Columbus is NOT Burning
James Louis is smiling, how about you?
I know, I know. Yesterday was kind of rough and some are openly questioning Tressel’s recruiting prowess. He can’t close, we never get the big recruits in the end, and the team is doomed in the future because the 2010 recruiting class didn’t finish with the bang we were all hoping for.
That is the feeling lingering amongst many of the Buckeye faithful after yesterday’s meh finish, in which the Buckeyes missed out on three elite linemen in Matt James, Morgan Moses, and Seantrel Henderson. James picked the Irish over the Bucks, which shouldn’t really be a surprise ultimately because he played ball inside of 275 (ground zero for UC > OSU territory), is a good Catholic and already had a relationship with Kelly from his time recruiting him to Cincinnati. Moses chose Virginia, his choice in 2009, after the staff wanted him to wait to see if he was eligible, while UVA was willing to take his letter right on the spot. Finally, Henderson chose USC (well, kind of), taking the Los Angeles and all that it has to offer, over the a more “stable” situation in Columbus.
Unlike many other journalists people that have opinions and know how to publish to the internet, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that 5-star recruits don’t always pan out, or that the Buckeyes have taken lesser rated recruits like James Laurinaitis or AJ Hawk and turned them into super stars. I’m also not going to try and sugar coat National Signing Day by saying how we can still get Latwan Anderson or how the players we have are underrated and will be stars. The bottom line is, the feeling of yesterday straight up stunk and we can pout all we want, but the program is still in excellent shape.
We needed linemen to fill depth on our roster and we didn’t get any. There were three and we did not land one. Not one. The finish wasn’t strong and fans can rightfully be upset that this class is not great. That’s just the point. Buckeye fans expect greatness and when Jim Tressel can’t give them three straight great classes and instead bounces back with a good, solid class in 2010, fans are up in arms. For all those going crazy over Signing Day yesterday, please, take a deep breath, sit back, and realize just because we got a good class and not a great class, the we’re not staring down a 6-6 season anytime soon.
Despite your opinion on his playcalling and tendencies, you can’t deny that Jim Tressel has elevated the program to a place it hasn’t been in a long time. After taking over a sputtering program from John Cooper, The Vest came in and restored tradition, what it meant to be a Buckeye immediately. In nine seasons he has a 94-21 record overall, 59-13 conference record, 5-4 bowl record (5-3 in the BCS), six Big Ten Titles, six Top 5 Poll finishes, one National Championship, and even more importantly an 8-1 record against Michigan, something fans during the Cooper era couldn’t even fathom even in their best dreams.
Recruiting is important, there is no doubt about it. It is the lifeblood of college football and you can’t win if you don’t bring in talent that will allow for you to win. I understand that. What I don’t understand is why people get all crazy about a player choosing another school over OSU. Look at Tressel’s track record. Yes, he has pulled some top notch classes (2002, 2008, 2009), but he has also pulled some pretty middle-of-the-pack classes that have a few big time stars, some average players, and some prospects people write off immediately.
That’s where coaching comes in. Jim Tressel and his staff are great coaches. They know they can’t get the top class every year and while they do always land some big fish, they also know they can get players who fit their system well that they can coach up to become that big fish. It happens every year, the Buckeyes are winners every year, and they will continue to be winners every year, as long as us fans allow Jim Tressel to do what he does.
So, for all you fans who want Jim Tressel’s head today because he couldn’t “close the deal with some high school kids”, please, have faith in what has worked. The Buckeye football program is in no danger and the decision of three teenagers will soon be forgotten. The Buckeyes will be fine. So fine that they are poised to make a championship run in 2010 and years beyond. You all may be worrying about yesterday’s results, but I’m sitting on my couch, sitting back, relaxing, and knowing Jim Tressel still has a smile on his face about the future of this program.
hahah /strikethrough
and so forth and so forth.
Buckeye Nation, I wouldn’t get to wrapped up about the whole recruiting thing. I could care less about how many 5 star recruits we get. You want to know why? I have stated it before (as someone else on 11W has) and I will say it again “for some reason, when a recruit is coming to OSU, their rating goes down”. Also, I am going to give a little list of former players that were considered no 3 and 4 stars but went on to be pretty good at OSU:
Troy Smith 4 star
James Little Animal 3 star
AJ Hawk 3 star
Kurt Coleman 4 star
Anthony Gonzalez 4 star
Santonio Holmes 3 star
Malcolm Jenkins 3 star
Strike “for some reason” and your statement is on point.
I love that the list includes a Super Bowl MVP and a Heisman Trophy winner… Not too shabby.
Let me be one to say that I’d be more worried about not landing a horde of pancake blockers if we didn’t have a 6′5″ gazelle who’s as fast as our WR’s running the S&G offense.
What I’d also like to see is a list of those that Tress failed to reel in on signing day that caused everyone so much grief…and then…they disappeared. I really can’t think of too many that we lost at the last second that we really, really came to regret.
Ben Martin anyone?
Marlon Brown to UGA last year.
Wow. Way to write off a 19 year old who barely saw the field his first year. Trust me, you will hear the name Marlon Brown again in the near future. Also, another year or two of sub-par recruiting and tOSU will be sitting squarely in the middle of the big 10/11 very soon.
I sure wish we hadn’t lost Josh Oglesby to Wisconsin. But in general I agree that we shouldn’t get too upset. Most colleges would love to be where OSU is.
I agree Carence..
However, I do think Laurenitis was a bit overrated
You’re crazy about Laurinaitis being overrated. He should have beaten out Cushing for NFL Defensive rookie of the year. Go look at his stats. Overrated?…you’re out of your mind.
Plus, you can only have so many guys on the field at one time. OSU has a number of players they redshirted last year who are going to be contributors this season (corey brown, barnett, wood etc). Sure, you like to sign the big names, but the Bucks are stacked pretty well for next year, so I wouldn’t get too upset about this year’s class. If a handful of these guys turn out, then it will be considered a good class.
Where did James Louis find those Buckeye hats? Did he raid Coach Cooper’s closet? Those things look like they are older than he is.
Ha–right on! I know I’ve seen Cooper wear the one on the left!
yep.. the white one with the red brim…I have a beat up one of those with holes–I’ve had it since the mid 90’s.
Linemen don’t matter. Our line coach takes 5 star guys and turns them into walkons.
Well at least it’s safe to say Buckeye fever is higher than ever before. I can’t remember this kind of reaction to a recruiting class. You would think we lost to USC at home again.
Great write up by DDN. Contrary to popular belief, we have some EXCELLENT football players in this class. GO BUCKS!!!
http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/buckeyes/entries/2010/02/03/buckeyes_class_versatile_humbl.html?cxtype=feedbot
I’d have liked to signed another lineman or two, but people in hell want icewater..
So, we missed out on the next Orlando Pace (Seantral Henderson); I’m pretty excited that we may have the next Eddie George (Roderick Smith).
Go Bucks.
but what would Eddie have done w/o pancake?
he did great in the nfl lmao
Strikethrough fail?
Fixed it up before I struck out…….(so that’s why you need to put a / before closing out your strikethrough!)
I’m glad recruiting is over for this year. It reminds me of that line from Macbeth ” it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”
+1 (Nice use of Bill S.)
Bill who? Don’t you know that Devere wrote the Shakespeare plays?
Speed is what we need most of and we did a good job of getting it. Stop crying about OL and remember that we need speed, speed & mo speed. We will be fine!
Would have liked another lineman, even a lower rated guy, but oh well.
One thing to remember with the classes ranked above us is that they consider numbers. The bucks could take at most 20 players this year, and they don’t offer scholarships they can’t actually give (unlike a lot of a teams). I’ll take a coach who treats the recruits with class and takes his role as a mentor seriously over signing one more lineman any day.
” I’ll take a coach who treats the recruits with class and takes his role as a mentor seriously”
Awesome statement
i’m not too sure if momma louis is too happy about the decision though, judging by the picture…
was this an article to try and calm yourselves as 11W bloggers?
because personally, I wasnt bummed out at all yesterday. i didnt have these rediculous expectations, and either way its kinda sad if you let sum 17 yr olds decision affect your life….
love my buckeyes, and maybe thats why im not in panic mode (as your site suggested we all be in yesterday)….
were less then one month removed from winning the rose bowl….right? we all but certainly have a top 5 football team playing for a national title from week 1 ….right? our team is full of sophmore and junior kids all with starting spots waiting for them on the team…alot of those top recruits want to play from day one, and Tress probably couldnt honestly promise these guys immediate playing time….youll see how much better next yrs class looks, when all the starters are closer to graduating.////
when healthy our basketball team is top 15 in the country and THEY got the top recruiting class coming in……my glass is more then half full, i dont know about yours 11W!!!!
I’m also not too bothered by recruiting. For me recruiting is just something to talk about when football is not being played. Much more than that I don’t care how many stars guys have etc. It would’ve been nice to get Henderson, but we didn’t, so what? James people have been saying all along was slow and not that athletic, next year everyone would be talking shit about Tressel getting slow guys, but for now they’ll just bitch that he couldn’t close and get him to sign.
With Basketball, I’m conviced that Evan Turner is one of the most under rated players in America. People know he’s really good, but you hardly ever hear about him in comparison to some of the other elite players like John Wall or Sharaun Collins.
Thats because Turner plays for Ohio State. not a nationally know power like Kentucky or Kansas. he’s in the running for national player of the year and should win big ten player of the year hands down
Pat Forde of all people said that Turner is the best player in the country.
Oh we’re fine here, but you should see message boards, emails, etc. all up in arms….It was an article to kind of put things in perspective Fode….I like you was not bothered at all by yesterday…if we got the guys great, if not oh well…that’s why I wrote the article…trust in Tressel because I think he knows what he’s doing and he’s certainly not losing any sleep over yesterday’s finish
never mad about the content you guys provide us 365 days of the Buckeye year Alex!
im sure you guys heard from all the ’sky is falling’ -buckeye fans..but i do my best to ignore all that, which is why this is one of the few blogs i frequent….
im all about the positivity,(i live and florida and hear too much negativity) and i think right now is as good a time as ever to be a Buckeye sports fan…..thanks for responding….
so, any good highlight tapes of the guys we DID get yesterday??
yes the assistants each introduced 2 players at the presser yesterday and showed highlight film….we will post those videos throughout the week
It sucked not getting a couple of those lineman. But, Henderson going to USC made sense. He doesnt have to compete with two guys that had starting experience. Including Rose Bowl starting experience. He went somewhere he could start right away. Dont really blame him. If Moses had academic issues why do we want him anyway? Hyde had the same issues and didnt even play last year. Whats the point of bringing a guy in if we cant work with him and make him better. Oh, and we all know that Notre Dame recruits cinci hard with all the Catholic schools there so missing out on James is not a surprise. I’m more upset with not landing Hicks the biggest recruit in the state. But, after hearing his mom had ties with coaches at Texas that didnt surprise me either. We’re never going to do what Florida does. Florida alone had 22 top 150 players. All of them but a few chose florida schools. Ohio had one and he went to Texas. Who knows what happens next year when we need to reload and kids know it. We are set this year. Are secondary is a bit light and we brought in guys that will compete right away. Next we’ll go lineman heavy. Bring in a few more stud linebackers. We’ll be fine everyone drink a few beers and chill!!
It should have said our secondary is a bit light. and next year we’ll go lineman heavy. sorry.
How many 5 star recruits does TCU get? . . . on average
College Football recruiting: where washed up failed-rapper fathers live vicariously through their children.
“Seantrel and his father said they liked the stability of the Ohio State coaching staff but not the university’s large class sizes. During Coach Jim Tressel’s home visit last month, he told Seantrel in great detail what his first year would be like for the Buckeyes.
Henderson’s father described the talk as “pretty long-winded.” Afterward, Tressel mentioned to the Hendersons that he was always told he talked a lot.
“He’s so informative and so to the point and so much about business, that it was a little boring,” Sean Henderson said.”
This makes me appreciate TP a whole lot more, in that his father was pushing him towards Penn State, but TP didn’t bite on that and knew in his heart that OSU was the place for him. USC could very well be the place for Henderson, but this has all the trappings of a father who damn near chose his son’s college for him.
I agree Matt. I heard from some hopeful posters & bloggers that Henderson’s father was a great influence and was helping guide his son in a responsible search. Were those people looking at the same d-bag? Now all of a sudden when he doesn’t sign, everyone talks how horribly his father conducts himself.
I wonder if USC provided Henderson’s father with a scholarship, rap deal, or both. What a raging tool.
I didn’t like how TP went out things 2 years ago, but he looked polished compared to the hoopla & circus that surrounded Seantrel. I hope he enjoys himself during those potential sanctions. At least he’ll get a sweet SUV and ocean-front house of it.
OK, so we’re dealing with attention-span issues as well.
Seems to me like it’s good to have a guy come in your house and say if you come to our school, this is exactly how it’s going to be your first year. Here are the good things that can happen and here are the negatives. Instead of a guy who comes in and says, it’s a huge party, we’ll work hard in practice and games but you’ll be a god here. You’ll get laid all the time. The parties are off the chain. Welcome to being a celebrity. How’d you like your visit escorts we hooked you up with?
I’m sorry, the kid doesn’t care about class size. I hate when these guys or their parents mention academics or classes. 90% of the time that is just BS. Unless you are Krenzel or Mike Doss who decide to have unreal class loads to go with your football schedule. But C’mon class size is not going to determine whether a kid comes to a school to play football or not.
Not on suicide watch, but it is a little annoying the Buckeyes couldn’t land Henderson, Hicks, or Latwaan Anderson. Having one of those impact players would really help.
Aren’t they still in the running for Anderson?
add in sherif floyd, lamarcus joyner, we looked like the favorite for 5 5 stars at some point in the year and closed on 0. a bunch of good 4 stars slipped away too.
Good perspective, Alex. It’s just one year, and building upon a team that returns so many junior starters is going to be a tough sell. This last senior class barely played. All it takes is one class to make a team great (1967 freshmen, anyone?), and this 2010 team has more great classes than it does merely “good” ones.
He didnt say class size he said ass size…USC didn’t care how big of an ass his dad is, he could come to school there anyways.
That’s some funny shit right there.
Buckeye fans!! Lets not have short memory spans and forget OL class of 08-M. Adams M. Brewster JB Shugarts.And lets not forget OL class of 09-Corey Linsley M.Hall J.Mewhort S.Longo and lets not forget TE Converted OT R.Fragel at 6′7″ 255 4.7 40 time.They were all 4-5 star guys except Longo who was a 3.I’m pretty sure we’ll be OK.
Not worried at all about the class itself. My only concern is the perception, perpetuated by eSECpn, that Ohio State can’t compete with the SEC, either on the field or in recruiting. However, if we win it all this year, that won’t much matter.
On another matter, Tressel is hard to beat in recruiting when you’re dealing with solid kids from solid families. When dealing with ignorant ass parents like Sean Henderson, however, it takes an ass hair like Urban or Lane to relate. Be interesting to see how that plays out in the next 10-20 years as family life presumably continues to erode and more and more stellar athletes have goofs for parent(s). But I digress……..
i don’t get how we loose out to michigan and PSU. do these kids not realize tress has dominated the big 10? especially with jopa and richrod probably leaving in the next 4 years.
on a national level OSU has consistantly been a top 5 program since tress got here, got over the overranked/can’t win bowls speculating, puts tons in the pros with a pro offense,
oh yeah, assuming a few key people stay for ‘11, we should be the favorite for the NC. this class as sophs that year we really could have used an impact OL, DT, CB, and OLB…we are deep at every other position but could really use each of those 5*s
Love the look on James Louis’ face. Now that my friends, is a true Buckeye recruit. His mom on the other hand…is all business.
In regard to the Man Mountain, I wish him luck. It is ridiculous to see the circus around the kid and as far as I’m concerned, the team doesn’t need another sideshow parent (see Ray Small). Although his dad is a jackass, he did have a fair point on the classroom sizes at OSU, and his characterization of the Senator sounds spot on. In the end, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him at the U when this all FLUSHES out (emphasis intended).
I graduated from Ohio State recently and I can tell you that the whole thing about class size is a complete myth. I tell all my family and friends who are thinking about going to Ohio State the same thing. It’s a myth put out there by all the small schools to make you think that their “smaller class size” will make their college stay much better. Do you care how big your class size is in Sociology 101 or History 100? Not to mention that you have recitations with no more than 20 kids in those classes to go over the lectures. Sounds like a big excuse. Doubt they even paid attention to the visit. Bringing up class size in a recruitment discussion is hilarious and stupid at the same time.
Okay, I agree that this is probably a smokescreen statement by Poppa Henderson and I’m sure the siren song of Lane Kiffin was pretty powerful.
I’ll agree with that. You see it a bit in the intro GEC’s (which are, truthfully, the first impression) but once you hit your major you’re down to 10-30 people in nearly everything.
I went to Central Michigan and ‘attended’ classes that easily pushed 120 kids.
Robert Smith didn’t seem to mind the class sizes in Columbus.
In looking at the depth chart just now I think everybody in the new class redshirts unless they get special teams time.
I think that’s the reality of most high-level recruits now. I mean they all want to play right away, but when you’re this deep, especially at the skill positions, redshirting is the reality
You’re probably correct.
The only two who I can see breaking into some playing time are Hyde and Rod Smith. With their size, they could find some PT on short yardage and power plays. They would have to show a lot in the Spring and Summer. PT would still be very limited.
Hyde and Rod Smith would have to beat out Martin who I think was looking pretty good. The new receivers have 7 guys in front of them. Hankins might see time if he is in shape. We do like to play a lot of guys on the DL. Norwell? No way. And we are just too deep at LB and DB for anybody to see time there. Naturally somebody could get time because of a rash of injuries but again, looking at the depth chart it would have to be a damn big rash.
I could see something at CB/safety. We did lose two starters in the secondary, if one of these guys comes along faster than the redshirts in line I could see them getting some playing time.
James Louis, T.Y Williams, OR Corey Brown won’t red shirt (may 2 will play)….I don’t think Bryant will Red shirt….Norwell probably will because of the injury, but we may need him for depth if he’s healthy….I think Hankins will play…..One of Baldwin, Moore, Durham will play (likely Durham a la Nathan Williams)…..Turner and McVey have a shot at Special Teams….Hyde will play…I think Smith may red-shirt….the rest will probably red-shirt
I think James Louis is the next big time NFL WR from tOSU
why? what makes him different from t. washington, l. thomas or j. jackson. seems like these guys are a dime a dozen. what sets him apart?
I am not a buckeye but that was an excellent write up. One that can be applied to all fans of various schools going through NSD “meltdowns” and calling for the heads of their coaches.
Too often, we get so wrapped up with NSD and,through our frustration and we would then lash out at the kids, parents, and other schools. We could not figure out why kids would go to other schools when ours, through our colored eyes, are the “best”, the most “righteous”, and etc.
I am looking forward to more of your write-ups in the future.