The debate rages on. I don't know if is it going to go away anytime soon. I want to step away from the emotional debate and talk about what happens on the football field.

I touched on it in my last blog. I have been asked about it repeatedly since then. Do I really think we will better without these outstanding seniors? My answer is we need to try to be. I can't see the Buckeyes being better at left tackle. I have hopes for Andrew Norwell coming over and being able to play left tackle. I don't expect a player to be as good as Adams was last year. I can count the number of bad plays by Adams in the second half of the year on one hand. The odds we are going to be as good with a true sophmore who may be playing out of position are not in our favor. We have no other choice right now but to try for the first half of the year.

On the other extreme we have Solomon Thomas. He was going to be a fifth year senior who has had little impact here. Whether he was suspended or not he was going to losing reps to a very talented bunch of redshirt freshmen and incoming freshman.

With Pryor, Herron and Posey we have a different set of circumstances. At running back Herron is coming off a great junior year but we have an embarrassment of riches who are just waiting their turn. Hall, Berry and Hyde have a nice dose of game experience.  On the other hand at wide receiver Posey is coming off a forgettable junior year but there are questions about the depth in the receiver corps. The number of reps with returning players is minimal after Philly Brown who will be stepping into the starting lineup in Dane Sanzenbachers role. The most problematic is quarterback. I really like the talent level alot but the game experience is slim to none.

The on the field question in front of us is what benefits are there in bringing back the suspended players? The argument being put forth is Jim Tressel would not abandon the other seniors for the long term interest of the program. That staying with the young players is in the best long term interest of the program is not in dispute. You put Taylor Graham or Braxton Miller, or even Kenny Guiton in there with a veteran All-American center in Mike Brewster and a three year starter at right tackle in J.B. Shugarts, you give him a safety net to work behind. The Buckeyes will have talent at running back no matter which one gets the nod and lets not forget that the best fullback to play at Ohio State in better than ten years returns in Zack Boren, so the running attack should be able to keep defenses from teeing off on whichever young quarterback is lined up under center.

There is an assumption that bringing back the suspended players will benefit the seniors and increase the chances of a successful 2011 campaign. The devil is in the details. The Buckeye staff cannot worry about game six. There are five games to win before they return. This team has to be prepared. That means the players who will be playing those first five games need to be seeing the bulk of the practice reps. That they are young means they need to preseason reps that much more. Once the season starts the starters have to soak up all the reps. The suspended players are going to have so much rust that you can't convince me that the team will be better off bringing them back. They are talented players. They have lots of experience. I just don't see a scenario where they are going to be game ready. A few fans questioned my assumption that we could be a better team without them. The rust of the suspended players and the experience that they youngsters will have by that time, nearly a half a season, leaves me believing that we could be as good for 2011 by sticking with the game one starters.

The other question is whether the suspended players should go ahead and go pro. They should. There is no guarantee they will regain their starting jobs. Thomas was not a starter and will not find his way back into the two-deep. The talent level at running back will keep Herron from regaining the starting job there. Loved what he brought to the table. He was a brutally effective back but he was the least gifted back in the stable. He held the starting job because he was an upper classman who did the little things right. Six games into the season a more talented back will be doing the little things right. The good news for Herron is the senior running back class is mediocre at best. He is coming off a fine junior year. Sitting for a year is not going to be in his best interest. There is much chatter that he has already made the decision not to return.

Mike Adams is in a similar boat. I watch line play. The draft guys are talking about this being a solid but not outstanding draft. I saw all of the top rated tackles. Adams was as good as Nate Solder, Gabe Carimi and Anthony Castonzo, and he is younger. That he was just coming into his own will be something the pros will like. Since there was no reason to think he was coming out the scouts have not looked at him hard yet so I think his stock will go up once they do. I only hope Norwell is good enough that Adams would have to sit. If I were advising him I would say go. Don't take the chance that you will sit for a year. You are a talent and have experience but you also have rust. Your stock will go down if you sit for an entire year.

With Pryor and Posey, who knows? If we were deeper at split end I do not believe Posey would have been a starter by seasons end. T.Y. WiIliams is looking really good in bowl practices. I believe Pryor got better this season. I don't know if he got NFL better. I don't think so. I think he needed his senior year. Quarterback is the hardest position on the field to learn. The more reps a player has the better. Pryor is proof of that. If any of the young quarterbacks are coming along I just don't know if JT pulls him. Any other coach I would say no way but Jim Tressel is always going to do right by every single player. A clear majority of Buckeye Nation is still upset about the selling of Gold Pants and Championship rings. Former players are starting to chime in with Nick Mangold and Santonio Holmes the most recent to voice their dismay at what these players did. I am sure Jim Tressel is just as disappointed. His is the only opinion that matters in this. Is he ready to let either of these players come back, try to right things with Buckeye Nation and improve their draft status for next year? If I am either Pryor or Posey I have a sit down with the boss and try to find out before I decide. In the end I think it is risky business going to the NFL when they are not ready but even more risky to return to a lineup that may not have a place for you.

I was going to wait until my next blog to say this but I think it needs to be said right now.

What most of Buckeye Nation is angry about is the sale/trade of Gold Pants, and to a lesser degree Big Ten Championship rings. Now that more information is coming out it appears Boom Herron did not sell or trade his Gold Pants nor his Big Ten Championship rings. I want to apologize to Herron for including him in the group that did sell or trade this most beloved of Buckeye trophies.

This story blew up and disappeared in 48 hours. The violators have been identified and suspensions have already been announced. Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams, Boom Herron, DeVier Posey and Solomon Thomas all will be suspended for the first five games of next year. It looks like they will be allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. There is good news and bad news in all of this.

First, when is the NCAA going to join the 21st century and allow a stipend? You are still going to have violators but the numbers will go way down when these kids have a few dollars in their pockets. All the money that is going into the member schools bank accounts from these athletes but they can't put any of it in their pockets, yet they want them to turn down money and fringe benefits? Ridiculous.

I could not be happier with what the school did. I could not be more proud of The Ohio State University and Jim Tressel right now. Auburn is applauding the first ever professional quarterback at the college level in Cam Newton. This proud Big Ten school slaps what amounts to the death penalty on its violators. This started out as players signing some memorabilia in exchange for tattoos. Now we find out they sold treasured Big Ten championship rings and they even sold their Gold Pants. I am sure I am not the only one who would be found living in a box outside the homeless shelter but I would still have my Gold Pants. They did not just sell memorabilia. They sold their Buckeye souls. The Ohio State University doesn't mean anything to them. They spit on the school and the football program.

Why do I say the death penalty? 5 games next year is one game short of half a season. They may as well decide to go pro. The only one who is likely to regain his starting position is Mike Adams. Yes, I am even including Pryor in that statement. Look at the talent on hand. How many people have been calling for Jamal Berry, Jordan Hall or Carlos Hyde to be the starter? We hear Rod Smith is lighting up bowl practices. The same goes with Posey. Unlike Herron he did not have a good season. T.Y. Williams is another player who is opening eyes at bowl practices. Sol Thomas was a backup and the talent coming in was going to relegate him to permanent bench warmer anyway. Who have we been hearing about all year? Taylor Graham. Braxton Miller is due in here in a few weeks. What happens when these players have all of spring, all of fall camp and five full games to show what they can do? I suspect these seniors are going to be hard put to get their jobs back. Unlike most seniors, Jim Tressel is not going to be giving these frauds any second chances. They will only get back on the field if they are absolutely needed. The only position that I question whether we have the talent to just reload is left tackle. Right now I don't care. I would rather see a scarlet and gray bleeding Buckeye out there giving it his all rather than see any of these frauds back in a Buckeye uniform. Gene Smith said in the press conference that the players have been selling their Buckeye memorabilia for years supposedly for economic hardships. Helping out their families. How, getting them tattoos?

I believe not suspending them for the bowl game is giving them all an opportunity to show for the NFL. The number of games suspended shows they are not welcome back.

We are having a discussion on the Bucknuts message board about who could replace coach Hazel. Hodgepodge came up with a list and I would expect the next hire to come off that list but the discussion evolved into something else. The name Josh McDaniels came up. I do not believe that McDaniels would consider taking a position coaches job at the college level. I wonder if he would consider an offensive coordinators job at a crown jewel school of college football, especially in his home state?

The argument against it is a strong one. He is an NFL guy. NFL guys don't come back to the college game. At least not as long as they still see the NFL as a possibility. I have argued that point myself most recently when the name John Gruden came up with the Miami job.

Would he be wise to come back to college? I think yes. He has some negatives that could be better worked out at the college level, considering how young he is. He is a hard line it is my way or the highway kind of coach right out of the Parcells/Belichick school. The day of the authoritarian coach is over at the NFL level. Coughlin is the last old school guy and he has to win. He is only tolerated by the players as long as check marks are popping up in the win column.  Mangini tried it. He has lost one job and may be out of another. NFL players are grown me. They are being paid alot of money. They don't want to have some guy old enough to be their father riding them like rented mules let alone some guy who may be younger than the veterans on the team.

The Belichick way is the Parcells way which is the way it was done back in the day. It is still done that way in the college game. College players are still kids. They have their parents still trying to tell them what to do. High school coaches tend to be authoritarian. That might serve a Josh McDaniels better. I think it could be a great learning experience for him. He would learn how to deal with immaturity from players who make Terrelle Owens and Chad Johnson look like wise old men and how to deal with them, or he would learn that his way of doing things are better in the college game. Very young head coaches at the NFL level either become stars of the game or disappear in short order. I think their own lack of experience hurts them. It is like a player going pro too early. He did not learn the game well enough against players he could work on his game against. Now he is stepping up to play against veterans who did learn those lessons.

I think coming to college could be the best thing that happened to Josh McDaniels. I am sure what he brings to the game would be good for a college program. Darrell Hazel was not the OC in name but was the de facto OC. Why not name McDaniels the assistant head coach like Hazel was and let him run the offense, at least until the NFL comes calling again or until McDaniels realizes he might fit the college game better?

The class of of 2011 has been over for me for some time. This is one great haul no matter where the class is ranked, though the consensus it is is a top five class. The only thing left as far as I was concerned was Doran Grant. I think an elite corner is a great need.

That all went to hell in a hand basket with decision by Urban Meyer to resign. It gave the Buckeyes the chance to land one of the elite players in the country and Jim 'He can't close" Tressel got Ryan Shazier here and brought him into the warm embrace of Buckeye football. Talk about a coup.

Shazier is one of the elite players in the country this year. A national top 100 player on everyones list. The buzz is he was Ohio States top rated linebacker in the country. I am not sure about him as a linebacker. Look as his film. You will see an edge rusher. I am a firm believer in the move down principle. Not such a fan of the move back theory. Shazier has been going forward his entire life. Linebackers have always needed some degree of coverage skills but the way the game is played now it is even more important. He brings some attributes that give me reason to believe that he could be a good linebacker though. His read-react-run is as good as I have seen this year. He has that uncanny ability to find the ball, he does it quickly, then gets there quickly. Outstanding tackler. That is something that gets overlooked. He hits and wraps. No yards after contact with Shazier. There seems to be some conversation about his speed. I am not going to try say forty times don't matter. I just think more and more talent evaluators are looking at football speed just as much as stop watch speed. I have no question about Shaziers game speed. Another thing I was impressed with is Shaziers ability to get off blocks. Finally the kid has a motor that will not quit. If he does not pan out at linebacker I am sure he can fit the Leo. Great get for the Buckeyes.

It was a massive recruiting weekend for the Buckeyes. Last weekend it was the committed players. This weekend it was the top rated uncommitted players on the Buckeyes board. I think it would be a good idea to mix in some committed Buckeyes but that is not the way they did it. I was very happy to see outstanding Maryland athlete Darius Jennings come in for a visit. Another name to keep in mind is super defensive back Byron Moore. He is from California and signed with USC. I don't know what happened but he ended up at Harbor Community College. His film is very impressive. He could play anywhere in the defensive backfield. He has no visits set for the state of California. There is a sense the Buckeyes have a real shot at him. Doran Grant was here this weekend too. I like these three defensive backs coming in together like that. They can plot and scheme on how they would be the defensive backfield of the future. Ejuan Price and Curtis (I got his name right this time) Grant are both in this weekend. I don't like that Ohio State is first on Grants visit list. Price should be at the end of his visits. We should know something soon on him. He has been to Iowa. I can't imagine he is happy with disarray going on there.

Hopefully we will have good news on a couple more of these prospects. I am very much interested in hearing from the defensive backs.

Tressel can't close. We have heard it for so long we can just use the abbreviation, "TCC". There were rumblings even before the National Championship game in the 2006-2007 season. After that most forgettable game the bottom fell out of recruiting. It looked like one of those years that Buckeye fans would always remember. A National Championship and the number one recruiting class. Fans were talking about it like was just a matter of time. A player like Joseph Barksdale, rumored to be a Buckeye even before the season started verballed LSU. It seemed to steamroll from there. Tressel can't close.

It seems to rear its ugly head every year at the end of recruiting. The message boards on the various sites are dominated by it. Fans no longer believe the Buckeyes are going to finish strong in recruiting. The recent verbal of Ohio born and raised Tank Carradine set off a barrage of I told you so posts when Carradine verballed Florida State on Wednesday.

Here is the truth. It isn't that Tressel can't close. Tressel doesn't try to close. Not the way it is done out there by so many programs. I will never forget a few years ago talking with the mother of an out of state recruit I got friendly with during recruiting. This was post-signing day. Her son did not sign with the Buckeyes. She saw them all. About the only major coach who did not offer her son was Mack Brown at Texas. Every other coach made his way into her living room. She told me the only coach who did not negatively recruit was Jim Tressel. It is important to keep in mind that her son did not choose to become a Buckeye. The Buckeye coach is not going to play the game the way the "closers" play the game. Pete Carroll is a great guy. You can hate him all you want. People associated with Ohio State speak highly of him. Do you recall just a couple of years ago that two of the nations best receivers were comparing notes and discovered that Carroll told each of them that he was their number one guy? Nobody is going to forget that spectacle last year with Urban Meyer, after resigning, coming back and some of the things he was telling recruits. It was appalling. Do you see Jim Tressel doing that?

A cousin of mine found himself in a position to go along on an unofficial recruiting visit with his wifes cousin because the young mans Dad could not make it here. My cousin was always a Buckeye fan but became a diehard Jim Tressel fan after this recruiting visit. He says they drove around campus that day in a truck. Jim Tressel never brought up football.

Jim Tressel can't close? No he can't. He never will.

I thought we had reached the heights of incompetence when the NCAA made Cam Newton the first officially sanctioned professional football player in college ranks recently. Well, FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar might be an even worse decision but for most of those reading this that is not such a big deal. I was not ready for people in positions of power in American sport to make another decision as bad as the Cam Newton decision. I didn't think it was possible. Then the Big Ten powers that be came really close to making me forget the incompetence of the NCAA when they revealed the new names for the Big Ten divisions and the new logo.

Fans were excited about this. Kicking around names that went from outstanding like the Plains division and the Lakes division, to the stupid, to the honorary. I don't know anyone who was for north and south or east and west especially when the chances the divisions were going to line up that way were not very good. Recently it was floated that the Big Ten was leaning toward the Plains division and the Lakes division. Considering the geography of the region I thought it was such a great idea. College conferences so often are tied to the region geographically. The South East Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Pac-10, etc. It is a tradition. The Big Ten has always leaned toward staying with its traditions. So where did they come up with the Legends and Leaders divisions? Did they get suggestions from the same geniuses who decided to change the names from Division 1A and Division 1AA to Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision? Quick. Don't look back at the sentence. Give me the new names for Division 1A and Division 1AA. I knew you couldn't do it.

In the video presentation Bucknuts Steve Helwagen said the Big Ten was trying to be about more than just football and basketball. But that is what this is. We are talking about the sports programs in the Big Ten. If the Universities want to be about more than that I could not agree more. I applaud any effort from any college and university to have an impact on the lives of its students and on the community. The Big Ten conference was put together to play sports not to create good will in the community. The Big Ten Network was created to show Big Ten sports not broadcast community outreach programs. This was supposed to be about sports. Why couldn't we just leave it that way? I do not see where giving names to the divisions that make sense to no one outside the decision making process makes the Big Ten be about more than what it is, which is the sports arm of twelve universities in the great lakes and the great plains regions.

I almost forgot. The logo. Did the men making the decision come out of the meeting wearing polyester suits? With all the computer graphic technology out there and they come up with a logo looks like some font they borrowed off the front of a Bee Gees album.

I see sports sanctioning bodies around the world making nonsensical decisions so often these days that I expect them to do the wrong thing. From the International Olympic Committee to FIFA to the NCAA I can't remember a recent decision that made sense to the fans. I do not see where they made the sports we love better. This farce from the Big Ten powers that be put them in that illustrious company.

I was asked about depth at tackle and in particular the prospects of Andrew Norwell or Marcus Hall playing left tackle on the Bucknuts message board. I responded but after thinking about it I expanded on it:

HodgePodge discovered that Longo is practicing at guard. That move makes no sense if he is the next in line at left tackle. It looks like the staff has given up on that experiment. I believe Hall will be a guard. I think he could be best at right tackle but next best is guard for him. I have never been one who believed he could be a left tackle. Norwell is your heir apparent at right tackle, with Shugarts being a senior next year. You can't move him to left tackle to be a backup when he is the likely starter at right tackle in 2012. Moving Shugarts does not help you as he is a senior in 2011.

The above was mo response at the time. When I thought about it some more this came to me.

Here is an interesting scenario to consider. What if you move Norwell over to left tackle? What if he can play the position? I think it creates a best possible scenario for the future of the offensive line. Norwell is a backup right tackle so being a backup at left tackle for another year is no big deal. He prepares himself to take over at left tackle just like he is preparing to take over for Shugarts at right tackle in 2012 right now. Kalis comes in in 2012 and preps to take over for Norwell. Redshirts his first year. Gets adapted to the speed of the college game in practice. Learns a bit. Gets in the weightroom and gets stronger. He backs-up Norwell as a redshirt freshman then steps in as the starter as a sophmore. This does not creat a problem at right tackle in the present. You have Hall who can start at right guard who could also be the backup at right tackle then step into the starters role when Shugarts leaves in 2012. I especially like this scenario because the past week has seen the 2012 offensive line class go from good to excellent with the arrival of Taylor Deckers junior film and the revelation of Kyle Dodson from Cleveland Heights. Both are potential Big Five left tackle prospects. I just learned that Dodson was down for the Michigan game. That is an early Christmas present now that I have seen his film. Take both to go along with Kalis and I would slap and A grade on it and call it a class.

As far as Marcus Hall being the starter at right tackle is concerned, I don't see that happening. Shugarts has been a two year starter. He did not sit this year despite being being seen arriving to at least one game with a boot on his foot. He is going to be a senior. You see JT sitting him down? Hall is a great lineman. He is going to play somewhere. Go back and look at his film from high school. Road grader in the truest sense of the word. He fits guard better than the longer Norwell and the just as long Shugarts.

I don't know if I can remember a time when a series of events left the Buckeyes looking at a recruiting situation that could break more favorably in the programs interests.

The firing of Randy Shannon and the resignation of Urban Meyer has some national top 100 recruits rethinking where they are going to spend the next four years. There is nothing certain until they sign on the dotted line on national signing day but you have to like where the Buckeyes are standing with Charles Grant, Ryan Shazier and Jabari Gorman.

Shaizer is the biggest surprise. I knew he liked the Buckeyes but I had no idea that Ohio State was the only other school that had a shot at him. He is talking about visiting this weekend or next. He says he will not take any other visits. He is committed to Florida. I think he sticks with that verbal until he finds out who the next coach is going to be. I think Ohio State is only a back-up plan in case Florida drags on too long with the coach search or if Shazier is not impressed with who the Gators hire.

Jabari Gorman is the one the Buckeyes need most. Miami has gone to pieces. He started looking at Florida. Now that situation is in disarray too. Out of his own mouth he said the Buckeyes led at one time. I know his family is pushing him to stay close to home. Florida State appears to be the only other option and Gorman has never mentioned the Seminoles. I like where this one could end up. If I were the Buckeye staff I would get on this kid and try to get him to verbal before there are coaches in place in Miami or Florida. Give the kid a real piece of ammo when it comes to dealing with his family if they want him to change his mind. Being able to look people who want you to be an honorable person in the eye and saying, "You want me to go back on my word?", is a powerful tool. I think the Buckeyes can get him.

Charles Grant may be the one that is easiest to land. He never denied Florida was his number one and Ohio State his number two. Ohio State is closer to home than Florida. I can't imagine family is going to object to Grant picking a school closer to home.

The Buckeyes get both Tank Carradine and Jadeveon Clowney last in their visits and so close to the respective signing days for JUCO and for high school recruits that I think the chances of landing both are as good as anyones. There seem to be a good number of naysayers out there. I responded to that thinking on a thread on Bucknuts. I can't think of a better way of responding to the naysayers so I will re-print that response here:


<<<I don't do the scarlet and gray colored glasses thing. I love the Buckeyes with my heart but think with my head. Ohio State is a top school on the lists of all three players. Now that Florida is off the board for Grant and Shazier, Grants known number one and the school Shazier was actually committed to, and both Miami and Florida are in disarray for Gorman, why can we not accept that the Buckeyes would be the top school for these kids? Why does it make more sense that they would go find some other schools rather than go with their admitted next best?

As far as Clowney is concerned, why is it so hard to look at the facts and take them at face value? He is seeing the Buckeyes last. That is often an indication of a favorite. It is so close to signing day that other schools are not going to have alot of time to get his head turned around. That problem for the other schools is exacerbated by the fact that the signing day dead period means they have even less time to get in his head and turn him around. <<<<


I am not saying I think the Buckeyes land any of these players. I have said before and I will say again that landing out of state players is a very difficult thing. What I am saying is the Buckeyes stand as good a chance as anybody on these recruits. Two of the five are out of the state of Florida and another was a Gator lean. Two of the three major programs in the state are without head coaches right now. Two of the three players had not yet committed so obviously they were not yet convinced and one of the main drawing cards, the head coach, is not in place. One of the few criticisms of Jim Tressel is he can't close. On three of the five players listed here, he does not even have an opponent. Take heart, Buckeye fans.

The internet is abuzz with talk of an offer to Akise Teague after his exceptional performance in the state championship game where Teague had five touchdowns, all of them highlight reel material. There were a few eyebrows raised about Teague as a corner since the only two times he was on the screen on defense he did not do himself any favors.

Lets forget about defense. I was one that argued that Ted Ginn should play on offense despite the fact that he was National Defensive Player of the Year according to USA Today when he came out of high school because he was such a playmaker that you have to put the ball in his hands. I think the need at corner is greater so Teague playing there was something I brought up. Is the need for a corner greater? I am not so sure when I think about that.

No position on the roster was deeper than flanker/slot on this team. Seven players primary position was slot/flanker this 2010 season. The thing is three of those seven are graduating with two, Dane Sanzenbacher and Taurian Washington, being the most experienced players at the position. That leaves four young players. Seems enough, right? I have concerns.

As talented as Corey Brown is I am concerned that he leaped over Chris Fields and James Jackson rather easily and left James Louis sitting in his dust. Did we see any of them on the field at all? I know Jackson redshirted but I do not recall seeing Fields or Jackson on the field ever. I understand the talent that we have in Corey Brown. If any of the others were looking like they had it, it seems they would have earned some reps at some point.

That brings me to my point. I think we need to add a flanker to this roster. I am sure that Devin Smith is a split end. I am not sure about Evan Spencer but I think he is likely a split end but could be a flanker. I would like to see a player brought in to be a flanker/slot from the moment he is brought into camp. That the staff is still looking at Teague and Patton, both as flanker/slots, says the staff sees where it could be a need.

Why not take both? We have no sure thing beyond Philly Brown. With Teague you have a player who could play corner if the talent at flanker proves out. I think taking both is an upgrade in talent no matter what. Patton on the depth chart allows us to look at Louis at corner, another position where we have a great deal of uncertainty.