Bucyrus Telegraph
8/17
Ohio State's Jamario O'Neal impressive
By Jon Spencer
Gannett News Service
COLUMBUS -- When flanker Ted Ginn Jr. and cornerback Jamario O'Neal reunited for seven-on-seven drills at Ohio State this summer, the footballs and feet started flying.
So did the barbs.
"I can't let my little brother beat me," Ginn said, teasing his former teammate at Cleveland Glenville. "It's like playing a basketball game against your father. Your father is going to work hard not to let you win. You've got to teach him a lesson each time."
O'Neal, considered one of the gems in OSU's newest recruiting class, wouldn't say how many battles he has won against the Heisman Trophy hopeful.
"We go at it," the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Mansfield native said. "It's a fun thing. You have to be relaxed. If you're too antsy, he's going to run by you, and if you try to do too much he's going to run by you. If you're relaxed, you'll be all right."
O'Neal took advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows freshmen to apply their scholarship to summer enrollment. But his toughest class won't be found in the OSU curriculum.
Given the incendiary speed of Ginn and fellow wideouts Santonio Holmes and Tony Gonzalez, O'Neal must feel at times like he's taking a course called Pass Defense 9-1-1.
"As far as me guarding Ted, some guys might feel threatened," O'Neal said, "but I'm the type of guy who wants to go against the best because it's the only way I'm going to get better."
Veteran safety Nate Salley says the key for O'Neal this season will have nothing to do with physical skills.
"He's looking very good and should be a big, strong corner for us," Salley said. "But all of our young guys have the ability. Hopefully, they are headstrong enough to keep focused. It's easy to get caught up in the off-field stuff. That's their main challenge right now ... staying focused on football."
Because O'Neal enrolled in the summer -- along with blue-chippers offensive tackle Alex Boone and tailback Maurice Wells -- the coaches must work around their classroom schedules.
"The days I miss practice, I don't get the physical part in, but I'll get up early and (cornerbacks) coach (Tim) Beckman will take me aside,
and I'll get the mental part in," O'Neal said.
O'Neal also credits starting corner Ashton Youboty and safety Donte Whitner, another Glenville alum, for easing his transition from high school safety to college corner.
"Ashton has helped me a lot with the technical part and Donte has helped me with watching film," O'Neal said. "Ashton is a calm corner and knows how to get the jam on the receiver. Everything is going great."
Those monitoring O'Neal's progress agree.
Associate director of football operations Stan Jefferson was O'Neal's coach at Mansfield Senior for two years. Then O'Neal transferred to Glenville to play for Ted Ginn Sr., a long-time friend of his father, Walter Jefferson.
O'Neal and Stan Jefferson talk daily.
"He's a Buckeye ... I'm a Buckeye," Jefferson said. "He's getting acclimated to school and practice. He's doing extremely well. Anytime you come in and start a little early, you're missing out on two or three months with your family. The demands on students are tough enough. Then you throw in athletics ...
"You've got a billion questions as a first-year guy. We had an academic meeting the other day strictly for incoming freshmen. We had some of the sophomores come over to give them what we call 'sophomore wisdom.' One thing Jamario has always had is the ability to adjust on the run. When he was a two-way player for us (at Mansfield Senior) and we gave him a task, he always had the ability to adjust."
Beckman and O'Neal are getting their feet wet together. Beckman joined Jim Tressel's staff after spending seven years as an assistant at Bowling Green, the last six as defensive coordinator.
"To be a young kid going to class and going through two-a-days, he's been asked quite a lot," Beckman said. "All three of our freshman corners (the others are Andre Amos and Malcolm Jenkins) have exceeded our expectations.
"We don't ask our freshmen to run all of the conditioning tests, but all three of them did. There were 24 gassers, and they made them all. They only had to do half of them. That showed a maturity level of, 'Hey, I'm trying to do something so I can play this year.' "
Tressel is making no promises about playing time for O'Neal. It appears converted safety Tyler Everett will replace Dustin Fox at corner, filling the only vacancy in the starting secondary.
"I know Jamario's having fun and he's getting his feet on the ground," Tressel said. "It's amazing. Our first four years here, 50 percent of our freshmen have redshirted and 50 percent 'spent' a year. I wouldn't doubt it will happen again this year."
O'Neal didn't enroll early to sit out the season.
"I'm not redshirting at all," he said. "Whatever the team needs me to do, I'll do. I've had a lot thrown at me, but I'm absorbing it. "
Like a sponge, if you ask All-America linebacker A.J. Hawk.
"Obviously, he's a great athlete," Hawk said. "He's from Glenville and we've got a lot of guys from Glenville who can play. He's picking up the defense pretty quick. He had some experience going against Ted in high school and I think having gone up against a great player like that will help him a lot."
Holmes said growing pains are inevitable for O'Neal.
"He's learning fast, but there's still things he needs to work on," the consensus All-Big Ten preseason pick said. "I know I can beat him because I'm an older guy, a veteran, and I know what to look for. So there's some things he needs to work on from an experience standpoint.
"But if he's aggressive like Chris Gamble was, he'll be a big asset for this team."
O'Neal stood on the 50-yard line in Ohio Stadium during picture day last week, peering up at the empty stands and picturing them filled with 105,000 fans for the Sept. 3 opener with Miami of Ohio.
"(Enrolling early) was definitely the right move as far as school and learning the system," he said. "It got me comfortable with the city and the environment, things I have to get used to.
"I've always been prepared for this. Where I come from, there was nothing but fast guys. The only difference is technique; that's what will get me through here."
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Originally published August 17, 2005
