When Tony Alford thinks about it, he can't say he's ever coached a player like Ezekiel Elliott in his career. Elliott's complete arsenal of skills—an enthusiasm and penchant for blocking, strong receiving qualities out of the backfield and a punishing running style to go with stellar top-end speed—is nearly impossible to duplicate.
"I’ve coached some guys in previous years that were excellent in pass pro in all of my years of coaching, but not to his level," Alford said Jan. 7. "I think that’s just a tribute to how he goes to work every day and he tries to perfect everything that he does. Being a multi-dimensional type of player, a complete player."
Elliott won the Silver Football as the Big Ten's best player in 2015, in addition to Big Ten Running Back and Offensive Player of the Year. He finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting, the catalyst to an offense that would have been in deep trouble without him. It is on Ohio State's running backs coach to replace him, or at least try and replicate the mindset with which Elliott came to work every day.
"Now, how do you engrain that?" Alford said.
Urban Meyer hired Alford from Notre Dame prior to last season, brought in to continue the upward trajectory at the position left behind by Stan Drayton. Drayton helped mold Carlos Hyde into an NFL talent before working with Elliott for two years. Now, Alford has a roomful of talent to work with. Fifth-year senior Bri'onte Dunn, redshirt freshman Mike Weber, junior Curtis Samuel (who could play another position) and incoming freshman Antonio Williams are all set to battle for playing time.
But Weber is one that fans hold a special interest — and, he's one that endured a massive transition his first year at Ohio State.
"There were times that me and Mike had to sit down and say, ‘Hey, get your head back in here, get re-engaged and understand the big picture and where we’re going,'" Alford said.
Weber tore his meniscus midway through fall camp, right in the middle of his ascension on the depth chart. It set him back nearly a month, and ultimately led to a redshirt. Along with Torrance Gibson, Weber was expected to be a member of the 2015 recruiting class that played extensively last season. It didn't work out, and it took Weber some time to deal with the disappointment of not playing internally.
"Every young guy, it’s like everybody in this room, has got something going on and there’s some mental psyche in everything that you do," Alford said. "That’s part of getting to know your players and getting to know the guys that you’re with every single day and being able to deal with their issues as they come about. Issues are going to arise and you’re going to have to deal with issues. Whether it be a physical issue or a mental issue, whatever it may be."
“His knee is better, he’s 100 percent, he’s fine and he had good bowl practices and did a nice job so we’re looking forward to what’s going to transpire with him in the upcoming months.”– Tony Alford on Mike Weber
Weber was the subject of a major recruiting battle between Ohio State and Michigan a year ago. He played high school ball at Cass Tech in Detroit and went to bed the night before Signing Day a Wolverine. But a final push from Ohio State brought him to Columbus. Drayton then left for the NFL and Weber was devastated. Weber's high school coach, Thomas Wilcher, ripped Meyer and his staff shortly thereafter but the running back remained in Columbus.
"It was tough because I had a good relationship with him and everything was going good," Weber said in August. "I didn't really expect that to happen but it kind of opened my eyes to the situation of it being a business."
College football is big business, and things often get run off track. Weber needed to learn that, and did in his freshman season while he stood and watched Ohio State and one of the best running backs in the country.
"He's a tough nut," Meyer said.
Added Alford: "He’s a highly competitive young guy and he wanted to play right away and I know that there may have been some initial disappointment. He also got hurt so he had to kind of fight through some injuries, as well. As we progressed through the season, we had made the decision we weren’t going to play him and that’s not an easy decision to swallow when you’ve been playing your whole life."
It's all part of the process of making a running back at Ohio State. It doesn't have to go according to plan, but next season will always be there. And Weber, Dunn and others had a pretty good player to look up to in Elliott.
"The Bri’onte Dunns and Mike Webers of the world, they were here to witness that and they saw how he goes to work," Alford said. "For young guys coming in, I think that we’ve got all kinds of film and footage that we can show them this is how it’s done."
Now the onus is on Weber to try and put together a repertoire in an attempt to rival the 2015 Silver Football winner.
"His knee is better, he’s 100 percent, he’s fine and he had good bowl practices and did a nice job so we’re looking forward to what’s going to transpire with him in the upcoming months," Alford said.
