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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lorenzo & Sonny Styles: Brothers turn Ohio State-Notre Dame into a family showcase

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The Week 1 matchup between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Notre Dame will without a doubt be a family affair across many households in the Midwest. 

For the Styles family, it will be even more than that.

Notre Dame receiver Lorenzo Styles, a four-star recruit in 2020, is expected to take on an expanded role for the Irish this season after a breakout performance in last year’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. Ohio State defensive back Sonny Styles, a five-star freshman who reclassified to the class of 2021, has impressed in fall camp for the Buckeyes. If the opportunity presents itself that they would be matched on the field, their mother Laverna knows what to expect. 

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“I would expect Lorenzo to make a move on his brother, and I would expect Sonny to make that hit on his brother,” Laverna told Sporting News. “I also expect whichever one doesn’t have success that first time is going to be mad and would want to come back and get their brother back. That’s just how they are.” 

Their father Lorenzo played linebacker at Ohio State and was a third-round pick by the Falcons in the 1995 NFL Draft. Lorenzo was an assistant coach at Pickerington Central High School – where the Styles brothers’ career took off, and he has seen that competition first-hand. 

“It wouldn’t be any different for me than watching them play basketball in the front yard,” Lorenzo told SN.  

Dominant high-school careers

Lorenzo and Sonny played at one of the premier Division I high school programs in Ohio at Pickerington Central High School. The Tigers were 62-8 through five seasons with the Styles brothers on the roster. 

The path there, however, started much earlier. The Styles brothers were multi-sport athletes. Lorenzo started soccer at four years old, and he played baseball, basketball and emerged as a track star on a state championship team from 2018-19. Sonny was a wrestler and a basketball player, and he played on the basketball state championship team last season. 

“All the training they did when they were younger, they didn’t know they were training,” Laverna Styles said. “They were doing parachutes, and they thought it was a game when they were five and six years old.” 

Football became the primary sport at Pickerington Central. 

Lorenzo was a role player on the state championship team in 2017 before he emerged as a star over the next three seasons. Styles scored nine TDs in his senior season – with five coming on offense and four on returns. The 6-1, 185-pound four-star recruit chose Notre Dame. He also chose not to reclassify so he had a chance to play with his brother Sonny, who suffered a broken leg his freshman season. 

Sonny Styles played with his brother on a state championship team in 2019, the first time they played together since elementary school. The Tigers were runner-ups the following season. Sonny Styles had four interceptions in his sophomore season, and had 55 tackles and two interceptions in 2021. Styles skipped his senior season, reclassified and joined Ohio State for 2022. 

The brothers’ college careers are just starting to take off. 

Sonny Styles (Ohio State Athletics)

Breakout players in 2022 

Styles had 24 catches for 344 yards and a TD as a freshman for the Irish, and he took advantage of the opportunity in the Fiesta Bowl under first-year coach Marcus Freeman. That wasn’t a coincidence. 

“(Lorenzo) is a very strong competitor so he’s always looking to get better,” the elder Lorenzo said of his son. “When Freeman was recruiting Sonny, I got a chance to talk to him a little bit. I think he’s a great guy,  and I thought it was a good move on Notre Dame’s part to hire him.” 

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Lorenzo should step into a more-prominent role as a sophomore. Slot receiver Avery Davis suffered a torn ACL in fall camp, and Styles’ speed could make him a deep threat with new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and first-year quarterback Tyler Buchner. 

Sonny Styles was an early enrollee this season, and he has to work up the depth chart for the Buckeyes. There could be an opportunity for playing time, however. Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who was hired from Oklahoma State, runs a scheme that is heavily-dependent on the safety position. 

Styles has made his fair share of plays during fall camp, too. 

“I love Sonny. He’s great,” Knowles said via Cleveland.com.. “Sonny’s really been impressive. He’s a guy who studies (and) learns. He literally ripped the ball out from a running back the other day. Playmaker (and) picking things up. I don’t ever remember yelling at him except for positive things. I don’t remember him making a mistake. For a young guy, that’s fantastic. I think Sonny’s gonna be great.”

It will be interesting to see how Styles is used in the opener against the Irish and whether he gets a shot to cover his brother at some point in the game. The long-term forecast, however, is promising. Lorenzo has attended a few practices. 

“They want him to go in and play multiple positions and do multiple jobs,” Lorenzo Sr. said. “So in order to do that you have to learn and sit back and watch the other ones doing it. Even when the coach is not coaching you, he’s coaching you when he’s coaching the other guys. That’s what I tell him. He’s watching and seems to be doing a pretty good job of picking up the defense.” 

NFL future? 

The Styles brothers should be part of the next wave of Pickerington products to reach the NFL. Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is a Pickerington Central graduate along with active players in Taco Charlton and DaVon Hamilton. Pickerington North has produced Carolina guard Pat Elflein and Lions running back Godwin Igwebuike. 

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Lorenzo and Sonny come from a fertile high school recruiting ground despite Pickerington having a population of only 25,000. Ohio State defensive end Ty Hamiton and long snapper Max Lomonico played at Pickerington Central, and defensive end Jack Sawyer played at Pickerington North. Pickerington has become a destination for blue-chip football talent to develop. 

“They’ve been doing it for so long that we didn’t take the time to think about their rise,” Lorenzo Sr. said. “It’s more that we’re always looking to get better. It’s what we’ve done last, we’re going to try to get better. You can have potential, it’s about potential and luck and dedication to make that come to fruition. I’ve never really stopped to say, ‘Yeah, they can make it.'” 

‘It’s a blessing’

That’s the phrase both parents used when talking about Lorenzo and Sonny playing in Saturday’s top-five nationally-televised matchup. The Styles family will split up for the game. Laverna will sit on the Notre Dame side with half the family, and Lorenzo Sr. will be on the Ohio State side with the other half. Lorenzo Sr., who did not get a chance to play against Notre Dame in the 1990s, will enjoy it from that vantage point. 

For Laverna, she looks forward to the next chapter of watching her sons.

“Everything they did together,” she said. “You would catch those two after a game on a Friday night, if they won, yeah, they might go somewhere and hang out like Roosters, but by midnight both were sitting in the living room with their dad breaking down film play by play by play. Watching them have that bond and making sure they would learn from each other was a blessing.” 

This will not be the last one. Ohio State plays at Notre Dame in 2022. 

“I think I will be more stressed next year about it but it’s going to be nerve-wrecking,” Laverna said. “I told both of them, ‘For those four quarters, he’s your opponent. He’ll be your brother before the game and he’ll be your brother after the game, and I don’t expect you to treat him anything other than your opponent when the game is on.'”

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