I'm only halfway through the first season of The Get Down on Netflix, but it's a certified banger. Check it out this weekend (or right now, instead of going to work) as we search for the meaning of a fall weekend without the local team running wild on its enemies.
URBAN TO THE BROWNS? NAH. Here's a hot take to start your day off with a balanced breakfast: This Urban Meyer fella? He can coach some football.
As such, there will always be whispers some unnamed billionaire is fixing to Godfather Meyer to dynamite him out of Columbus. That won't happen as long as Meyer's son, Nate, is a high school student.
After that — and when his buyout comes down to Earth — who's to say? But thankfully for us, Meyer appears more than content in the college ranks.
From 247sports.com:
"I think the college game, at this point my son is a junior in high school, I love what I do," Meyer said. "I've thought about it a little [in the past], but not for very long. I think I'm a perfect fit for college."
A big part of Meyer's success in the college game has been the play of his quarterbacks at all of his stops. Cowherd noted that and asked Meyer what the "secret sauce" to getting good quarterback play in his offense is.
[...]
"The secret sauce, is first off to get a guy get a guy with a bunch of ability," Meyer explained. "Every job I walked into, Josh Harris at Bowling Green, Alex Smith at Utah, Chris Leak at Florida, and then Braxton Miller here, I got a lot of production out of the quarterbacks, but lets not kid ourselves, they have to be talented too. I walked into some pretty talented ones and recruited talented ones, like Tim Tebow and J.T. Barrett."
Seems like Tom Herman studied that playbook in taking over Houston with Greg Ward. No surprise there. The man founded MENSA, the organization for geniuses.
The other good news for Ohio State fans is NFL quarterbacks don't grow on trees like college quarterbacks. Look at his list of past QBs — the only one in the NFL as a QB is Alex Smith, who isn't changing any pro coach's fortunes for the better.
Plus, Meyer would have to radically change his offense. Running the quarterback works in college but it's a good way to put your playoff hopes on injured reserve by Week 4.
I don't see him ever making the jump, but every man has his price.
OHIO STATE DEEP INTO THE SHOE GAME. Ohio State football, through its social media accounts, offers fans behind-the-scenes looks at some of the fancy technology machines at its disposal.
At OSU, everything is thought about and managed... right down to the shoes, which are individually designed down to the inch.
"Footwear is extremely important & overlooked."@MickeyMarotti & staff are changing the game for #Buckeye athletes from the ground up. pic.twitter.com/24sL2QZQ37
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 21, 2016
You could probably buy a family-sized house in Columbus (or Purdue's entire program) for the price of the fancy foot machine. Goes to show you how much money this program is generating.
ZEKE UNDER PRESSURE. I felt so sure about Ezekiel Elliott's transition to the NFL, I made him the No. 1 overall pick in the toughest computer football league in the City of Kings.
Through two games, Elliott has 131 yards on 41 attempts. He has as many fumbles (2) as touchdowns. Though the production isn't awful, 3.3-yards per rush isn't what the Cowboys expected in a No. 4 overall pick.
And while the Cowboys reportedly had concerns about Zeke's partying, a more-detailed report dropped yesterday.
From espn.com:
"My biggest worry is ... I don't believe my son knows how to navigate in life being a superstar," Stacy [Elliott] says. "He's like a little boy who wants to play football and have fun and enjoy people. We've always said this about Ezekiel, ever since he came into the world. He's just happy to be alive. He's a happy guy. But this world is not."
[...]
Elliott and his parents contend that [the woman who accused Elliott of domestic abuse] and Elliott never had a serious relationship, even though he paid for her apartment and co-signed for her car loan. "He cared about her," Stacy says. "He was trying to help her." Stacy believes that part of Ezekiel's problem is that he treats too many women as if they're his girlfriend. He says his son lacks the street smarts that most possess at his age.
Former NFL quarterback Gus Frerotte, who coached Elliott at John Burroughs School, describes Elliott's pre-NFL life as sheltered. "His dad was always there helping him; coaches were always there in college helping him; and [at Ohio State] Urban Meyer is not going to let him do things he shouldn't. There's a fatherly figure there, a family there," Frerotte says. "Now you're in the NFL, and once you leave that building, you're on your own. There's nobody to hold your hand. ... Zeke learned very quickly how things can explode and go the wrong way."
Ominous stuff for Zeke, who just signed a $24 million contract. Stacy, however, took to Twitter yesterday to lambast the report that quoted him:
This is taken out if context!I don't worry about sport and play that my son participants in! Almighty God is protected my son and my family! pic.twitter.com/tjlc1liFvt
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) September 21, 2016
If I had a a worry it would you Blood suckers Looking for come up! But Almighty God has already revealed your plans! Shame on on You!
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) September 21, 2016
We are God fearing people! My wife and I have never promoted boy friends/girl friends! Nor co-habitation with women who are not your wife!
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) September 21, 2016
For those of you who feel I smother my Son! I've been to Dallas 3 times since draft day. Never stayed more than 3 days! But I am FREE!
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) September 21, 2016
I am FREE to do what I want to do with my family! I am FREE to protect my family at no limit of Time! Isn't that's what REAL MEN do!
— Ambassador Elliott (@stacy_elliott) September 21, 2016
No disrespect to the Ambassador, but it seems Elliott is struggling with the lack of structure in the NFL. He wouldn't be the first high-profile RB draft pick to do that, either.
Here's Trent Richardson to al.com in March:
"It's very easy to get lazy in the NFL — not having everything scheduled and not having everything like at Alabama where it was so structured," Richardson said. "We had study hall or we had to get a workout in in between classes and had five classes a day. It was just so structured. In the NFL, everything's on your own."
This makes me thankful I wasn't a multimillionaire at 21. Hell, my life would turn into a wreck if I made over $60K a year right now. It's amazing busts aren't more common.
Hopefully, Zeke gets it together. A bachelor penthouse would lose its aura with a dad as a roommate, but it might be what Elliott needs to get back on track.
SURLY DON BROWN. After Ohio State incinerated Michigan's defense last year, Maryland poached the Wolverines' defensive coordinator, D.J. Durkin, for some reason. Jim Harbaugh replaced Durkin with Boston College DC Don Brown.
Brown rocks a mustache so we knew he was old school even before his gruff defense of his schemes.
From coachingsearch.com:
UCF hit big plays on the ground. Colorado hit them in the air. The Wolverines have allowed seven plays longer than 30 yards, but they won both games big. Brown says he will not adapt his aggressive scheme to give a spread offense what it wants. He’s going to keep things multiple and work on his players’ fundamentals.
“These spread teams, what they want you to do is line up in one of two looks. That’s what they want. That’s exactly what I’m not going to do, OK? So let’s get that straight,” Brown said matter-of-factly. “We’re going to be extremely multiple, we’re going to stay on the aggressive side, and that’s how we’re going to go, and we’re going to learn it. Trust me, we’ve made significant improvement in that area. Let’s get that straight.
“These guys want you to line up in quarters and a static front and kick your you-know-what. We’re not doing that. If it is, it’ll be over my dead body, OK? We’re going to stay aggressive, we’re going to stay focused, and we’re going to stay multiple. What it will turn into is (the QB looking to the sideline for a change). That’s where, who’s controlling the tempo now?”
Will we ever hear a coach say, "We're going to be less aggressive and predictable"? I don't think so.
Regardless, this seems like a gauntlet being thrown toward Ed Warinner and "Touchdown" Tim Beck. Bold strategy, indeed.
RUTGERS AD APOLOGIZES FOR BOSS MOVE. It's a story as old as time. A college athletic director goes to a school-sponsored tailgate in a fancy suit, and through a stroke of fate, ends up with a beer in his hands.
Seeing a man in an expensive suit clutching a beer, the students do the natural thing. They chant for the suit man to slug the beer.
"Peer" pressure is no match for the call to act responsibility. The suit man chugs the beer.
Honestly, that's the coolest thing to ever come out of Rutgers, which is of course why he had to apologize like he spent an afternoon bonging liquor with college students and passed out in a faculty parking lot.
From espn.com:
A video released by New Brunswick Today shows Hobbs being handed a beer from someone in the crowd around that time. Hobbs said, "No, I can't drink that right now." The crowd started chanting for Hobbs to drink, and he laughed, saying, "I am of age. If they card me, I'm OK. All right, go RU." The video ends as Hobbs appears to be drinking.
Hobbs told NJ Advance Media that picking up the beer was "a mistake.''
Rutgers Athletics' Twitter account tweeted on Tuesday, "Regrettably, due to safety concerns, The Alley is no longer available for student tailgating."
Just kick this program into the Atlantic, please.
THOSE WMDs. In search of the next Carson Wentz... Secret police, hired killers, and a Chilean diplomat's brazen assassination... The 75-year-old arm wrestler.... A baseball card contest pays off six decades after the fact... What happened to Robert Swift?
