I had this post ready to go when it was first announced that Joe Paterno had passed but then had read that this hadn’t been confirmed by the family.
Unfortunately the inevitable has come to pass, and so we join with college football fans around the country in honoring Joe Paterno.
Dear Penn St. fans, Urban Meyer may have at one point been a candidate to replace JoePa and he may or may not have used his time on campus interviewing for the job to secretly check out all your recruits and your strategies to land those recruits. What we do know for sure is Coach Meyer has a real affinity for your 2012 recruiting class and has stolen yet another member of it.
Camren Williams is a 6’2″ 215 lbs 4* Linebacker from West Roxbury, MA. Camren was committed to play LB at PSU until he switched his commitment to Ohio state today via Twitter. Camren Williams was the heart and soul of the 2012 PSU recruiting class and Penn St. fans are none to happy to see his flipping. What many PSU fans fail to realize is that although at one point in time their school was known as LBU times have changed and I and others will argue that OSU has had a much better history of LBs. Camren brings speed and size and intelligence to the LB position that Urban Meyer needs. He becomes the 23rd member of the 2012 recruiting class. PSU fans should worry because urban may not be done as Camrens HS teammate and God brother Armani Reeves was on OSU campus the last 2 days and has an offer to join this OSU class as well. So the news may only get worse for PSU and better for OSU.
A lot has been made of the fact that Ohio St. doesn’t have any members of the 2013 class. Some say its a whole year away and it isn’t a big deal others think the previous staff didn’t want to get any commitments knowing they wouldnt be the staff in 2013 and wanted the new staff to have a clean slate. Whatever the reason was the wait is over. Today at a highly publicized press conference at Trotwood Madison High School in Trotwood, Ohio OSU landed its first recruit for the 2013 class.
Cam Burrows a 6’2″ 205 lbs 5* DB has become recruit no. 1 in the class that will bring us back to a bowl game and to national prominence. Cam is considered the top recruit in the state of Ohio and is a five star recruit by every recruiting service. He is a ESPN 150 member and will no doubt be All-American as a senior next year. He won a HS state championship as a junior and can play either Safety or Cornerback at the next level. He had offers from every top tier school in the country and choose OSu over scUM and Bama and LSU and Tennesee and Wisky.
Former OSU running back and Heisman winner Eddie George has a new career: Shakespearean Actor.
George dons the toga to star in Julius Caesar, now playing at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival.
After retiring from the NFL, Eddie pursued his dream of becoming an actor. He worked with acting coaches to refine his skills and eventually landed the role of Caesar.
Via NPR:
Denice Hicks of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival knows some of those fans will come out to see Julius Caesar because of him, but, she says, “he’s a really strong actor — really, really strong.”
“And,” she says, he has “a charismatic stage presence. There is no other actor who could play Caesar the way he could.”
George’s Caesar sports a bald head and a toga. He looks confident without being cocky. While he’s relaxed and soft-spoken offstage, onstage, his voice booms.
Audience member Sherry Lawler isn’t a football fan, but she says George has a stage presence that’s reminiscent of a famous actor in an iconic role.
“He reminds me of Yul Brynner in The King and I,” she says.
Below is the All Things Considered profile on the former Heisman winner. Those heading to the Nashville area can buy tickets on the NSF site.
We are exactly 2 weeks away from National Signing Day of Letter of Intents and Coach Meyer is filling up his class with a fury. As was mentioned yesterday Coach Meyer knows where the team is lacking depth and is doing all he can to shore up those areas. Today he got a Linebacker he is in desperate need of depth at.
David Perkins a 6’2″ 225 lbs Athlete that played both RB and LB in high school in South Bend, Indiana has become commit no. 22 for Coach Meyer and Ohio St. He visited OSU this past weekend with 3 other recruits and of the 4 of them 3 are now OSU commits. He wanted to commit to OSU on Sunday but needed time to go back and talk to his parents and to let other coaches know he wasn’t going to chose them. Perkins is rated as the no. 2 recruit in the state of Indiana and is a four star recruit. Also Perkins who is from South Bend, In also was a former Notre Dame recruit who Urban flipped to OSU. He will come in to OSU as a LB who could see early playing time on STs. This is a really solid recruit and will just add to the awesomeness that has become this years recruiting class. Who would have thought 2 months ago that OSU would be sitting here with a top 3 recruiting class after all we went through last year. Not me that is for sure.
Coach Meyer knew he had needs the day he stepped foot on campus. He could see right away that the Buckeyes were sadly lacking in enough OLmen and LBers. He has put the focus of his recruiting on landing as many OL and LBs as he can for this years class and along the way he hasn’t cared one bit about whose feelings he may hurt in trying to flip recruits. He has taken recruits from Notre Dame and Michigan St. and seems to have a real affinity to the kids at Penn St. Today he managed to do both in taking a recruit who use to be a verbal commit to Penn St.
Marc Givler of Rivals has announced thatJoey O’Connor a 6’4″ 295 lbs Offensive Lineman from Windsor, Colorado has committed to Ohio State. O’Connor is a versatile recruit that can and prob will play every position on the OL from tackle to guard to center. If his hands are good enought he may line up as a tackle eligible receiver too lol. O’Connor is an ESPN 150 recruit and a 4 star rated as the best recruit in Colorado and the 15th best OT in this years recruiting class. His strength and speed are a plus and he is a beast at run blocking with a true nasty streak. He will do fine in pass blocking but does need to improve his hand placement to avoid too many holds. He will be a beast at Ohio State and will add to the hatred that PSU fans have for Urban Meyer and OSU right now.
As much good news as we have had lately and with the Buckeye mens team doing so well today it was bound to be saddened sooner or later. Jeremy Cash a sophomore to be at OSU who played on special teams this past season has asked for and been given his release. Dominick Clarke arrested this past week for OVI after having been arrested a few months back was also released due to his criminal charges and lack of judgment. Derjuan Gambrell a RS Freshman was charged with assaulting his girlfriend and holding against her will. All 3 players careers at OSU are over and that is a sad thing but Coach Meyer seems to be running a zero tolerance policy right now and is trying to rid the team of troubled players.
On a side note it also appears OSU has lost CB coach Taver Johnson to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Johnson was expected to remain on Urbans staff but Paul Haynes was recently named the Arky DC and has used his connections to lure away Taver.
Today may be a huge day for OSU hoops and OSU lady hoops and OSU Mens Hockey but Urban Meyer has been stealing their thunder all day. He was a guest on the CBS broadcast booth for part of the Bball game and then at halftime was introduced to the crowd and then he introduced his family and coaching staff. All this on the heels of hosting a huge recruiting weekend.
Well it seems the first recruit to drop for Meyer from this weekends visits is former Notre Dame recruit Taylor Decker. The 6’8″ 310 pound OT from Vandalia, Ohio is listed as a 4 star by both Scouts and Rivals. Scouts has him as the 14th best OT in the country and notes the positives in him as Aggressiveness and Tenacity as well as Flexibility and Size. He will need to work on his strength and power but that will be east to do under OSUs new S&C coaches and the weight room. Decker will fill a need for OSU since they are dearly lacking in true OTs.
Since being hired nearly a month ago I believe no less then the amount of people in India and China combined have been rumored to be joining the staff of Urban Meyer. From the stupidly insane Kirk Herbstreit to the awesomely delightful Chris Spielman. In the mean time about half the asst. coaches around the country turned rumors of interest by Meyer into huge pay raises and contract extensions at their current jobs. We here at Motsag hate the guessing game or rumor mongering so we will only update the coaches once OSU makes them official. So here is the list so far of coaches who are 100% hired and on the staff.
Tom Herman – Offensive Coordinator and QB coach. Herman is a young coach who has studied and used the spread offense to improve the offenses at Rice and Iowa St. He is a member of MENSA and seems to fit the role of a guy who has tons of energy and will recruit hard in Texas and the Great Plains.
Everett Withers – Co-Defensive Coordinator and Asst. head Coach. Withers is a defensive guru with experince coaching DBs in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans and did coach former Buckeye Donnie Nickey. He he is young and will recruit hard the Mid-Atlantic area like Washington DC and Virginia and Maryland and New Jersey.
Luke Fickell – Defensive Coordinator and Asst. Head Coach (as best as we can tell). Everyone knows who Fickell is and what he brings to the staff. Meyer said Fickell will call all defensive plays in the games. He will likely be our Lead Recruiter too and is well known as one of the best recruiters in the country.
Stan Drayton – Running Back Coach. Drayton was hired last year from Florida where he worked under Coach Meyer. He was hired here as the WR coach but was traditionally the RB coach before coming here. He moved back to his traditional job starting in January. Drayton will recruit the Florida and Georgia and South East like a mad man with tons of ties and relationships down there from his time at Florida.
Mike Vrabel – Linebackers Coach. The guy is Ohio State. After playing 14 years in the NFL he came home to his alma mater Ohio State to help his BFF Fickell and was retained by Coach Meyer today. He will recruit the North East and Ohio and will use the strategy look at my handful of Super Bowl Rings.
Taver Johnson – Cornerbacks Coach. Taver is also being retained from the Tressel era. He has been at OSU for 4 years and has ties to the Cincinnati area for recruiting.
**UPDATE** Zach Smith – Wide Receivers Coach. Zach Smith was the WR coach at Temple and Marshall and 5 years under Coach Meyer. he is the Grandson of Former OSU HC Earle Bruce. He will handle recruiting in PA and WV and MD as well as help in Florida.
UPDATE UPDATE Tim Hinton – Tight Ends and Full Backs as well as Recruiting Coordinator. Hinton has ties to Ohio and Ohio State. He is from Ohio and coached for years at the HS level before going to UC as an Asst. Coach he also was a Grad Asst at OSU the same time as Urban Meyer. He will play a huge part in getting the TEs and FBs involved in the passing game. As recruiting Coordinator he will be the go to guy for all areas of the country.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE Ed Warinner – Offensive Line and Co-Offensive Coordinator. Warinner is a career OL coach with success at every stop along the way. He will no doubt be a large improvement over the previous OL coach. As CO-OC he will be in charge of the running game. He has ties to Ohio and will handle the Cincinnati area for recruiting.
Mickey Marotti – Strength and Conditioning. Mickey is considered one of the best S&C coaches in the country and a master motivator. He is also one of Coach Meyers most trusted friends.
Brian Voltolini – Director of Football Operations. Voltolini will be responsible for the operation of the football program’s budget, scholarships, team travel, housing, camps and clinics. Pantoni will supervise all aspects of the program’s administrative duties for recruiting, including on-campus official and unofficial visits, budgeting, travel and database management. Basically the do it all and get no recognition guy.
Mark Pantoni – Director of Player Personnel. Pantoni will be in charge of everything recruiting related. He is a recruiting guru and will implement some awesome exciting events to lure kids to campus and sell the program. He will be the contact guy for anyone wanting to visit OSU and could be the most important hire so far for Meyer.
Ohio State is limited to 10 actual coaches the last 3 listed above aren’t considered coaches but are part of his non coaching staff. With Coach Meyer and all 10 asst coaches already named the staff is complete. Coach Meyer has named himself the STs coach. One thing is very evident with each confirmed hire it is obvious that Coach Meyer is hiring smart and young coaches with specific ties to certain geographical areas of the country for recruiting purposes.
There comes a point in every college football season when you have to sit back, take a look at all the undefeated teams and ask yourself which ones are faking it, coasting through their early season on a wave of bad opponents and lucky wins. For me, that point comes exactly at Week 5, when the field of unbeatens is usually whittled down to just over a handful.
In 2011, college football’s Year of Stupid, it should come as no surprise that with a third of the season already in the books, fifteen teams had still yet to lose, and that of those fifteen, exactly zero would finish the year unblemished. It’s time now to take a final look at this year’s FraudWatch, an experiment in separating the contenders from the pretenders.
A quick refresher: I have defined a “fraud team” as one who makes it to Week 5 undefeated (and with at least four wins), yet ends the season with five or more losses (including all post-season games). I look mostly at the two things mentioned above: opponents’ overall record and margin of victory. Lots of bad opponents or close games usually indicates a fraud team.
I also added a couple of extra categories for teams that only showed some of the signs of fraudulence and predicted those teams to finish with anywhere from 1-4 losses. I also declared all other teams “safe,” and guessed that none of them would lose more than 2 games.
The overall results were pretty good. Of the two teams I identified as most fraudy, one (Texas Tech) achieved just that, somehow managing to lose 7 games. The other, Kansas State, had a little better of a year than expected, losing only 3 games.
The next group (pegged at 3 or 4 losses) was the real eye-opener. Both Illinois and Georgia Tech (my #3 and #4 teams) finished with 5 or more losses. The other team in this group, Oklahoma State, became the only fraud-ranked team that should have been left off the list, losing just once all year. Had these teams been included with the top two, I would have gotten 3 out of 5 correct, which isn’t too shabby. Next year, I will not be so generous.
Of the three teams in the 1-3 losses group (‘Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin), two (OU, Wisky) were properly placed with 3 losses on the year, while Texas overunderachieved, dropping five games, meaning that 4 of my top 6 ended up being actual frauds.
Only one of the seven “safe” teams, Clemson, turned in a season with more than two losses. And this points to the primary success of FraudWatch, accurately separating the contenders and pretenders with only a couple of missteps.
Changes to the system next year will most likely be merely aesthetic. I’ll drop one of the categories and split teams into Frauds (5+ losses), Pretenders (2-4 losses), and Contenders (0-2 losses). These groups will be divided relatively evenly based on how many total unbeatens there are. If there is any unbalance, the Frauds and Contenders groups will be the heaviest, because that’s more fun.
…at the end of the tunnel.
His name is Urban Meyer and he will be responsible for putting to bed on of the darkest periods in OSU football history. The last time Ohio State’s football team lost 7 games the state capitol of Pennsylvania was destroyed in a fire. The Klondike gold rush began, and Grant’s Tomb was officially dedicated. This year was officially BS.
The 2011-2012 season is officially over thank the lord. It was a fitting end to a dismal season. Special team let downs and let downs by key seniors highlighted a sloppily played game by OSU’s offense and special team.
Ohio State’s defense played well limiting the Gators to 263 yards total offense and actually out-gained the Gators. Andre Debose took a kickoff following a Braxton Miller touchdown to Devier Posey 99 yards completely untouched. OSU tacked on a late first half field goal after Miller overthrew a wide open Posey in the end zone. In the 2nd half the Buckeye special teams let down was continued as Florida blocked a punt and ran it back 14 yards for a touchdown.
Posey and Herron had 2 fumbles combined and J.B. Shugarts and at least 2 false start penalties that I know of before I forced myself to zone out and start making fun of Penn State. We also had Jim Bollman going out with a band and running play action on 3rd and longs multiple times. Can ANYONE tell me why ANY offensive coordinator runs play action on 3rd and long? Who on Earth are you trying to fool? End rant.
So yeah…the game was tough to watch…
Moving forward…
Jim Bollman is gone.
Urban Meyer and a great coaching staff are in.
The future looks bright…or certainly brighter than it’s been in the past year.
el Kaiser - i_aint_yer_pa