From morning walk to praise, a day in the life of Ohio State coach Jake Diebler

The neighborhood, along with just about all of its residents, was still asleep. With no streetlights to drown them out, the morning stars were clearly visible in ways they were not just a few miles south, where city lights encroached.It was quiet. Peaceful. Dark. Very dark. Sunrise wouldn’t arrive for more than an hour, and the only illumination came from the exterior lighting of the well-appointed houses in this Powell neighborhood. This is how Jake Diebler prefers to start his day. Weighted vest snugly fastened around his chest, the Ohio State men’s basketball coach traces the streets for roughly half an hour each morning while either listening to an audio version of the Bible or a Spotify playlist of worship songs.On the morning of Oct. 19, his phone played the latter during a 1.5-mile walk. There was a chill in the air and a stillness that was broken only when two dogs barked.At 6:23 a.m. Diebler had a full day ahead of him. This was only the beginning.“I like to get my mind right before I get the day going,” he told The Dispatch, standing in his driveway, breath clearly visible in the crisp fall air.For a full day, Diebler allowed The Dispatch to follow him everywhere he went. This is what it was like as he made his way through a typical day of work, two weeks before the start of his third full season as Ohio State’s coach.A day in the lifeBack inside, Diebler disappeared to take a shower while his wife, Jordyn, put the finishing touches on four packed lunches. All of their children – Jaymes, Jessa, Jackson and Julien, all between the ages of 8 and 2 – were still asleep, and the kitchen was warmly lit as she chopped vegetables, cut crusts off of sandwiches and snapped lids shut.Diebler kissed his wife goodbye and hopped into his black SUV before 7 a.m. without disturbing any of the kids (ages?). On the drive down SR-315 toward campus, he called his father, longtime prep basketball and volleyball coach Keith Diebler. Ohio State played a closed-door scrimmage at Louisville two days prior, and the two coaches bounced a few thoughts off of each other.It was still dark. Coffee was suggested and time would permit a stop at One Line Coffee in the Short North before a quick jaunt to campus. With a latte sweetened by honey firmly in hand, Diebler buzzed down the slanted driveway leading to the loading dock at the Schottenstein Center. The removable nameplates denoted a few specific parking spots. Today, Diebler’s spot simply read, “VIP.”At 7:33 a.m., he entered the building, arriving at the same time as assistant coach Luke Simons. Diebler was dressed casually – gray athletic pants, a black Nike sweatshirt with script “BUCKEYES” in white cursive across the chest and white Nikes with black swooshes. Together, he and Simons made their way down the hallway, past the training room and the women’s basketball locker room before arriving at the men’s basketball section of the arena.Inside, Diebler plopped down into a gray, plastic-looking office chair and opened his laptop, preparing for a film session in the adjacent team meeting room at 8 a.m. All of the coaches and most of the players made their appearances known by 7:50 as Diebler was putting the finishing touches on a plan. Video coordinator Robbie Rucki made sure all the technology was in place and working properly for what would be a 51-minute film session.“The standard’s the standard,” Diebler called out as the players dispersed. Practice wasn’t for a few hours, and Diebler went back to his nearby office buried in the bowels of the arena. It resembled a bunker more than anything else. On one wall was a whiteboard. Another had the same script “BUCKEYES” as Diebler’s sweatshirt. Otherwise, it was a spartan room devoid of decoration. The television was tuned to ESPN but largely ignored. Time was marked by a digital clock that was oddly 62 minutes slow.Diebler spent as much time here as anywhere else in the building. A one-on-one film session with a player scheduled for 9:30 had to be postponed, so the coaches opted to move up their scheduled staff meeting by half an hour to fill that timeslot. Diebler filled his time by making a phone call from his desk, then he worked at his computer for a few more minutes and finally made his way to the elevator that takes him to the arena’s club level. Once the elevator doors slid open, Diebler made his way to the program's above-ground offices. He has a space there, too, and it sits at the end of a narrow hallway. When he pushed his way inside, he saw sunshine for the first time that day. It streamed in through a window that overlooked the parking lot on the north side of the arena.It was just shy of 9:30, and for the next hour and a half, Diebler and assistants Jamall Walker, Brian Walsh, Dave Dickerson, Mike Wells and Simons discussed the state of the team. There was a lot of healthy debate about ball screens and rebounding technique before, at 11:08, everyone adjourned to attend to their own pre-practice duties.“I should probably eat, huh?” Diebler said.Calm before the stormThere was not much time before Diebler’s next commitment, so he took a quick elevator ride back down to the loading dock and headed out the door to his car, now nearly surrounded by other vehicles. A few subtle maneuvers allowed him to squeeze out of the arena lot. It was 11:22 in the morning, and Diebler knew he was due back at the Schottenstein Center at noon, so he decided to grab a quick bite at a nearby sandwich place.Heading east on Ackerman Road, Diebler checked in with his wife as he drove past an electronic billboard featuring his face that is located on the north end of campus – part of an effort to sell season tickets. With the clock ticking, Diebler arrived at Frenchi’s Deli & Bakery only to see a sign that said they were closed on Mondays.A quick backup plan was hatched, and we took off to snag some of Diebler’s favorite food: sushi. There wasn’t time to sit down at Akai Hana, so a speedy stop at adjacent Tensuke Market for some takeout sushi ensued. Diebler grabbed a variety plate, some chopsticks and a bottle of water, waited in line and checked out with a cashier dressed in a Harry Potter costume for no obvious reason.After racing back to campus (and flirting with the speed limit while doing so), Diebler buzzed the intercom to return to the loading dock, giving the security guard his name and job title before being waved through. The guard apologized to Diebler for not recognizing him, explaining he didn’t get a clear view via the security camera.There was no time to waste. Carrying his lunch in a plastic grocery bag, Diebler hustled up the stairs and down the hallway to the weight room for a noon gathering with strength and conditioning coach Dave Richardson and his staff. Diebler made it with one minute to spare. Diebler leaned on a sturdy cardboard box for a Chefman countertop microwave, and the subsequent five-man meeting ran for a little more than 10 minutes.Plans were made for how to attack the week leading into an Oct. 25 exhibition game against Butler and how to manage the various bumps and bruises of the preseason grind.“I know you, and you’re not going to change your intensity in practice,” Richardson told Diebler. “All you can change is the duration of the practice.”A consensus was reached and Diebler, still clutching his uneaten lunch, briefly headed upstairs to his office before taking the elevator back down to the lowest level of the arena and the subterranean locker room. All the while, he was making quick phone calls and greeting everyone – athletes, staff, maintenance workers – he passed.Finally, at 12:22 p.m., he grabbed a seat in one of the soft gray chairs facing the television, pulled a wooden end table toward him and opened his chopsticks. Just outside the room, players and coaches came and went as the Buckeyes engaged in small-group workouts and lifting sessions.With former coach Thad Matta on the phone, Diebler took his first bite of food of the entire day. Practice loomed in an hour and a half.‘Best part of my day’After lunch, Diebler headed back up the stairs to the weight room for a quick workout. He only had about 20 minutes to spare, so the coach alternated between some leg presses, inclined dumbbell presses and core work with and without a medicine ball. He received some help from Richardson, and around him, a six-man group of players finished its lifting session. “It’s all maintenance days,” Diebler said after a set of dumbbell presses.When he wasn't lifting, Diebler bounced from player to player to challenge, encourage or occasionally join them in an exercise. At one point, Diebler tossed a medicine ball back and forth with sophomore Amare Bynum.At 1:18 p.m., he retreated to the office with windows to gather himself for a few minutes. He flipped through a few pages of a book before heading to the lobby for a scheduled interview. At 1:23 p.m., Diebler sat down for a video interview with student newspaper The Lantern. After lunch, Diebler had switched into practice gear, wearing black Ohio State shorts, a scarlet Ohio State shirt and a pair of gray-and-white Nikes. It's what he wore while speaking to the student journalists. The interview concluded with handshakes. Diebler then worked through the complicated schedule of some future media commitments with program sports information director Gary Petit and director of basketball operations David Egelhoff. At that point, it was time for Diebler’s favorite part of the workday.The clock read 1:49 p.m. More than six hours after he arrived at the arena and nearly eight hours since his morning walk began, Diebler finally walked onto a basketball court. Players were to arrive by 2, but since a number of managers were already on hand, Diebler quickly organized a game of five-on-five. Rucki was drafted onto Diebler’s team, and he showed off a smooth, southpaw shooting stroke that drew a few whoops of appreciation from Jared Sullinger and William Buford, two former players now in their first seasons on the Ohio State coaching staff.With “Heart of the City” by Jay-Z playing, Diebler grinned from ear-to-ear. This was as exuberant as he has been since leaving home, and that carried over once the scrimmage came to a close and the current team made its way to the court. Feeling good, Diebler hit six consecutive 3-pointers and nodded after the final one to forward Lee Aaliya, who watched with a smile.The Buckeyes loosened up as Diebler threw a football with two managers before, at 2:10 p.m., he blew his whistle and switched fully into coach mode. That meant spending some time on the scout team alongside Buford and Sullinger going up against the 2026-27 team.Diebler didn't hold back. It only took a moment before he was in a full sweat. He went from going one-on-one against Justin Pippen at the top of the circle, to being knocked to the floor by Curtis Givens III to getting tripped up on a screen. But soon, he started to dish it out, too. Diebler found Buford for a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock ran out, and the two celebrated with leaping hip bumps. Diebler hit a 3-pointer over junior guard John Mobley Jr. who, the second it swished through the net, realized he was never going to live the moment down.Diebler's work with the scout team crescendoed when he drove into traffic, drew contact and scored. While he yelled “And one!” at the top of his lungs, the Buckeyes players struggled to process how they just let their coach score. Freshman guard LJ Smith, who was riding an exercise bike to loosen up, received a challenge from Diebler: “You want some, too?”Smith laughed.“The most important part is it builds equity with them,” Diebler said. “And all I have to do is make one and I talk a little trash.”When the Buckeyes got into the meat of their practice, Diebler moved from the court to the sideline. For the next two-plus hours he would be occasionally fiery, often intense and always firm. The team gathered for a final huddle at 4:54 p.m.“We took a step forward, fellas,” Diebler told them. “That’s what it’s all about.”Not done yetThe squeaks of sneakers and thumps of basketballs faded, and the relative quiet of Diebler’s downstairs office was jarring. Everyone slowly filtered out for the evening. It was now 5:10 p.m. and the players and coaches were grabbing dinner inside the team lounge. Well, most coaches. Diebler grabbed a seat in his office, with the door open, to process the practice.At one point, Diebler made a call with one of his phones while texting with his other one. Final preparations were made for some upcoming recruiting plans, before the coach grabbed a quick shower. At 6 p.m., Diebler wrangled a golf cart, piled current players Amare Bynum, Braylen Nash, Josh Ojianwuna and LJ Smith onto it, picked up wrestling coach Tom Ryan and pointed the cart eastward along the southern sidewalk of Lane Avenue.They headed to “Fall Kickoff 3.0,” an outdoor praise event, featuring Christian worship, prayer and baptisms on North Campus’ College Green. For an hour, Diebler mostly stood in the back, greeting fans who recognized him, speaking with police officers and interacting with the various church groups. When the event got underway, Diebler held court with Ohio State football players Luke Montgomery, Beau Atkinson and Carson Hinzman. Diebler also made time for a small fan wearing a white No. 1 basketball jersey, taking him to get autographs from his players.Diebler soaked it in. At one point, he and Ryan made their way closer to the front of the stage for a better view. The shadows lengthened and the chill in the air grew. It was time to head out. Back on the golf cart, it was a seven-minute ride back to the Schottenstein Center. The arena was mostly deserted, and when Diebler left the locker room for the final time, he flicked a light switch and pulled both doors closed to ensure they were locked.The only other witnesses to this at 7:10 were two maintenance employees gathering trash and cleaning the hallway. Diebler greeted them, wished them a good night and made his way back to his car..oembed-frame {width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;border:0;}He called his mom on the way home before reaching the street to his house, which dead-ends into his driveway, but includes a roughly six-foot stretch of gravel separating the two roads. As his SUV navigated the gap, it was 7:33 p.m.It was already dark outside. Not quite as dark as it was during the morning walk, but getting close. The lights were on, and a giant Halloween skeleton decoration stood guard near the front door as his family waited inside. There are days when Diebler doesn’t see any of his children, leaving before they awake and returning after they’ve gone to sleep. This wouldn't be one of those.Still, the work wasn't done. Diebler said he planned to watch film of the day’s practice from 8:30-10:30, then perhaps catch an episode of something with his wife before turning in sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight.There’s always more to do. Each day seems to bring more demands and fewer hours of daylight. Diebler could reflect on that another time – assuming he could find a spare moment. Inside his house, Diebler embraced his kids. Dad was home.Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardy or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: From morning walk to praise, a day in the life of Ohio State coach Jake Diebler