Ohio State’s first verbal commitment of the 2009 class was Jordan Whiting from Louisville (Kentucky) Trinity High School. So far in 2008, the linebacker is turning in a solid effort for a 5-1 team.
“Right now, it’s going fairly well,” Whiting said of his season campaign. “We lost to Louisville St. Xavier 30-6. It was one of those things where you have to understand that someone has to be a winner and someone has to be a loser in the game. Unfortunately, we lost. It was tough because at Trinity we always expect to win. Any great athlete hates to lose, and Trinity is full of those. It refocused us and made us realize that we have to great better. We understand that we have to go out there and earn it.”
There was a lot of turnover from the Trinity team that won the state championship in 2007. Whiting is a constant, but the variables from last year have caused the team to have to grow quickly.
“We’re improving as the year goes on though,” Whiting (6-1, 235) said. “Right now, we’re stopping the run. We have some new defensive linemen and some new offensive linemen. We’re trying to improve on our offensive line right now. We threw those guys in there and we’re trying to put points on the board.”
Whiting, whose team is ranked No. 1 in their district and No. 2 in the commonwealth, is a player that always likes to talk about the team first but gave an update on his own season.
“I’m doing pretty well right now,” said the humble Whiting. “I don’t really know my stats. There are some games where I don’t play the whole game; I come out in the third quarter. I feel like I’m doing well. But, I can do better. There’s always a lot of room for improvement. I think that there are a lot of things that people throw out there—a lot of critics, ‘This Whiting kid can do this,’ or ‘This Whiting kid can’t do that,’ or ‘He’s no Ohio State talent.’ Me? I’m focused on getting better. I’m going to improve and I’ll get better and the season goes on.”
As a senior, the underclassmen look to him to guide them. Whiting knows what that position means and has worked to build himself into that on the field.
“Right now and from the beginning of the season, I wanted to be a leader,” explained Whiting, who will be at the Ohio State game against Penn State later in October. “I wanted to become a leader for the team. I feel that I’ve become a better leader, not only on the field, but also off the field. I feel like, right now, what I bring to the team is confidence. It might be a situation where we had a bas series on the field but the defense looks to me and they know we can get through it.”
Rated as the No. 27 inside linebacker prospect in 2009 by ESPN’s Scouts, Inc., they describe Whiting, in part, as “If you're looking for a middle linebacker to blow up the fullback iso or spill the ball on heavy-power running schemes -- this is your guy.” Whiting worked hard this summer to continue to improve his game.
“I believe it’s helped me out tremendously,” said Whiting, who bench presses 405 pounds. “Tremendously. I believe it helped me out on my speed, my lateral movement and all it is now is to string them together to become better and improve throughout the year.”
Whiting said that this 2009 recruiting class is coming together well behind the scenes, getting to know each other and enjoys strengthening his bond with the coaches.
“My relationship with the (future) Ohio State players is awesome,” Whiting, who will move to Columbus at the end of May, said. “Every time I go up to the game, I talk to Coach (Luke) Fickell. I understand that right now it’s different from what it will be once I graduate. Then, it’s all business. They’ll be my coaches and I’ll be ready. Right now, I’m getting acquainted with guys like Dorian Bell, Melvin Fellows and those other great athletes. It’s exciting.”
Verbally committed since early September of 2007, Whiting would love to be the first to fax in his letter of intent as well. Unfortunately, that probably will not happen as his school will delay the signature until later on signing day.
“We’ll do it on signing day,” said Whiting. “I’ll be able to do it that afternoon. They usually have a ceremony that they do. But if I could be the first, I would be.”
