| 05 June 2011
I am going to have to remind you of something that you don't want to think about. No, it is not last Memorial Day which will always be a little more important for Buckeye fans in the future. I am going back. A few years back. Ohio State versus Florida for the 2006 national championship.
I doubt you need to watch the entire game again. It will be easy to remember the plays I am going to bring to your attention. I am talking about plays where the Florida defensive line ran around us and over us. Ohio State had the better skill players in that game with Ted Ginn the most explosive receiver, Antonio Pittman easily the best back, and Troy Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback. All that firepower but the Buckeyes were out of the game early. It was the dominance Florida had up front. Troy Smith only got 14 passes off.
LSU was the same way. They controlled the game up front. This is not just about the Buckeyes. The SEC has won the last five BCS titles. The SEC has won 7 of the 13 BCS championships. Look at the Auburn - Oregon championship game. Nick Fairley dominated the game. Oregon could get nothing going because they could not block Fairley.
We have been having a great discussion across several threads about my contention that the Buckeyes should name Luke Fickell the head coach if he goes 6-0. I believe he can do that. In talking to coaches who have had contact with him I have yet to speak to anyone who does not agree with me about the chances of success. Fickell impresses other coaches. He has had such a positive impact on the defense since he became more involved. One thing I have not mentioned in regard to the 6 games is I believe there is no middle ground. I don't believe we are going to see people saying they want to see more. I believe he shows he is up to the job or we are going to see quickly that he needs to go somewhere else first and get some seasoning. I think it will be apparent by the time we see 6 games.
The reason I am pushing for the job to be filled quickly is why I brought up the national championship. The SEC is winning championships with great defensive linemen. We have a chance to get the best of a defensive line class we are unlikely to ever see again in this state. We have never seen anything like it before.
Some are arguing that the best of the best are not going anywhere. Who says the best are not going elsewhere? Neither side of this part of the debate knows for sure but the history of the impact of coaching changes on recruiting says the best in Ohio are going elsewhere this year. All we can hope for is time. Get them to wait and see who the coach is going to be. These days so many players want to get it over with before the season starts. You say lots won't. Who? You don't win championships with a class full of three star players. Alabama is a defensive line factory. Alabama does not have to leave the south to find linemen but at least two defensive linemen in the state this year, Adolphus Washington and Se'Von Pittman, have offers from Alabama.
There are five defensive linemen in this class who stand above the others. Adolphus Washington is getting a good bit of recruiting pressure. It is made all the more difficult because he wants to play with his friend Dwayne Stanford, a player we have not offered but other big time programs have. We were facing an uphill battle for Chris Wormley. I think that one is over. He will be headed to Michigan. I would not be surprised to see that happen before the season starts. Ifeadi Odenigbo is one of those kids we have in the past called "Tressel kids." We are obviously going to have to find a new name for them now. He is a down to earth high character kid with a great work ethic. Academics are going to play a role in this for Odenigbo. He is also a kid that I think is odds on to commit early. Greg McMullen is a player that most believed was a definite Buckeye lean. He recently said he was concerned about the investigation and the future of Jim Tressel so he had Nebraska at the top of his list. Before Memorial Day that did not phase me. I believed when the dust settled he would be a Buckeye. The other player is Sevon Pittman. He is a must have recruit. Before Jim Tressel resigned there was much chatter that he was a Michigan lean.
I have no faith in the talk of changing these players minds. Odenigbo is not the kind of kid who will change his mind. He is the kind of kid who sees his word as his bond. Once he commits he commits he is going to stick. Adolphus Washington is such good friends with Dwayne Stanford that he wants to go to college with him but he is going to back out of a verbal to change his mind to a school that has not even offered his friend? Wormley may already be a lost cause but the sooner we have a head coach in the place the better chance we have of changing his mind. That stands to reason to all of these players.
Defensive linemen go at the top of NFL drafts for a reason. Quarterback is the only other position that has the impact on the game of football than defensive linemen. Greg McMullen, Se'Von Pittman, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Adolphus Washington and Chris Wormley are potential program changing recruits. Ohio State has them right here in their hands. Coaching legend John Wooden said, "Be quick but don't hurry." I think the decision makers do the program a great service by heeding that advice in this coach search.
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