Following a four-year stint at Ohio State, Zen Michalski was in desperate need of a change. The transfer offensive tackle had just begun to find his footing with the Buckeyes when an injury caused him to miss the final 9 games of the 2024 season. After that, it was clear that a change of scenery was needed. As Michalski explained to the media on Thursday, “I think a change of scenery was definitely something I needed. When you are at a place for four years, I think that new coaches and new people, the environment, has been huge for me. It has been great. I just think I am so blessed to be here.”
He continued saying, “I could kind of just feel it. Especially after this season, it was a long season, and I got hurt, and I had to come back from that, and it was just a grind. I was like, ‘Man I feel like for my fifth year I just need to do something new.’ I need to be somewhere different.” This led the Floyds Knob native to seek greener pastures closer to home, as he transferred to the Hoosiers in January of 2025.
Coming from Ohio State, Michalski was no stranger to Indiana before making the change. “A lot of the time when we [OSU] would be preparing for opponents, we would be watching Indiana film. I think the biggest thing that jumped out to me was like, ‘Wow these guys are coached really well, they play hard…and they’re just a tough team’” he stated on Thursday.
While adjusting to life in Bloomington and a new offensive scheme is already a tough task, those are not the only changes Michalski made heading into the 2025 season. Michalski, who has played left tackle since high school, will now make the change to right tackle with the Hoosiers.
Switching sides along the offensive line is one of the more difficult tasks that an offensive tackle can do. As Michalski explains, “As an offensive lineman, especially as a tackle, after a certain amount of time your body is programmed a certain way. Your hips, your hands, your eyes, just the way you set…kind of everything you do is very technique-based. I’d say the best way to describe it is, it’s like trying to write with your non-dominant hand.”
In order to prepare both his mind and his body for the switch, Michalski quickly began doing daily tasks with his non-dominant hand.
“When I decided that I was going to come to Indiana, and Coach Bostad and Cig told me they wanted me to play that position, I was like, ‘Ok I’m going to start doing everything with my right hand.’ I’m going to start holding my phone with my right hand, I’m going to start trying to eat with my right hand. I really tried to activate the other side of my brain, and that stuff sounds dumb, but I think it helped me out a lot.” He explained.
Whether or not it was due to his unorthodox training methods, Michalski has made real strides at right tackle throughout the offseason. “Coming out of spring ball, I don’t have a whole bunch of experience at right tackle, so spring ball was definitely going to be a learning moment for me. Coach Bostad said he was happy with how I have been doing. Coming from being a full-time left guy to playing right, learning the plays, learning the system, and stuff, and he said I’ve been doing a really good job.
Ultimately, it seems as though both Michalski’s change of scenery and change of position have paid dividends for him. And for those of you wondering, yes, Michalski has also been working on writing with his non-dominant hand.