Much like many other Ohio State fans, Donte Whitner was admittedly a little uneasy watching the Buckeyes in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
"It was a little anxious, a little nervousness in there, but in the end we pulled it out and I always had 100 percent faith that we were gonna pull it out and we did," Whitner, now a safety for the Cleveland Browns, said Friday night following his team's Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State did pull it out, besting Alabama and then Oregon to win a national title. It was head coach Urban Meyer's third championship, but first since taking the reins in Columbus prior to the 2012 season.
Whitner, who starred for Jim Tressel at Ohio State from 2003-05 before being drafted eighth overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 2006 NFL Draft, had nothing but good things to say Friday about Urban Meyer and the 2014 squad.
I think he’s got the staff, the players and the mentality to do it so I’m excited to watch for the next decade or so."– Brian Hartline on Urban Meyer
"Compare and contrast when I was here, I think we were top class in football when Coach Tressel was here. It was unfortunate the incidents that happened to where he’s not here anymore," Whitner said, referring to the tattoo scandal that eventually led to Tressel's resignation. "Urban came in and then he took it to another level. He made us the class of college football once again. Lots of players from around the country want to come and play for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"It’s a first-class organization and he’s just done wonders with the program."
Meyer is 38-3 as the head coach of the Buckeyes, capturing the Big Ten and Sugar Bowl Championships in addition to the national title in 2014. He and his team have a chance to avenge their lone last season to Virginia Tech Sept. 7 in Blacksburg, Va., in the season opener.
Tressel went 7-5 in 2001, his first season in Columbus, before ripping off 14 consecutive wins including the 2002 BCS National Championship. He won early and often in his career, and Meyer looks well on his way to be doing the same thing.
"I think it’s great. I think it’s very similar to kind of what coach Tressel was doing," Browns wide receiver and former Buckeye standout Brian Hartline said Friday. "He won pretty quickly out the gates and it’s all about what you do for the next 10. I think he’s got the staff, the players and the mentality to do it so I’m excited to watch for the next decade or so."
Hartline caught a 10-yard touchdown from Josh McCown in Friday's scrimmage, recreating some magic from when he used to play in Ohio Stadium. He caught 12 touchdown passes and returned a punt for a score during his Buckeye career which spanned from 2006-08.
"I would openly say I didn’t expect to kind of think how cool it really was, but it was really cool," Hartline said of scoring a touchdown at Ohio Stadium again. "It was a great opportunity and it was a great throw and I was glad I could make the play."
Hartline's brother, Mike, is a quarterback intern coach with the Buckeyes this fall. That allows Brian to stay close to the program as well as living back in Ohio and playing for the Browns after six seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
"I live in Powell so this is still home for me," Hartline said. "I’m very much a part of it. I like to stay involved and talk to players and coaches alike."
Both Hartline and Whitner participated in the scrimmage Friday back where they made names for themselves playing college ball. Terrelle Pryor also attended, trying to make the team as a wide receiver, but had to sit out due to a hamstring injury.
Pryor was pushed out of the program and given a five-year ban in 2011, but was welcomed back Friday.
Whitner and Hartline, though, feel like they never left.
"I still feel connected to the program. I know a lot of guys out there, a lot of the coaches out there," Whitner said. "Being in the NFL it makes it hard to even get to games or get down to Columbus during the season, but you better believe — whether we’re on the road or whether we’re at home — I’m watching the Buckeyes play. All the way down to the last snap of the national championship I was watching."
And they liked what they saw. The Browns franchise has been through some rough years in recent memory, which made coming back to Columbus all the more special for the former Buckeyes.
"We’re pretty spoiled at Ohio State," Hartline said. "Ever since leaving, no city is this big and no crowd is this big."
