Leading “Fight the Team Across the Field,” doing back-breaking bends and throwing a baton 20 feet in the air have caused many Ohio State fans to notice the OSU drum major. But few know his story.

OSU head drum major Jason Stuckert said he was excited to travel to the University of Minnesota on Saturday, the only away game the marching band traveled to this year.

But for Stuckert, getting to the Minnesota game and to Ohio Stadium has been a long time coming.

Even with almost 10 years of experience, Stuckert was anxious the day he made his debut in the ‘Shoe.

“I was very, very nervous right before I ran onto the field,” he said. “Once I started moving, I just had a big smile on my face because this is what I had wanted for so long. I had the time of my life.”

OSU has had a drum major since 1878, but Stuckert is only the second person in OSU’s history to win the title of head drum major as a first-year student.

Despite his age, Stuckert was confident in his abilities.

“In my head, I think I knew that it was possible that I could get it as a freshman,” Stuckert said.

Stuckert’s interest in the drum major and marching band was evident from a young age.

Marcia Lowe, Stuckert’s mother, said their family had season tickets to the Avon Lake High School football games by the time Stuckert was 2 years old.

Though they usually only made it through the halftime show, Lowe said Stuckert and his sister Abigail, a 2009 graduate of Miami University, were fascinated by the band.

“He watched that drum major, and by the time he was in fifth grade, he started horsing around with his sister’s baton,” Lowe said.

Lowe said she was surprised when Stuckert asked for a Gray Baton, an all-metal baton designed by former OSU marching band member John Gray, for his 12th birthday.

“He was outside in the front yard … twirling that thing every day — sometimes twice a day — between two trees, so we had a mud hole sitting there that he’d worn in the grass,” Lowe said.

As a child, Stuckert was “always happy, always smiling” and “a big entertainer,” Lowe said.

Stuckert first experienced the OSU drum major program in the seventh grade at Avon Lake’s annual homecoming parade, where he saw Avon Lake High School alumni Scott and Eric Sommer perform.

Scott and Eric were the 1998 and 2004 OSU head drum majors, respectively, and were the first siblings to hold the title.

After the parade, Stuckert went to a short drum major clinic held by the Sommer brothers for students interested in being drum majors at Avon Lake High School.

Eric said Stuckert was “rough around the edges but had a real desire to learn.”

In spring 2005, Stuckert began attending OSU’s free clinics for high school students interested in becoming drum majors.

“That was just a mind-blowing experience for me because I was surrounded by all these ridiculously good drum majors that I had never met before,” Stuckert said.

From that point on, Stuckert drove about four hours round trip from Avon Lake to Columbus to attend semiweekly practices in the summer and made an effort to attend as many semiweekly winter practices as he could.

On the days he attended practices in Columbus, he returned to Avon Lake around midnight, slept, and got up for school seven hours later.

Stuckert spent three years as Avon Lake High School’s drum major, which was modeled “just like OSU’s drum major,” he said.

The OSU drum major was a military position in the late 19th century and followed a strict military discipline. By the 1920s, it had evolved to include showmanship and smart execution of movements, according to the OSU Marching Band Drum Major website.

One of the most influential people in Stuckert’s life, particularly during tryout preparation, was Stewart Kitchen, the 2006 and 2007 head drum major at OSU.

Like Stuckert, Kitchen became OSU’s head drum major as a first-year student.

“It is unusual and somewhat of an exception when a person makes the drum major squad as a freshman,” said Jon Woods, director of the marching and athletic bands at OSU.

To try out for drum major, incoming freshmen must first make the drum major row called D-row, where they spend up to two years learning what they need to know for tryouts.

After one year on D-row, members are eligible to try out for the assistant and head drum major positions.

Since he became head drum major, Stuckert’s life has been full of 15-hour-per-week practices, performances and appearances.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” said Lowe, who added that Stuckert participates in community events and student recruitment as part of his position. “The university uses him for a variety of (public relations) opportunities.”

Both Lowe and Stuckert agreed the role has improved his organization skills and focus.

“Game day can be pretty overwhelming,” Stuckert said. “There’s not really much time to catch a breath or anything, even when you’re not performing. People are always wanting to get their picture with you — you’re almost like a second mascot.”

Stuckert said fans who approach him after the game remind him “how much spotlight is on the band,” which motivates him to keep doing well.

Though he “hasn’t found a place to fit it in yet,” Stuckert said he plans to perform a back flip at an upcoming game.

Stuckert’s longtime friend Brian Hathaway, a second-year in computer science and engineering and first-year band member at OSU, said Stuckert’s role is “pretty incredible.”

“I almost take it for granted that one of my best friends is the drum major,” said Hathaway, who went to high school with Stuckert. “For me, he’s still the same old Jason Stuckert.”

Stuckert said his interests outside his head drum major duties include Cleveland sports teams, music and model trains.

If he weren’t the head drum major, Stuckert said he would play the trumpet or another instrument in the band, which he “loves.”

“Being the leader of it is one of the greatest things that could ever cross my mind,” Stuckert said.