Tucson native Lathan Ransom having 'amazing last year' at Ohio State

Lathan Ransom could write a book about his college football career at Ohio State and title it, “The Unprecedented Era of College Football.”

After Ransom signed with Ohio State out of Salpointe Catholic in 2020, the Tucson native and defensive back — like many other student-athletes — went through the hardships of the pandemic five years ago, the transfer portal creating a free agency element to college football and the name, image and likeness era kickstarting for players to monetize themselves.

Ransom struck NIL deals with chicken finger chain Raising Cane’s and Circle K in the last year. Throw in multiple injuries, including a gruesome leg injury in the Rose Bowl during the 2021 season, and quarantining for nearly a month after testing positive for COVID-19, the last five years have “been a lot,” Ransom said.

“When I first got here, going through Covid and not having fans was a lot to deal with as a freshman. We got through that and then I got injuries, which was frustrating and hard to deal with,” Ransom said on ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” last week. “The NIL space can cause its own distractions and stuff like that, but I appreciate all of it, because it helped as a man and as a player. It’s been a lot. College football has completely changed from when I first got here to now leaving. It’s definitely been a lot.”

Ransom’s rollercoaster career at Ohio State is coming to an end on Monday, when the No. 8 Buckeyes face No. 7 Notre Dame for the national championship in Atlanta. It’s OSU’s first trip to the national championship since Ransom’s freshman season, when the Buckeyes were routed by Alabama.

Ransom’s role at Ohio State is more prominent than that previous national title appearance. Ransom has 73 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception this season.

“It’s been an amazing last year,” Ransom said. “I achieved all of the goals I wanted to achieve. There was a lot of stuff that came full circle.”

One of those full-circle moments was in Ohio State’s revenge win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl, the site Ransom suffered the worst injury of his career. Ransom had seven tackles and a sack against the Ducks in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal.

Clutching a rose with his teeth, Ransom took the stage following the Rose Bowl win on New Year’s Day in Pasadena and relished the moment.

“I’m thankful and I really just enjoyed the moment,” Ransom said. “I just couldn’t stop thanking God, really. In that moment a couple of years ago, you really sit there and wonder, ‘Why did you let his happen to me? Why would you put me through this?’ He puts you through stuff and you don’t understand in the moment, but I understand now. He put me through the trials and tribulations to get to this moment and to enjoy with my family and friends and loved ones, so I’m just thankful.”

Ransom is “just one of those guys that is why you get into coaching — to be a part of that kind of career,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Tim Knowles told reporters before the Rose Bowl.

“Lathan has had adversity injury-wise on the field and he is finishing strong,” Knowles said. “He really is. Our players have the utmost respect for him and I expect that he’s going to have a great (finish) to his career.”

Ohio State’s three-point win over Notre Dame last season was “where my career really took off,” said Ransom, who had a career-high 13 tackles in the 17-14 win over the Fighting Irish.

Ransom’s potential as a high-level defensive back was spotted by former Salpointe Catholic head coach Dennis Bene’s brother, Rocco Bene, when the two saw Ransom impact the Lancers’ freshman team. Rocco Bene, a longtime defensive coordinator for the Lancers, said, “’That guy is going to be big-time one day,’” said Dennis Bene.

Ransom’s prowess as a high-level defensive back was spotted by former Salpointe Catholic head coach Dennis Bene’s brother, Rocco Bene, a longtime defensive coordinator for the team. The Bene brothers saw Ransom’s potential on the Lancers’ freshman team. Dennis Bene recalled Rocco saying, “’That guy is going to be big-time one day.’”

“I looked at him and was like, ‘You think?’ He was just a freshman and sometimes it’s hard to see these kids and extrapolate their future, but he was like, ‘Oh, it’s a no-brainer. He’s going to be a stud one day,’” Bene said.

Ransom evolved into a highly-touted recruit at Salpointe Catholic, a Tucson powerhouse that also featured Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, Duke left tackle Bruno Fina and UTSA offensive lineman Jonah Miller, among others. Robinson and Ransom were both named All-Americans in 2020.

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Ransom “competed hard against each (Robinson), but they always had a mutual respect for each other.”

“Lathan brought a different type of swagger than Bijan did,” Bene said. “That confidence carries over to the other players.”

When Ohio State outlasted Texas to win the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Robinson, a former UT running back, “damn near tackled me to the ground” to celebrate with his former teammates last week, Ransom said.

“We’re each other’s biggest fan and we’re hoping for each other to do well,” Ransom said. “I can’t wait to hopefully play against them Falcons, so I get to hit him for old time’s sake.”

In three years at Salpointe Catholic, Ransom was a two-way starter for the Lancers and “was very, very coachable and worked extremely hard and became a student of the game,” Bene said.

“While Bijan was the face of the program, when Lathan got off the bus, he was a very intimidating player,” Bene said. “He had a massive will to win, loved to compete and brought a nastiness and edge to our team that nobody matched.

“Now I watch at him at Ohio State and the way they move him around on the back end, I see him making calls and communicating to the other DBs. The other great safeties in the NFL are students of the game and they understand how the front end of the defense works and their job on the back end. I see Lathan displaying all of that at Ohio State. He’s really grown physically and also mentally to become a great football player at his level.”

Added Bene: “He’s such a physical player. He was a dominating and physical player in high school and it carried with him to Ohio State. He’s on the cusp of every college football player’s dream, which is to win a national championship and head to the NFL. I could not be more happy for Lathan and his family. Few players that I’ve coached have worked as hard as Lathan.”

Ransom said an essential component to his growth as a football player at Ohio State “is the knowledge of the game.”

“When I was a freshman, I was just out there playing football. Now, I know my keys, I know what offenses like to do and their tendencies, I understand formations and certain areas of the field,” he said. “Overall, my knowledge of the game has developed so much to where I’m able to play at a high level, because I know what the offenses are going to do.”

It’s a perfect storm for Ransom, an All-Big Ten selection. Not only is he playing the best football of his career, he could punctuate his time in Columbus, Ohio with a win in the national championship.

Like Ransom’s career, Ohio State’s path to the top had some bumps along the way. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon on the road earlier in the season, but avenged their loss in the Rose Bowl. To end the regular season, Ohio State lost to arch rival Michigan, which created a controversial debate about flag-planting at opposing teams’ stadiums. Since then Ohio State’s average margin of victory is 19.6 points.

“Our team has been through so much adversity this year, but I don’t know if we would’ve gotten to this point if we didn’t go through that adversity,” Ransom said. “I think both losses to Oregon and the team up north (Michigan), we made a lot of corrections from those games. I feel like you learn from your wins and losses, but you honestly learn more from your losses. I think our players and coaches did a great job of staying together even though we heard so much noise from everybody.”

The adversity and struggles were worth it for Ransom, who said, “These last couple of games have been the highest moments of my life.”

Winning a national championship on Monday “would mean everything to me,” Ransom said. “Even though I set personal goals, there’s nothing more important than our team goal, which is to win a national championship. That’s all we came back for and that’s all we want.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to do that and I hope we go out and execute to achieve that goal.”