Withers doesn’t remember the coaching visit that changed the trajectory of his career. It was sometime during his sophomore season and for some reason, he never met Greg Gurenlian in person that day. 

Gurenlian, a former PLL All-Star and Team USA member, started The Faceoff Academy in 2012 and brought his expertise to Ohio State. His program emphasizes a shift in stance and optimizing body mechanics to limit unnecessary movements during faceoffs. Gurenlian asked the Ohio State staff that day who would commit themselves to his system. The coaches assured that Withers would. He had to. 

Withers and Gurenlian formed an online relationship for Withers' final two years at Ohio State. After watching Withers film, Gurenlian saw parts of himself during the early part of his career. A self-taught faceoff man, Gurenlian relied on his athleticism to bail him out of poor mechanics. Withers was no different. 

“I'm looking at this guy and I'm like wow he's getting away with backward mechanics just because he's so insanely athletic and blue-collar.” Gurenlian said.

Following his sophomore season, everything changed for Withers on the field. He switched his hands from a normal lacrosse grip to a motorcycle grip, which puts both hands on top of the stick with their knuckles facing the opponent. He adjusted his backfoot so his toes locked in at a sprinter position. With the foot movement, his weight distribution shifted toward the play, something he previously hadn’t done. 

He perfected his counter moves too. One, known as a reverse shovel, became the bane of opposing coaches. A quick swipe lacrosse his opponents stick jarred the ball loose and turned what appeared like a faceoff loss into a Withers’ groundball. Coaches pleaded to refs that Withers was holding their faceoff guys, though he wasn’t. He’s just an agitator who knows what it’s like to be under someone’s skin. 

After a summer of learning heading into his junior season, things suddenly stopped for Withers once more. His best friend, Jake Stanley died on September 12, 2015. For a moment it appeared all his work could’ve been for nothing.

“That was something that kicks you right in the pants, takes everything right out of you, right?” Withers said. “Especially when it's somebody that, (when) I'm down at school, I haven't thought of in a while, and a guy that I used to see almost every day in my life. It's something where I could've picked it up. I went home. I could've stayed there and you know kind of sank myself away, kind of back into where I was at the start of my sophomore year.” 

Stanley had been one of Withers' biggest supporters, he constantly asked about the status of the season and when he’d be coming down for a national championship game. So instead of allowing his friend’s passing to derail him, Withers slapped his buddy on his arm with some ink and went back to chasing the national championship they’d always discussed. 

Withers' adjustments from Gurenlian created an entirely new player.  In his junior season,  Withers won Big Ten Specialist of the Year, with a league-best 60.7% faceoff winning percentage and averaged more than seven ground balls per game. But Ohio State didn’t make the postseason. 

Early on in his senior season, it appeared the Buckeyes were headed for a similar fate. Myers was at odds with his goalie Tom Carey, whose failure to listen and commit himself fully to the program’s plan had led two games on the bench. Withers went into a meeting with the two and explained to Carey that he too used to be that guy who always thought he was right. Once he swallowed his pride and trusted Myers' system, his play elevated.

“Jake's like a lot of athletes; he wanted to understand the why,” Myers said. “Once he understood kind of why we were doing things the way we were, he had no issue.” 

After the talk, Carey went on to an All-American season, as did Withers who finished the season as a second-team All-American, winning 64.7 percent of his faceoffs. Ohio State lost in the Big Ten Championship to Johns Hopkins. Even in the program’s best year, they didn’t close out their league title. For a rising program, it could’ve been demoralizing. Withers addressed the team in the locker room. 

“I want you guys to listen up, we're going to be dry the rest of his month,” he said. “We're going to make the NCAA tournament this weekend and we're going to play all the way through for a national championship.”

He was right. Ohio State lost in the National Championship. It took three opposing faceoff men to stifle Withers that day. 

So, he didn’t come full circle on his talks with Stanley. Instead, he learned what being tough really meant. He saw he isn’t much different than the tattoo on his arm. He too is a fighter. 

“(Stanley) just kind of taught me that no matter what's going on in your head, what's going on in life, big or small, you always just kind of pushing forward, keep trucking along,” Withers said.