Ohio State head coach Ryan Day announced on Friday that fourth-year running back Marcus Crowley is medically retiring from football. He will remain on scholarship for the Buckeyes and plans to earn his degree, but he will not count among OSU’s allotted 85 scholarships.
“So Marcus, we met with his family last night, we’re going to be doing a medical redshirt for Marcus,” Day explained to reporters. “He has a long-term injury there. He just really wants to finish his degree and still be a part of the program, which he will. But he suffered a significant injury, so he’s gonna medically redshirt.”
Crowley suffered a torn ACL last October and the road back has been difficult. So much so that this decision became the best option for Crowley. Last year’s torn ACL was the second that he suffered as a Buckeye. As a true freshman in 2019, he injured his knee in a November matchup at Maryland where he had already rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
That knee injury kept him out for the bulk of the 2020 season. He received his first carries of the year in the national championship game against Alabama.
Last year as a redshirt sophomore, Crowley rushed for 103 yards on 20 carries. For his career, he carried the ball 51 times for 354 yards, averaging nearly 7 yards per carry in the process.
Crowley came to Ohio State from Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. He was named the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year in 2018 after rushing for over 2,000 yards and better than 10 yards per carry as a senior.
The loss of Crowley this season was not unexpected as Day alluded back in the spring to additional news regarding the running back’s situation. Ohio State is now down to four scholarship running backs with returning sophomore starter TreVeyon Henderson, redshirt sophomore Miyan Williams, redshirt freshman Evan Pryor, and true freshman Dallan Hayden who will arrive this summer.