role in the defensive performance that led to Ohio State’s 34-10 victory over Michigan State last week. He raised his season total to 2.5 sacks and dropped back in coverage to tip a pass resulting in a Jordan Fuller interception.

Browning is the Buckeyes’ third-leading tackler at the midway point despite sharing middle linebacker snaps with Tuf Borland. After two seasons of occasionally flashing the promise that made him a top-15 national recruit out of Fort Worth’s Kennedale High School, Browning has established himself as a crucial component of one of the top-ranked defenses in the nation.

One of the men most responsible for helping Browning reach this point believes this is only the beginning.

“He doesn’t even know how good he is right now,” said his father, Barry Browning. “He’s got a high ceiling. He hasn’t reached his full potential.”

The Browning family way

Barry Browning would have named all of his sons Barry if his wife and mother had allowed him. Instead, only his oldest son received the name passed down to him by his own father.

All three Brownings still lift together in the offseason. Dad, short and stocky, once played football at TCU and can still hold his own in those lifting sessions with the sons he sent off to play college football. Those workouts quickly become “noisy,” with all three talking trash and challenging each other.

Barry set that competitive vibe early on. His oldest son learned that lesson after his first game of tackle football.

“He asked me was my jersey dirty,” the younger Barry said. “I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Well then you didn’t play hard enough.' ”

Back home that night, in full uniform, the younger Barry ran from fence to fence, diving in the grass, until his father called off the workout. Baron said he shared similar experiences.

Father did not oblige his children sleeping in past 7 a.m. They were up, working in the yard or training in one of their sports. When he was away from home — working in the Texas oil fields or driving trucks — he sent workouts home for his wife, DeKisha, to give to the boys.

“They grinded year-round,” Barry said of his boys. “The whole deal was, you can’t be average. When it’s cold outside or it’s raining, 90 percent of people are in the house. That’s when we’re going to get our bread and butter. That’s when we’re going to eat.”

In one memorable incident, the father took his sons to a spot in west Fort Worth they called Killer Hill. Walking up the incline is a chore. Baron had been insisting he had been working out, and his father wanted him to prove it.

Baron ran the hill 10 times back-to-back.

“That young bull,” Barry said of his son, "he just amazes me all the time.”

Baron compared his father to James Evans, the tough, blue-collar patriarch played by John Amos on the 1970s sitcom “Good Times." Some children would have rebelled against that stern upbringing — perhaps even resented their father. Baron spoke of those experiences with gratitude.

“All he knows is what he was taught — a generational thing that was passed down,” Baron said. “It worked for us into something I’m going to apply to my kids when I have some one day. I’m gonna probably do some things a little different, but the same general message would be the same.”

The results speak for themselves. Barry the son earned a scholarship to Stanford, where he played cornerback. When the family came to visit for a game during his sophomore year, he noticed his brother had grown into a 6-foot, 180-pound ninth-grader seemingly overnight.

Chasing expectations

Soon, Baron was recognized as one of the top football prospects in the nation. The 247Sports.com national composite for the Class of 2017 rated him No. 1 in the country among outside linebackers and the No. 11 prospect overall.

He arrived at Ohio State as a key member of the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class. Two years in, he had not cracked the linebacker rotation enough to fulfill those expectations. While Browning started three games as a sophomore, he remained the clear second option to Borland.

Browning admits he struggled to find the singular focus necessary to excel in football. He did not go into specifics, but he said distractions back home and his own lack of priorities were both factors.

However, he also said he felt abandoned by someone at Ohio State. Browning declined to name any individuals, and admits some complicity in the breakdown of the relationship. Regardless, the episode contributed to his diminished role.

“One person who I didn’t expect to give up on me gave up on me, and it just didn’t sit well with me,” he said. “So then at that point, the relationship is ended. Every time you see one another, it just wasn’t what it needed to be, or the relationship it once was.”

Browning’s feelings of isolation began to change in the offseason when, after Urban Meyer’s departure, the defensive coaching staff saw wholesale changes. Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison came on as co-defensive coordinators and implemented a scheme which Buckeye defenders say is less complicated and allows them to play looser and swarm to the ball.

The biggest influence came with the addition of linebackers coach Al Washington. A Columbus native and Buckeye legacy who most recently coached linebackers at Michigan, Washington and Browning clicked from their initial meeting. Soon, Browning became close with Washington’s family. The coach began recommending motivational books such as “Can’t Hurt Me” by retired Navy Seal David Goggins.

Browning credits Washington with helping him step back and gain perspective on what he could do to fulfill his potential. The coach deflects the credit back in the opposite direction.

“I don’t instill anything,” Washington said. "All I do is if you have a spark, I’m going to pour gas on it, and hopefully it turns into a blaze. I think that’s what all coaches do.

“He has a spark and we go about the business of trying to create a blaze, a fire. It was always there. I think it’s still there now. That confidence comes from that, for sure.”

Rising to the challenge

Browning’s father and brother noticed the change. Barry used to call and check in with Baron regularly during his first two seasons at Ohio State. He offered advice and prodded Browning to follow through on his commitments, training and studies.

Those calls eventually became unnecessary.

“There were some times during the summer or during the past spring where I would call to challenge him,” Barry said of his brother. “He said he was watching film or meeting with his coach. There was nothing I could ever really pick at him about because he was on top if it from a mental sense.”

Borland continues to start at middle linebacker and typically plays the first few series. Then Browning comes in, and more often than not he ends up with more snaps than the starting captain.

That is another scenario Browning believes he can handle better now than he would have a year ago. Rather than worrying about his playing time, he focuses on using his hands correctly and flying to the ball. Not every player with his credentials and NFL aspirations would accept such an arrangement.

Speaking of the NFL — which could be a realistic option before next season — the father who preached the pursuit of greatness encourages his son to set those thoughts aside.

“That three-letter word, we never talk about it,” Browning’s father said. “You have to look at what’s in front of you right now or you might miss something. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. We’ll talk about it when we get there. Otherwise, that adds unwanted pressure you put on yourself.”

Browning no longer feels the pressure — he applies it. The football mentors in his family started that process. The ones he found at Ohio State are helping him complete it.

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