Best Signing Day Ever?
Along with the news of the commitment and signing of 5-star offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere on signing day earlier in the month, the news came out that Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano would be staying at OSU.
It had begun to seem like a formality that Schiano would be leaving the Buckeyes for a job in the NFL, but every report of his departure proved premature, fortunately for Ohio State.
“Yeah, he’s essential to our program right now,” Urban Meyer said at the time. “If he is not my best recruiter, he’s certainly right there near the top. He manages so much for me off the field as well as being one of the top defensive coordinators in America. And he’s a relationship person. He’s not one of those coaches that knows his position or that side of the ball and that’s it, he knows everyone. Because he’s been a head coach before.”
Time for an Extension
Urban Meyer also announced on signing day that he would be receiving a contract extension of two years, which would make his current contract a five-year deal.
Meyer has no intentions of going anywhere, but since Ohio State was being negatively recruited against due to Meyer’s status, OSU athletic director Gene Smith wanted to take some action to help eliminate such practices.
“Yeah, we talked about it after the bowl game,” Smith said. “I can’t remember if it was in Dallas or here, but I heard the rumors about him leaving. It happens all the time — or retiring — I mean, I see that stuff, too, and say ‘I’ve been doing this long enough, I just got three years left, you know, probably hurts in recruiting.’
“So we need to sit down, and I brought it to him and said, ‘Hey, we need to talk about an extension in order to alleviate some of those concerns.’ And I know how healthy he is and how excited he is to be here and so we just need to deal with that. So I got approval from the president to move forward.”
Zone 6 on the Move
The Buckeyes didn’t just return some key coaches in the offseason, they also returned all six of their starting receivers.
That number grows with last year’s freshmen, and the new batch of this year’s rookies. The receivers room is going to be crowded, but the competition that comes from it is going to make everybody better this year.
“I feel like the competition level is going to help you get better and help you at the next level because [the NFL] receiving room’s not thin either,” said H-back K.J. Hill.
“So it’s going to be a lot of competition. And then a brotherhood is built in there. We’re all brothers. And then thirdly, on the field, we can be better than last year. We had some young mistakes we made as a unit and individuals, so I feel like next year we can be a more mature group.”
Deep at Tackle
This summer, the Ohio State defensive tackle depth chart could contain 10 players, which almost borders on ridiculous. The good news is that there is a starting spot available, and room to work into a rotation.
There are also expectations, because for the first time in their careers, they won’t have Tracy Sprinkle or Michael Hill keeping them from getting snaps.
Players like Jashon Cornell, Davon Hamilton, Malik Barrow, and Haskell Garrett are going to get much more of a chance to show what they can do, which is all they’ve ever been fighting for.
“I expect them all to help out, but it’s early,” said Dre’Mont Jones recently. “I don’t know how some of the new guys are. We’ve only gotten a little bit of taste of Malik, and Haskell he’s only gotten a taste. I’ve just got to help them all out.”
For Malik Barrow, he has dealt with injuries early in his career, as did Jones. The two have talked about what it takes to overcome a slow start to your career.
“Of course, everyone’s time is going to come,” Jones said. “He is fully confident in himself and I’m fully confident in him, so I’m not worried about him in this process.”