1. I was fortunate to attend the Captain's dinner last Friday, which is an event that invites former captains. Tress and the coaches prior to him traditionally had this as a breakfast on the morning of the homecoming game. Urban wisely shifted it to the dinner the night before, which is a substantially lighter mood(Saturday morning guys need to get locked in/focused for the game). The dinner has a very nice fare, but the highlight is just checking the temperature of the guys on the team. I sat in the same seat I always sat in as a player/Grad Assistant, and I was flanked by Jamarco Jones, Michael Jordan, and Isaiah Prince. Billy and Pat sat at the center table with the captain's and Coach Meyer.
I loved catching up with those guys, especially Jamarco, who I recruited and wears my number(you never want the guy in your number to suck). The main thing I try to do around those guys is give them some knowledge that I honestly wish I knew when I was there age. They are a great group of guys and I think they will have very substantial careers, pending their health...
2. I also caught up with Ed Warinner for a bit. I told him I was happy he got moved into the box and they were having such incredible success. Ed is a very organized guy, so he operates like a surgeon in the press box. He sits in the seat I used to occupy up there, and we really had a good chemistry as an OL coach/GA in 2012. I constantly had a good read on when was going on and what needed corrected, and Ed was able to get that relayed to the OL in between series. That is an incredibly critical thing when everything is going nuts at a Camp Randall or a Beaver Stadium. I think Ed is currently lapping the field in terms of winning the Broyles Award for the top assistant, and I would be shocked if he wasn't a commodity when the coaching carousel starts spinning in December...
3. I think we are looking at as fine of a coaching job as there has been at Ohio State. We came into the season as the youngest team in 1-A, and we have looked like a team that is anything but. That is a credit to our strength staff and our coaching staff. Our guys have been trained to be locked-in on Saturday, and the system is proving to be infallible.
4. Give credit to the magician that is Mark Pantoni. This team is incredibly deep and that only happens when you limit your misses in recruiting. It is always a bonus when you can assemble a strong team with the incredible amount of youth/talent that will mostly have an additional year to play. That is when you have the all-time talented teams(1969, 2015) teams that you have to harness and know you'll be the odds on favorite to win the title in the pre-season. Mark's evals are always very thorough and his organization skills are very important for making sure assistant coaches are efficient on their recruiting trips during bye weeks and leading up to National Signing Day...
Enjoy this season and this staff. It's like watching LeBron in Cleveland or the Indians in the mid-90s. It won't last forever. Enjoy being the envy of the rest of the college football world...
I loved catching up with those guys, especially Jamarco, who I recruited and wears my number(you never want the guy in your number to suck). The main thing I try to do around those guys is give them some knowledge that I honestly wish I knew when I was there age. They are a great group of guys and I think they will have very substantial careers, pending their health...
2. I also caught up with Ed Warinner for a bit. I told him I was happy he got moved into the box and they were having such incredible success. Ed is a very organized guy, so he operates like a surgeon in the press box. He sits in the seat I used to occupy up there, and we really had a good chemistry as an OL coach/GA in 2012. I constantly had a good read on when was going on and what needed corrected, and Ed was able to get that relayed to the OL in between series. That is an incredibly critical thing when everything is going nuts at a Camp Randall or a Beaver Stadium. I think Ed is currently lapping the field in terms of winning the Broyles Award for the top assistant, and I would be shocked if he wasn't a commodity when the coaching carousel starts spinning in December...
3. I think we are looking at as fine of a coaching job as there has been at Ohio State. We came into the season as the youngest team in 1-A, and we have looked like a team that is anything but. That is a credit to our strength staff and our coaching staff. Our guys have been trained to be locked-in on Saturday, and the system is proving to be infallible.
4. Give credit to the magician that is Mark Pantoni. This team is incredibly deep and that only happens when you limit your misses in recruiting. It is always a bonus when you can assemble a strong team with the incredible amount of youth/talent that will mostly have an additional year to play. That is when you have the all-time talented teams(1969, 2015) teams that you have to harness and know you'll be the odds on favorite to win the title in the pre-season. Mark's evals are always very thorough and his organization skills are very important for making sure assistant coaches are efficient on their recruiting trips during bye weeks and leading up to National Signing Day...
Enjoy this season and this staff. It's like watching LeBron in Cleveland or the Indians in the mid-90s. It won't last forever. Enjoy being the envy of the rest of the college football world...
