COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State found the class clown of the newest batch of recruits even before he stepped foot on campus.
So once Baron Browning arrived as an early enrollee, all the Buckeyes had to do was put a microphone on him, turn on the camera and wait for the entertainment.
In a quick transition from being evaluated by a coaching staff to providing his own take on his new classmates, the program teamed up the nation’s second-ranked linebacker from Texas with former Ohio State captain Joshua Perry and turned them loose to break down one of the country’s most talent-laden classes.
“Honestly, I don’t know [how it happened]; they just told me they needed me to do it, so I just said OK,” Browning said on Wednesday. “I had fun doing it. We were just joking around, having fun. I had seen [Perry] in the locker room a couple times, but that was the first time we really talked. Before it was just, ‘Hey, what’s up? How you doing?’ Small talk. We weren’t really just talking football; we were really cracking jokes, talking about one other, getting on each other’s head for fun.
“I had just got out of class, so I guess I got a little break out of that, too.”
And while Browning was able to relax in his chair in the Ohio State meeting room next to Perry, he was also able to give a little glimpse at the kind of personality the team has inherited as the ESPN 300 selection tries to help fill the void left by Raekwon McMillan’s early departure for the NFL.
Barry & Perry got you covered with the film study today! 😂 Watch @Chargers LB @RIP_JEP & #Select17 LB @baronbrwnng break down @Jkdobbins22. pic.twitter.com/XpmePGWDfp
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) February 1, 2017
Browning had already flashed a sense of humor during his high-profile recruitment as one of Urban Meyer’s top targets, calling him just before announcing his commitment to the Buckeyes to tell his new coach he was going to Alabama instead. The trick didn’t last long, with Browning quickly posting his plans to attend Ohio State on Twitter after reportedly causing a few seconds of panic for Meyer. And for now it appears his affinity for joking around is still being warmly received.
“Baron is a comedy dude,” fellow early enrollee Jeffrey Okudah said. “He kind of busts Coach Meyer around a little bit, and he takes it as a joke. He knows how Baron is.
“Sometimes recruiting can be so serious. It can be kind of cool to have those lighthearted moments.”
