The Ohio State Football Scoop

As the newest writer at Men of the Scarlet and Gray, I am honored to have this opportunity to contribute in a small way to Buckeye Nation.  I didn’t have the privilege of attending OSU, but I have bled scarlet and gray for years and look forward to sharing that passion here on this site.  One of the things I enjoy is finding a wide-ranging perspective on the breaking stories we hear about our beloved Buckeyes.  On my Twitter account (@Buckeye_JJ, excuse the shameless plug), I often publish links to similar stories taken from websites across the country.  This helps in seeing the national perspective on our team, as well as occasionally uncovering an interesting perspective we may not get here in the Buckeye State.

Preiodically, I’ll be publishing a rundown of some of these stories broken down into the following categories:  Ohio State Football Team news, Ohio State Football Coaching news and Ohio State Football Recruiting news.  I’ll also try to share a quick story that I’ve heard or have an opinion on.

If you’re like me, you are beyond excited to see what’s happening in Columbus these days.  Not only have we gotten one the best football coaches in college football, he’s not disappointed in his drive, passion and commitment to change.  Although rumors circulated that the current players were not initially happy with this new mindset, it’s been exciting to watch how quickly even that has turned around.

Coach Meyer’s desire is to have the most competitive group of young men on the gridiron each and every fall.  Below, I feature several links to stories and videos about how the players are reacting to this offseason regiment.  But, to me, the most gratifying example of this is to follow the players on Twitter  and watch how they are responding each day.  Players are excited to workout, hungry to improve and seem to be enjoying the process, the coaches and each other along the way.  The coaches also seem to be playing up to it as evidenced by new Assistant AD for Football Sports Performance, Mickey Marotti’s (@CoacMickMarotti) comments, “Great workout this morning, Buckeye Nation should be proud. Not as many Loafs today … at the WHAC” (see story below for more details).

This has even filtered down to things outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.  Take for example, Cardale Jones (@Cordale10) who stated recently, “Class at 9:30 can’t wait to see what I got on my math exam from Wednesday” to which he responded with “96 and whatever on my math exam.”  For a student athlete who has struggled with academics in the past, it sounds as if he is even winning in the classroom. That’s a very good sign to me.  Go Bucks!

Ohio State Football Team News

• Ohio State Football 2012: Predicting the Pre-Spring 2-Deep Depth Chart – Here is a look at what the depth chart may look like before the start of the season, with starters in bold.
• Ohio State Football: The Buckeyes’ Strengths Heading into Spring – Last season was unlike most for Ohio State, and without the hiring of Urban Meyer, the 2012 season could have easily been below-par as well. Buckeye Nation is anxious to see what their new head coach can do with their team, and considering Meyer’s track record, who could blame them?
• Ohio State Football: 5 Reasons Buckeyes Will Dominate Big Ten in 2012 – Meyer, without coaching a single game to date, has already reestablished and rejuvenated the program, as well as the belief of the fanbase that there will be no rebuilding year; rather, the ribbon cutting on a return to prominence will begin in 2012.
• Ohio State Football: 5 Things the Buckeyes Learned from Last Year – Just about anything that could go wrong for the Buckeyes did go wrong as they regressed at times during the season and saw their Big Ten dynasty disappear in the blink of an eye.  But with a new era and a bright future under Urban Meyer—even with this year’s postseason ban—there is much the Buckeyes can take from last year and improve. Here are five lessons they will try to carry with them.
• An indepth look at who will be the replacements in the OSU rushing attack – A look at replacing key talent at the running back spot heading into 2012.
• Ohio State Football: Why the Offensive Line’s Growth Will Make or Break Offense – Ironically, it was current Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer that exposed Ohio State’s poor offensive line play when he was the head coach at Florida during the 2007 BCS National Championship Game. Now that Meyer has come full circle back to OSU, he is working to try to turn the position around after  having only one lineman drafted in the first round since Tressel became head coach (Nick Mangold in 2006)
• Meyer’s incentive-based system encourages growth from OSU players – A great read on how the new rewards system works in the football program at Ohio State and how some players, especially Jonathan “Big Hank” Hankins, are thriving under it.
• An Insiders’ Look into the Ohio State Strength and Conditioning Program – No secret here, these guys are working hard, but they have a ways to go. The ceiling is high. And I’m sure that’s right where Coach Marotti wants them. If effort and intensity is the measuring stick, expect big things from the Buckeye Football team come 2012.
• John Simon talks about offseason drills (Video)  – Beast
• Etienne Sabino talking about offseason drills (Video)
• Buckeyes Should Have New Edge In 2012 – Ohio State’s 2011 defense wasn’t bad, but it was missing big-play ability. Part of that was a lack of sacks, and one of the main reasons was OSU’s inability to bring pressure off the edge.  Here’s a look at what 2012 could bring.

Ohio State Football Coaching News

• Pleased With Winter, Meyer Looks To Spring – A recap of the latest press conference from Urban Meyer as he looks forward to Spring practices.
• Urban Meyer Press Conference, Part 1 (Video)
• Urban Meyer Press Conference, Part 2 (Video)
  
• Urban Meyer Press Conference, Part 3 (Video)
• Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer talks to The Salt Lake Tribune – An interview of Urban Meyer while on his vacation by some of the former press that covered him in Utah.
• Ohio State Football Coach Urban Meyer Is Escaping Florida And Selling His House For $1.7 Million – A sneak peak with photo gallery at how our illustrious coach previously lived in Florida (yes, there is no privacy)
• OSU S&C Coach Mickey “Coach Mick” Marotti speaking to Ohio High School Football Coaches in 2012 – A lengthy, yet informative video of Coach Marotti addressing the Ohio High School football coaches, showing them the new strength and conditioning program at Ohio State and encouraging them to do something similar.
• Assistant AD for Football Sports Performance Mickey Marotti on offseason workouts (video)
• OSU Defensive Coordinator Withers Doing DB Drills (Video) – Watch as the Buckeye defensive backs practice going for the ball at its highest point.
• OSU Coach Hinton Teaches Ball Security Drills (Video) – How many times did we get frustrated at Buckeye players’ lack of ball security?  Here, one of the new coaches at Ohio State teaches ball security drills.
• OSU QB Coach Tom Hermann’s QB Drills (Video) – Watch Braxton Miller and the other quarterbacks as they run offseason drills in the Woody.
• Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator ‘can’t wait to put the pads on’ in spring drills – An exciting story on Tom Hermann and his motivation.
• Ohio State Football: Hiring of Kerry Coombs Another Brilliant Urban Meyer Move – A great read on how the newest Buckeye coach will help recruiting in the Cincinnati area

Ohio State Football Recruiting News

• Future Buckeye Athlete knows the importance of marketing – A great story on how future Buckeye Eli Woodard got his name out to the recruiting world and wound up at Ohio State.
• Ohio State Football Recruiting: Buckeyes Hoping for National Pull in 2013 Class – Ohio State’s recruiting tactics under Urban Meyer have already gone to another level from where Jim Tressel had been recruiting in his time as head coach.
• Ohio State 2013 Recruiting Overview – Ohio State currently has five commitments for their 2013 recruiting class, and all are among the highest-rated in the country at their respective positions. How does the Buckeye big board look as we are about to enter the spring evaluation phase?
• Ohio State Recruiting: 2013 Tight Ends – An early look at Ohio State’s efforts to recruit tight ends in the 2013 class.
• Ohio State Recruiting: 2013 Wide Receivers – An early look at Ohio State’s efforts to recruit wide receivers in the 2013 class.
• Ohio State Recruiting: 2013 Running Backs – An early look at Ohio State’s efforts to recruit running backs in the 2013 class.
• 2013 TE Commit Mike Heuerman Down to Ohio State and Three Others – Mike Heuerman’s recruitment took off in January and has not slowed down since. The four-star tight end has visited Ohio State, Miami, and LSU in the past month.
• Kerry Coombs already making headway with 2014 Conner QB Drew Barker’s recruitment
  
• Inside Ohio State Football with Camren Williams – Camren Williams is a linebacker prospect from West Roxbury, Massachusetts . After the Penn State scandal broke, Camren was recruited by a number of schools but chose Ohio State. He was a much-needed recruit to add depth at the linebacker position.
• Inside Ohio State Football With Frank Epitropoulos – Frank Epitropoulos was another Buckeye that committed early and did not waver in his commitment.  He was the MVP of the International Bowl, an All-Star game for some of the top players in high school football, and graciously took some time for an interview to help Buckeye nation gain an inside look.
• 2013 North Broward Prep High CB Jay Jenkins Has OSU as a Favorite
• Kent Roosevelt (OH) 2013 QB Recruit TraVon Chapman Set To Visit OSU In A Few Weeks
• 2013 Delaware WR Andre Patton will visit Ohio State in March
• 2013 Wichita Falls (TX) Rider QB J.T. Barrett coming to OSU for unofficial on March 12
• Bishop McNamara High (MD) 2013 ATH Milan Collins to visit OSU on April 14
  
• 2014 DE recruit and nephew of Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson of Trotwood-Madison: “I love Ohio State!”