Is Pwning Michigan Enough Anymore?
It’s getting hot in hereWell, it was bound to happen.
In his eighth season in Columbus, after yet another embarrassment on a national stage, St. James Patrick Tressel is starting to feel a little heat.
Things have been so good in town for so long — despite the two MNC collapses (hey, we made it to the game, right) — that the head football coach has been praised for his ability to walk on water, cure the blind and eliminate traffic on 270. Sure, there was a bit of a bad spell in 2004, including a drubbing in Iowa City, but that was only two years removed from a championship season. The team rebounded with great seasons in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and all was soon forgotten.
But this latest episode in which his team came out flat, once again made costly mistakes and once again were outclassed by an elite team has the fans and the punditry coming down hard on Tressel for the first time:
So apparently that’s it now for Ohio State. They fought hard. Let’s just focus on the moral victory – the lament of every blown-out, schedule-padding cupcake in college football. We were overmatched and outcoached, sure, but we fought hard.
Only this is Ohio State. The Buckeyes keep getting their asses kicked when they dare to venture out of Big Ten/MAC land and Tressel doesn’t look or sound the least bit concerned.
The critics see an opening and they’re jumping on it. There are even some that think he kept Beanie out of the USC matchup to game the BCS system, as absurd as that sounds (though it’s not exactly reassuring when Terry Bowden has your back).
Even the local press, in all of it’s Pravda-esque glory, is starting to rumble. It’s clear that changes are needed in some fashion or another, whether it’s more diversification of the playbook, inserting fresh blood (most notably handing the ball to Pryor and letting some of the young receivers and linemen take over) or outright staff changes. Hey, if fans can eventually turn on Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, they can certainly turn on Tressel and the next five or six games will determine just how much heat he heads into the offseason with.
Though you’d have to be a fool of the finest magnitude to advocate a change at the top, what exactly do you want to see? Are fans being too zealous in asking for new coordinators or position changes? Is his noted loyalty to seniors actually a handicap? Is beating Michigan year-in and year-out enough in this era of heightened expectations?
I think what you guys alluded to, and what everyone else has been saying is that Bollman and Heacock need to go. This was a final (and quite large) straw that saw a team unprepared for a big game with equal to more talent. Things would be different if it was close, but we got blown out 3 times in a row. Things at the top won’t change – and it’s too soon for a guy who’s won nearly 80% of his games and beaten Michigan.
However, his loyalty to seniors has to shift to best players available. We saw that with the time Herron got instead of Mo Wells. And his blanket “play harder” worked as long as we were winning, now it just irks fans, I feel like; it certainly irks me.
How about Lane Kiffin for o-coordinator. He’s about to get fired in Oakland. A guy can dream…
The most frustrating aspect of these defeats, is nothing has changed. Both Sanchez and Maualuga stated; what they saw on film, is what they got in the game.
“They did everything we saw on film, nothing changed,†said USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, who had five tackles and a pick six.
That is unacceptable.
I don’t think we’re crazy for wanting new coordinators…Maybe for wanting a new HC, but coordinators? It’s painfully obvious that our schemes on offense and defense are half-baked. But then consider that our Oline and Dline consistently under perform, outside of certain instances of exceptional talent (Gholston, for example).
So then someone tells me that our OLine coach doubles as the OCoord, and our DLine coach doubles as the DCoord. Um, what? Seriously? WTF?!?
Look, if one coach is handling the OLine but only HALF time, b/c then he has to go scheme the whole offense, then why are we surprised that our OLine talent keeps regressing over 4 years in the program? And if our OCoord can only spend half his time scheming the OGame plan b/c he has to go help out the OLine for the other half of his time, well, then why are we surprised that the offensive game plan lacks punch, creativity and polish? The argument can be replicated for the DCoord/DLine situation as well.
Honestly, I don’t think this is a good idea. I’m not paid 8 million bucks, so maybe it doesn’t matter what I have to say, but this makes no sense to me. This gives me that same confused feeling in my stomach that I got when my Michigan buddy told me last year “Lloyd doesn’t have a special teams coach.” WTF?!?! There’s no one coaching special teams? And your special teams are horrible?! OMG I WONDER WHY?!
So are Bollman/Heacock bad line coaches? I don’t know, b/c they haven’t been putting all their time into that. Are they bad coordinators? I don’t know, b/c they haven’t been investing all their time in that job description.
Regardless whether Bollman and Heacock are around next year, I hope to see the coordinator positions separated and exclusive to any position coaching.
But given the last few years, I wouldn’t mind seeing Bollman and Heacock gone.
First, I hate the BCS system…. I would love to see the system go back to the days of old….. the MOST important thing should be to win the conference … and Beating Michigan is paramount in that endeavor. Next should be to win the Bowl Game. Then let the media fight about who the National Champion is… and if the vote is split, so be it. This whole beauty contest and empahasis on these contests is riduclous…. OSU got beat in every facet of the game, no doubt. But how does anyone know that USC will be the most dominant team at the end?? They don’t, its subjective.
Now, with all that being said— it’s time for change (and I have called for this consistently since the loss to Florida on this blog). Our defense is good enough to stop most MAC and BIG-10 (11) offenses. Our defensive co-ordinator (Heacock and Fickell) are not equiped to coach beyond that level of competion. We have the talent, not the coaching and experience to succceed at the elite level. Giving up 30+ points per game to the 4 best opponents we have played in 3 years is the proof (Florida, Illinois, LSU, USC).
On offense, the same story. Bollman is a nice guy and a great story, but he has no idea how to get the most from the talent he has. We can push the MAC and the bottom half of the Big -10 around on the line, but elite teams with better D-lines give us fits (Texas, Penn St., LSU, USC, Illinois, Florida)..
Tressel is a great Head Coach and he needs to stay at the helm… he has made great strides in academics, public servcie, team unity, and has won over 82% of his games as OSU’s coach–so he is the unquestioned head coach. Tressel must come to terms with the fact that he must change both coordinator positions if he wants to compete on a National Stage. Elite college teams are becoming much more like a minor league for the NFL and many of the top tier teams have some coaches that worked on NFL staffs…. there is JT’s starting point… reach into the NFL and get offensive and defensive coordinators who can game plan for an opponent. Playcalling is not so much of an issue if the team can win the battles on Offensive and defesive lines…….. JT has some hard choices to make and I hope he starts with getting Pryor (and Bauserman) into meaningful game roles. Boeckman is not a leader and it shows. He is the guy occupying the QB chair and the team responds in kind. Laurinaitis is also not showing leadership when the going gets tough…. put in the backups to start the game against Troy on Sat and tell them that they can take starter spots if they show guts and fight… let the starters chew on that during the first half of the first quarter… we need a change in attitude and we need to start playing like we want to destroy opponents instead of being a gentleman and playing nice!
A lot of my contentment with the OSU program will depend on how this season plays out.
Now that we’ve been exposed as CLEARLY below the national powers, what’s the goal? Do the coaches play to win the Big 10 – keep in Boeckman, play the same way we’ve always played and grind out another Big 10 championship, go to the Rose Bowl and probably lose that to a better team?
- OR -
Does the program recognize a consistant pattern of failure, and change? Do we see Pryor take over this team, with an eye towards revamping the offense around his unique talents and building for the future? Starting a true freshman probably means a 9-3 season, no Rose Bowl.
Saturday was a wake-up call for me: This team is NOT on par with other national powers. We’re a big fish in a little pond. Is that enough? Is the program content to beat the Big 10 most years?
I’m proud to be part of a fanbase that can claim our team’s goal, EVERY SEASON, should be trying to win a national championship. Of course, it won’t happen every year. But settling for anything less is selling the program short. If Tressel doesn’t agree, if we see conservative, Boeckman-led Tressel-ball the rest of the year, I will be truly disappointed.
It’s so clear that the problem is speed…they need to get faster, and they need to do it soon. Because trust me, Michigan will be faster, and then Tressel is in real trouble.
If the offense and defense don’t show improvement (read: dominate the Big Ten), then changes need to be made with the coordinators. One change that seems to be brewing: TP took all the snaps with the first team on Monday. That’s a step in the right direction.
Heacock – Gone
Bollman – Thrown out the back door
OC – Hired
Boone – Benched
TB – Benched
Rehring – Benched
Browning – Benched
now thats a gameplan.
what i want most of all is for tressel to publicly state that he is embarrassed by the big game losses and understands that he has to change things about the way the team is run. i don’t hear him saying that. the first step of the 12 step program is to admit you have a problem.
I’m totally with you on that note, John. How can we change anything if we can’t admit to it? Why do the players hang their heads in shame going into halftime with only a 21-3 halftime deficit? It’s because we’ve been accustomed to “Stay the course” mentality. It doesn’t work against teams that are built around speed and adjustments. And that’s coming to Michigan, so if these changes aren’t made, we can kiss those supposed almost-guaranteed wins versus the blue goodbye.
Here’s hoping for a better future.
Who’s to say we’ll be pwning Michigan anymore? Once RichRod gets his offense going, how are we going to stop it? I can’t foresee Heacock suddenly figuring out how to stop a spread offense (if he hasn’t done it by now, he never will).
I hate to say it, but I think ND is finally having some success because Charlie Weis finally listened and hired an Ocoordinator… Gee, what a coincidence. Let’s all pray that Michigan State has another bad year so that they fire D’antonio and we can hire him back. Seriously, at least he taught our players to be aggressive and hit people ala Mike Doss’ highlight films.
Where else in the country would a program let their coaches squander so much talent (exclude the Oline and Dline from that statement)? It’s a shame to see so many seniors come back only to play like they’re freshman again. It’s especially disheartening to see them blame eachother for the loss after they say they care so much about eachother.
Whatever, I wouldn’t be suprised to see Troy upset us this weekend. If they do, I’m done for the rest of the year.
BTW, Tressel stays. He is a good coach and a good role model and he’s done a lot for the university. He just needs to know when to hand off play calling duties to someone else and he’ll be fine.
This is a good sign…. BTW Tressel does not have to publicly admit to any problems…. he only has to demonstrate his admissions by his actions. 2 smiliar situations come to mind… the Texas loss gave way to Troy Smith and the tinkering time it took before Tress knew what the heck to do with Ted Ginn (the Dolphins haven’t figured that out yet either..). Tress is slow to change, but he will adjust– did anyone ever think we would see a spread with Troy Smith at the helm?? Not me, problem is while Tress is changing to adapt, everyone else is evolving and in that scenario we are always behind. OSU needs to be the innovator and not reacting to events.
Ohio State football: Terrelle Pryor, Todd Boeckman to split snaps Saturday vs. Troy
by Doug Lesmerises, Plain Dealer Reporter
Tuesday September 16, 2008, 1:29 PM
COLUMBUS – Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said today that quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman are likely to split playing time 50-50 against Troy on Saturday. Tressel added that no decision has been made on which quarterback will start the game.
In practice, Pryor could see about two-thirds of the snaps as the Buckeyes continue to gauge his progress, Tressel said.
“Tressel has done so much for this University.” I see this line all the time and wonder what people mean by it. He hasn’t exactly been volunteering him time last I saw. He has been paid more than all the families posting here will make over generations for his work. There are so many more people doing more for the university and this state than him and they make nothing compared to him
He has not done anything for the university that has not been handsomely rewarded… the University, families paying tuition, and state taxpayers have compensated him fine. We owe him nothing
As a Michigan grad/fan, I’d love to see Tressel gone. He’s a great coach.
However, if the OSU admins are smart, they’ll keep him around. He identifies great talent, prepares them for the NFL, and wins a very high percentage of games (unfortunately, Michigan included). So, he loses the “big ones”….99% of the programs would love to be in OSU’s position.
Can we agree that if you don’t want new coordinators, you’re a Michigan plant?
Chuck, did you not hear or see of his sizable donations to the new library? His involvement in various campus issues? He’s the most actively involved coach since Woody in these matters.
MITCH G, althought you are right that JT doesn’t ahve to admit to any problems, it gets very frustrating and insulting at this point. When the problems become so apparent that the whole nation can see it, yet he still says that nothing major went wrong, it really pisses me off because he talks down to fans like they’re a bunch of idiots. WE CAN SEE THERE ARE MAJOR PROBLEMS. A blind man with two eye patches could notice major problems on saturday.
So I agree with JOHN on this one, unless Tressell admits or realizes that there are MAJOR problems, nothing will change. Just think, it took him until the loss to Texas to realize that Zwick was garbage and Smith should of been a starter… a fact that was evident BEFORE the game to everyone else.
Im just so frustrated with his bullsh*t attitude that nothing is wrong, when everybody else is laughing at us. Just read that Wentzel column on Yahoo!, the guy’s right.
Yes I did. anyone who has been to law school and taken a Gift and estate tax class will tell you he HAS TO DONATE MONEY for estate purposes. You simply have to when you make so much money (unless you die in 2010) Now, I am not an estate tax attorney and the laws could have changed since I last graced the halls of the D, but I promise you he had to donate money if he is concerned about passing wealth
I am not saying that he is a bad guy people, just that we owe him nothing. There is a difference between being a good guy and being owed anything
Chuck, I took those estate and tax classes (not at the law school though) but I honestly don’t think that’s his only motivation to give to OSU’s library. I’ve dealt with many rich people who need to give as part of their estate plan, they chose the charities that mean something to them. I’ve never seen someone give money to a charity or organization they didn’t like or want to do it.
The fact is, Tressel chose to give his money to OSU and to YSU, obviously two places he’s very fond of. WHo knows where else his money will go. Let’s also mention that he could have waited to do this when he died, he didn’t have to give it right away.
So yes, he may have considered the tax ramifications, but I’d seriously doubt he’d give away a couple mill to any old charity. Also, what about all those other charities you see him on TV for? He certainly doesn’t have to do that and he certainly doesn’t have to wear OSU stuff in each one. He’s representing OSU. Then lets talk about the way he teaches these football players, yes you get some bad apples, but I think for the most part they come out to be well adjusted men. Look at Beanie for example – top running back recruit, could have gone anywhere and he could have been one of those outspoken ones with the huge ego… nope, I’m thuroughly impressed that Beanie has such a level head for being someone so highly revered upon. Look at TP, all that showboating before beign recruited, now he’s speaking like a true team player, not an individual like you get at those SEC schools.
Tressel is in the spotlight of this university, whether you like it or not. Football is what most people know about OSU, forget the academics, they just know football. Therefore, Tressel IS OSU in some people’s eyes. They hear OSU, they think of the sweater vest. At least he realizes this and does all he can to tout the university and serve as a role model. He loves OSU, why else would he put it in his contract for him to stay on if he wanted to after coaching to help teach?
So, suck up the bitterness from all the student debt you’ve been loaded with (I have too, but I still like OSU) and give the guy some credit. In 5 years, go ahead and compare him to what RichRod or any other big ten coach has done for their school then tell me he doesn’t give back to the university and community.
What if you don’t beat Michigan this year??? I would love to see that state wide melt-down!
Michigan, that’s unpossable.
We’re down a little, but you guys just got spanked by Notre Dame.
Maybe next year or in future years, but not this year.
I don’t know about that…we all know how you guys don’t like to show up for big games! :-)
At least we play in big games…
Keith,
I hear you man. When I was going to school in Columbus a couple years ago, one of my classmates live in the same neighborhood as el senior Cooper (this was well into the Tressel era). The neighborhood was having a community rally to support some funding initiative on ballot, and asked Coop if he’d be willing to be present and speak at it. I repeat, this.was.the.neighborhood.Coop.lived.in… Cooper agreed to be present, and informed the group that his speaking fee was something north of $15,000. I can’t remember if my friend told me it was 20 or 30 grand, and I don’t want to embellish the story, so I’m going with ‘north of 15k.’
I’ve never met Tress, never talked to him, only know of him through TV, media and a couple friends connected with the program…But I have a feeling that this is not the kind of mentality that he brings to the community at Ohio State and in Columbus. And yes, I get that Coop is retired, and I’m not trying to really trash him here, and I get that speaking gigs are one of his only income sources now (although I’m ignoring the fact that he made millions coaching OSU), but come on, this was the neighborhood he lived in…
I’ve been advocating change in my own blog.
I wonder if anyone heard about ole Earle being upset with those of us calling for change?! I did and wrote on it.
Change is necessary and it is necessary as soon as the end of this season. I like the commenter who threw the idea of Lane Kiffin out there, YES. His dad, Monte, is a hell of a defensive mastermind, package deal?!? Although, I think Chris Spielman would make an excellent choice if not a Fickell promotion.
I don’t think Tressel needs to go but I do think his demeanor needs to be coupled with some fiesty and fiery sonsabitches.
Thanks for sharing another Cooper story that just adds to how we’ve all come to feel about that guy. Tressel has a lot of fine qualities as a head coach but he’s a little too slow for todays game maybe a little in over his head at OSU.
What do I want? To see Heacock collecting Social Security on some beach far, far, away. For Tressel to grow some and make decisions that show leadership not the “let’s all get together and sing Kumbaya” nonsense. Finally, bench anyone that received a failing grade for that mess on Saturday.
I’d like for the O-Coordinator and the D-Coordinator positions at The OSU to be the most sought after positions in college football for up and coming college coaches, NOT the graveyard of old buddies from back in the Youngstown days.
Tressel says it himself, being the head ball coach at OSU is more like being a CEO than a coach. And Tressel is a damn fine CEO. But he needs to bring in cutt-throat professionals. Tell me, why was Bo Pelini, a proud Ohio State alumni and former player, on the other side of our LSU beat down? He should have been coordinating our defense, not the Tigers. That should never happen again.
Coordinators need to be changed, head coach is fine. As was said in the comments earlier, 99% of programs would kill for head coach like JT. I realize the big losses are heartbreakers, but there are very very few college coaches that are on his level.
Would like to see some more inventive plays on offense, and some game planning on defense.