Three members of the Ohio State football team facing the most pressure

The Ohio State football program is coming up on a critical 2024 season. Everything they've done in the last few months tells us that this should be an all-time great Buckeye team. The roster is brimming with talent, the coaching staff has had changes, and the schedule is easy.

All of that should add up to the Buckeyes being contenders for the national championship this season. They will likely be a top-five team in the preseason polls, but that doesn't matter much. What matters is where they are ranked at the end of the season.

Beating Michigan has to be the first priority for this team. It's something they haven't done since the 2019 season. The 2021 class is in danger of leaving Ohio State without a pair of gold pants. Winning that game will put them in a good spot to make the College Football Playoff.

While this team is loaded with great players and coaches, it's also loaded with expectations. There are three members of this program who have an enormous amount of pressure on them for this year. The fans are demanding that they perform well. Otherwise, changes might be made.

The first member of the program who has pressure on him is one of the coaches on staff.

1. Justin Frye

While Ryan Day decided to make some changes to his coaching staff, Justin Frye was brought back. The offensive line coach has faced a lot of criticism in his two years with the Ohio State football program. Most of it has to do with his lack of recruiting so far.

Frye has yet to bring in a five-star offensive lineman since he's been with the Buckeyes. He has a shot to do so this year but hasn't done it yet. The lack of recruiting at an elite level has led to a lack of talent up front. The line has also had issues holding up in the biggest games.

While Frye deserves credit for the offensive line coming along in the middle of last season, the unit faltered against Michigan and Missouri in arguably the most embarrassing efforts of the year for any unit on the team. That led to fans wanting Frye out.

Frye has at least one more year with the Buckeyes. If the offensive line doesn't improve this year on the field or on the recruiting trail, a change will have to be made. Perhaps bringing in Chip Kelly, his former boss at UCLA, will help him get the best out of his unit.

The next player on this list is actually going to be the leader of the Ohio State football team.