There’s a contrast between the person Marc Nave is in an interview setting or interpersonal conversation and who he is on the field.
Reserved and humble in those more relaxed scenes, Nave is a wrecking ball of a guard at the high school level who has a tendency not to stop driving opponents until a whistle blows or they are on the ground.
“You’ve got to have that balance,” Nave told BSB Thursday. “Off the field, you’ve got to be a good young man, ‘Yes sir,’ ‘No sir,’ respect. On the field you’ve got to be that dog. You’ve just got to have that switch.”
The three-star Ohio State interior offensive line commit from Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic hopes to bring that aggression to Columbus and use it to leverage future success with the Buckeyes.
Nave’s on-field mentality is displayed in one of his best positive traits as a prospect, his fast, active feet off the line of scrimmage.
“Being my size, a lot of guys really can’t move their feet like that,” Nave said. “Obviously you win with your feet, so you’ve got to have good feet to be able to block really fast, good defensive linemen.”
Prior to games, he spends time zeroing in on the present moment to flip that switch into his aggressive mindset. He’ll listen to music to hype himself up as well, as many do, with late rapper DMX being one of his favorite artists. Whatever the strategy he and his team have been using seems to be working — Central Catholic won the Ohio Div. II State Championship last year.
“Once we get into the locker room, everybody’s getting locked in, just focusing on what’s in front of them,” Nave said. “That’s how I do it. My coaches have told me, ‘Stay at where your feet are at.’ Wherever I’m at in that moment is what I’m thinking, what I’m trying to get done.”
Nave made his way to Ohio State’s first of five one-day camps for high school players Thursday, receiving some extra instruction from OSU offensive line coach Justin Frye and catching up with New Palestine, Ind. four-star offensive lineman Ian Moore (6-5, 295), a fellow Ohio State commit.
Not only did Nave say he enjoyed learning more about Moore’s playstyle and what it might be like to block alongside him, he also appreciated receiving additional instruction from current junior offensive guard Donovan Jackson, returning as the Buckeyes’ starting left guard in 2023.
“He was giving some pointers on my pass sets and stuff,” Nave said. “It’s great to learn from great players like that, just really knowing how they play and trying to implement it in my game is a good thing.”
Further fine-tuning of his footwork mentioned above is something he drilled with Frye, Jackson and the like. Nave listed it as the top thing he learned from the camp day.
“How (Frye) wants us to step, our steps and stuff (were my biggest takeaway),” Nave said. “Coming from a high school coach that wants you to do stuff a certain way to a really high-level college coach, it’s very different. The way I’m stepping and stuff, he gave me a lot of good pointers so now I can just take that and dominate this fall with it.”
Following the camp, Nave stayed in Columbus for his official visit to Ohio State that will last all weekend. He’s looking forward to his playing career, and building bonds with the current team and fellow recruits.
“It’s going to be fun,” Nave said. “Just getting to know everybody more, getting to know the coaches a little more. With all the guys coming to visit, we’re going to try and do some recruiting too.”
