This was the first opportunity I had to attend an entire Friday Night Lights event. Ohio Stadium is always a great recruiting tool. Last night Urban Meyer used that tool to its max as he allowed possible future Buckeyes onto on the field under the lights with around 5,000 fans in attendance.
So, what was in store for the young men participating and the fans in the stands?
6:30-7:00: STRETCHING
The 100 plus participants were brought onto the field at 6:30 to begin stretching. After 30 minutes of muscle and tendon pulling, tugging and warming up the campers were separated into offensive and defensive groups for drills and conditioning.
One of Mickey Marotti's torture devices.
7:00-8:00: POSITION DRILLS AND STRENGTH CONDITIONING
Offense ran drills on the field and the defensive players were sent to the catacombs of Ohio Stadium to participate in Mickey Marotti's strength and conditioning (torture). After 30 minutes the defensive campers were released from Marotti's “strength and conditioning” and released to the friendly field of Ohio Stadium and the offensive players were sent to the pits of hell.
Chris Ash working the drills with a Friday Night Lights attendee.
8:00-8:10: STRENGTH & CONDITIONING VIDEO
After getting a taste of what Mickey Marotti will put them through, the participants were assembled on the Block O to watch the video board. On the screen the possible future Buckeyes witnessed what Marotti and his strength team put the Ohio State players through. A lot of team building and muscle developing activities were shown.
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8:10-8:35: POSITION DRILLS EVERYBODY
At this point every participant was on the field. From the stands it looks like a sea of people creating their own waves and current on the field. If you don’t focus on a particular group, or you are not looking for a particular player, it is very easy to get lost on what is going on. The coaches and the event organizers are very organized and have the players bouncing from one activity to the next. Many directives are given over the loud speakers and whistles are blown.
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8:35-8:53: TROY SMITH AND ORLANDO PACE
The campers were again instructed to meet at the Block O at midfield. From the stands you could not hear what was being said, but after Luke Fickell addressed the attendees for a few minutes it was obvious that Fickell introduced Troy Smith. Smith spoke to the students for three minutes. Fickell came back and gave a quick introduction for Orlando Pace who kept his speech to a brief two minutes. Again, from the stands you could not hear what was being said, but the kids on the field gave their complete attention to the Buckeye legends.
The video board was used to promote Ohio State's success on and off of the field.
8:43-8:48: 2014 VIDEO RECAP
After Smith and Pace spoke the participants and fans watched a recap of the 2014 season on the video board above South Stands. If I was an attendee on Block O watching that video it would be hard to imagine another school making a bigger impact on where I should spend my collegiate playing days.
One on one drills are a highlight of the evening. Some of the wide receivers and defensive backs had to be separated.
8:50-9:50: ONE ON ONE DRILLS
This was the time for the attendees to shine. This was the moment that most in attendance were looking forward to watching. Most eyes were in the southwest corner of the stadium because that is where the wide receivers and defensive backs did battle. Danny Clark and the other quarterbacks threw passes to Austin Mack and the other wide receivers as they did battle against the defenders.
Kerry Coombs, Zach Smith and Chris Ash paid close attention and offered words of encouragement and advice to the players at their position of specialty. The coaches had their competitive juices flowing as the participants at their position went up against one another.
As the evening rolled on Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett tossed a couple of balls to the young players on the field. This was a great exercise to determine and judge the competitive barometer that the possible recruits had.
9:50-10:00 CLOSING REMARKS
The young men in attendance again found themselves huddled on the Block O at midfield. This time Urban Meyer had their attention. Coach Meyer is called the closer for a reason and from the body language of the members of his audience his message was being well received. After Urban Meyer dismissed the players they were free to find their family members, walk the field and grab some food.
GIVE ME THE DAMN ADVICE
During the drills Braxton Miller and Keyshawn Johnson had a long conversation. The two spoke for at least 10 minutes and Johnson was seen showing Miller positions and moves. I wonder if Johnson advised Miller to tell his quarterback to "give me the damn ball"?
Braxton getting advice from Keyshawn.
