Yes, folks, my sources confirmed: The boys are back in town, and they're looking to play football.
Urban Meyer kicks off his sixth(!!!) spring drills at 8:30 a.m. today. Here's the full schedule, via @OhioStateFB:
ICYMI:
- Full combine results of every Ohio State participant.
- Gareon Conley ran a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash.
- Marshon Lattimore ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash but injured his hip flexor on his second attempt. "I'm all good, y'all," Lattimore tweeted.
- Wide receiver James Clark will graduate in the spring and not return to the team.
- Offensive lineman Tyler Gerald stopped attending winter conditioning drills weeks ago. The magic number now stands at 87.
- Bob Tucker, a longtime OSU assistant and administrator, passed away this weekend.
- Four-star freshman athlete Brendon White will start his career as No. 80—a possible hint at playing receiver?
- Report: Thad Matta will return for the 2017-18 season.
Word of the day: Nugatory.
BUCKEYES IMPRESS THE SUITS. Running 40-yard dashes and cone drills is half of the combine. Behind doors, teams scrape the mental makeup of prospects through interviews that include questions like "Was your mother a prostitute?" to "Would you choose to murder someone with a gun or a knife?"
Whatever the formula used by certain teams, one report has three Buckeyes among the winners of combine interviews (and more).
From yahoo.com:
Ohio State WR-RB Curtis Samuel — Another multi-position player, Samuel’s blazing 40 (4.31) was a pleasant surprise for a player who didn’t make a ton of long plays in college but showed consistent playmaking ability. His other numbers were solid to very good for the most part.
One team said of Samuel’s interview: “He’s bright, confident, borderline cocky. I liked that.”
[...]
Ohio State CB Marshon Lattimore — He entered the week as the top corner and will leave the combine in that spot, a strong possibility to land in the top 10. With 40 times of 4.36 and 4.37, he has top-end speed and good size. He shouldn’t run another 40 for the rest of his life. Ohio State has been a DB factory in recent years, and Lattimore will be the latest in that esteemed line.
[...]
Ohio State S Malik Hooker — The same evaluator who liked [LSU safety Jamal] Adams also said Hooker looked “outstanding” in the weigh-in and was “terrific” in interviews, which was about all teams could gather from him in Indianapolis a little more than a month removed from surgery to repair a torn hip labrum and a hernia. But teams are not worried about his health, feeling he should be ready by rookie minicamps. Hooker’s lack of experience — a few years of high school football, one year starting for the Buckeyes — also can be seen as a positive. “It’s not like quarterback, where I need to see it for more than a year,” one said. “He’s a safety making all these plays out there, and it leads your imagination to the possibilities. We loved his football knowledge and felt like he gets it. He could be really special in a few years.”
Meyer has the NFL pipeline rolling now. Teams are starting to recognize the off-the-field craftsmanship.
It's also going to hurt Michigan fans' self-esteem when the Buckeyes have more first-rounders than their team of 82 seniors.
A LUNCHEON FOR CHAMPIONS. Ohio State's culture is based on competition. After every calendar quarter, Meyer rewards program "champions"—guys who handle their affairs on and off the field.
The team held the first champions luncheon on the eve of spring drills, while the losers were presumably left to salvage their lunch from the dumpsters of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
At Ohio State, everything is competitive.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) March 6, 2017
The Champions for the first quarter of 2017 were rewarded for their efforts today pic.twitter.com/45wl4Os0mY
Some faces in the video:
- QB J.T. Barrett
- LB Dante Booker
- LB Tuf Borland
- DE Sam Hubbard
- DE Tyquan Lewis
- LB Keandre Jones
- OT Malcolm Pridgeon
- DT Tracy Sprinkle
- WR Ben Victor
Obviously, this list isn't cumulative, but it's a good idea of who has juice with the coaching staff heading into spring drills. (This J.T. Barrett fella could have the inside track to starting at QB!)
PUT UP OR SHUT UP. Here's a relatable meme from last season: A drunk guy hooting at the tailgate about the play calling. (No, I'm not projecting, as evidenced by me saying I'm not projecting.)
Well, hotshot, even toddlers drink beer and type internet comments these days. It's time to aspire to new heights.
There's a new vacancy on Urban Meyer's staff after Arizona State poached a quality control coach.
From tucson.com:
The Arizona Wildcats are expected to name Brian Knorr as their special-teams coach.
Knorr spent last season as a quality-control coach at Ohio State. He has more than 25 years of college coaching experience, including four seasons as the head coach at Ohio; five seasons as the defensive coordinator at Indiana and Wake Forest; and two stints at his alma mater, Air Force, where he played quarterback in the 1980s.
Knorr, 53, coordinated the special teams while serving as head coach at Ohio, and kicking was his area of focus at Ohio State. Field position was a season-long sore spot for Arizona last season.
"53-year-old man moves to warmer climate," is another relatable meme. Here, however, is where you, the gentle laborer, comes into play.
Come work at the local university for one of the most prodigious coaches of his generation!
From jobsatosu.com:
Summary of Duties: Positions support the head football coach and assistant football coaches with the analysis of team and opponent performance; develops and maintains kicking analyses through the breakdown of practice, game, and opponent video; records data and charts performances to assist coaches develop strategy; assists coaches with the recruiting process by breaking down and assessing video of prospects; interacts with recruits and families, provides facility and campus tours; assists with the creation and organization of playbooks and loading video content onto iPads; assists with football camps; provides support at home and away game activities; performs other related duties as assigned.
Requirements: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience; extensive knowledge of the sport of football; experience working with XOS video software; 3-5 years of experience coaching or supporting a Division I football program.
Target Salary: $47,477 Annually
Strike everything I said. I'll do it. I'll apply.
Hell, I've blogged about the local team on and off since 2011 and "supported" it since elementary school. I also used to cut film for Tim Hinton's Marion Harding until my blog hot takes made me too much of pariah to be paid a salary of cold Tubby's Pizza slices every Saturday morning.
Hopefully, Hinton forgets about that before I show up for my first day of work. We all had shit takes in high school. I'm just here to orchestrate the good plays for the local fans.
WHO SAW THIS COMING? The Cleveland Browns are about to do that thing we all knew they were going to do: Let Terrelle Pryor, the team's best receiver (capable of staying away from the Devil's Lettuce) entering his physical prime, will end up catching touchdowns from Joe Flacco next season.
Source close to @TerrellePryor says @Browns aren't serious enough. Has interest from teams in div, including ravens, who are very interested
— Lauren Brill (@LaurenBrill5) March 6, 2017
Or, behind door of horrors No. 2, it's catching touchdown passes from Carson Wentz:
Vegas knows, right? Odds to land Terrelle Pryor, per @BookMakerdotEU:
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) March 6, 2017
Eagles 3/2
Ravens 9/2
Rams 8/1
Buccaneers 15/1
Browns 23/1
Field 5/7
Shoutout to the people that will spend 40% of their disposable income following this team around the country next year.
TAKE THOSE NUMBERS TO THE BANK. It's common practice in college football for programs to fudge player measurements in a favorable way.
Let the record show, Jerry Emig, Meyer's No. 1 enforcer, does not cook the books:
@EricSeger33 ... Ohio Stat's official roster was cumulatively - cumulatively! - 1-1/4 inches & 15 pounds different than combine Hgts & Wgts.
— Jerry Emig (@BuckeyeNotes) March 6, 2017
We now know these numbers can be taken seriously when the spring roster is released later today.
THOSE WMDs. Spammergate: The fall of an empire... Opioid scourge hits the Hamptons... Physical therapists helping esports pros play more and hurt less... Meet the woman who helps humanize murderers... Why did Las Vegas books struggle for part of the NFL season?
