There sits in Cleveland, Ohio, a high school by the name of Glenville Academy, a school that’s become a veritable pipeline filled with talented football players ready to don scarlet and gray.
Jermale Hines, who is currently the Buckeyes starter at free safety, knew coming into college that a spotlight would be shining on him. After all, he was a former Tarblooder.
“Anytime a player comes in from Glenville, it puts added pressure on you. Everyone expects you to do great things,” Hines said. “So it definitely put some added pressure on me, but I knew coming in that I had to work hard, and everything would take care of itself.”
Before transferring to Glenville in his junior year, Hines played both basketball and football at Berrien County High School in Nashville, Ga.
“I actually liked basketball better, but being my size, I always felt like I had a better chance at succeeding in football,” Hines said.
After transferring to Glenville, the head coach of the football program, Ted Ginn Sr., wondered when Hines would start to open up and become a vocal leader.
In an interview with The Plain Dealer in 2006, Ginn was quoted saying, “Jermale’s a quiet kid who we’re trying to make a leader out of with some kind, any kind of emotion.”
Ohio State safeties coach Paul Haynes implied that even today, Hines doesn’t speak much.
“He doesn’t say a whole lot but when he does talk, people listen, and when says to do something, people do it,” Haynes said.
After his high school career ended, Hines chose to play for the Buckeyes. But a few academic issues made it appear as if Hines would never see the field of play.
Due to the fact that he transferred from a Georgia school to an Ohio school, Hines had to take the Ohio Graduation Test before he could receive academic certification.
The academic issues didn’t end there. As a freshman at OSU, Hines was ruled ineligible for the first half of the season.
“Basically something didn’t go through with my Clearinghouse, so it held me back a little bit,” Hines said. “I was just a regular student at one point. But they got it together half way through the season and I was able to get back on the team.”
Now a senior, Hines is stepping up and growing more mature with every game. While he’s not a team captain, he has become a coach on the field for the defense. Recently, he’s had the task of instructing freshman and former Glenville player Christian Bryant on where to be on the field during certain defensive sets.
“The thing about Jermale is, he’s a great leader,” Haynes said. “He’s a very instinctive and aggressive football player, and his maturity has grown a great deal.”
Hines is being projected as potential third- or fourth-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. And while the draft isn’t for another seven months, he admits there are some parts of his game he’d like to improve upon before the end of the season.
“I’d say the strongest parts of my game are my physicality and tackling ability,” Hines said. “But I’d like to work on my one-on-one coverage, and just understanding the game of football more.”
Haynes added, “There’s a lot of things that he has to improve on, starting with just getting better every day. I could for sure see him playing at the next level, but it’s not a perfect science. But with his work ethic, and his love and passion for football, I could see him playing at the next level.”
And while it may be true that Hines doesn’t talk very much, he isn’t opposed to talking a little smack and challenging the offense during practice.
“I just pick on them, basically call out their plays and try to punk them as much as I can,” Hines said while laughing. “I try to make it hard on them because when it’s game time, it’s definitely going to be hard on them.”
Even Heisman Trophy candidate Terrelle Pryor isn’t safe from a verbal lashing.
“Yeah I talk stuff to Terrelle, a few words that might get bleeped out,” Hines said, laughing again. “I know I’m going to need those guys so I might make it tough on them, but in the end I know they’ll come through for me.”
