FootballThe-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas
It's Almost Here: The Buckeyes report to camp on Sunday and commence practices on Monday, but according to OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel, the early going in fall camp will not quite be full speed ahead.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jim Tressel
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"With five one-a-days, you want a little acclimatization," said Tressel.
"You start with the helmets only then you put on the should pads, then on the fifth day you can be full pads.
"You do lot of mental work and a lot of what we call prehab, which is a lot of the medical-related strength training and football-specific shoulder things and back things so we're not getting injured and end up in rehab, so we like to do what we call prehab."
Tressel also added that the first five days would also be an intense learning phase for the incoming freshmen who will be learning how drills are run. It will also begin the evaluation process of those freshmen by the OSU coaching staff.
Not Afraid of the Night: There is probably going to be more night football, at least according to Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney
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"Nine of 70(televised) games will be in early prime time, five, six, seven or eight o'clock, no later than eight local time," said Delaney.
Delaney said that the night games are simply a way to squeeze in all the telecasts, something that he is anxious to see done.
"From 1950 to 1985 television was very limited in the Big Ten. We were on once a week," said Delaney.
"Even as early as 1990 we did 22 games on television. Even when we could do more we did less, because we thought that if we put games on TV, people won't come, but in 1989-90 we had 58,000 people average (at games).
"Now we have 70,000 and we've gone from 22 to 70 games on TV. I think you can't argue that TV has drawn down attendance. I think you can make an argument to the contrary," Delaney said.
Return to Action: Two OSU assistant coaches, Jim Bollman and Joe Daniels, had medical problems this summer. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel said that both would be back for fall camp, but that both would have varying degrees of limitations. Bollman will be nearly full tie, but Daniels' schedule will not be as aggressive.
"Coach Bollman is full go. We will lose him for some short periods of time because he is into this very disciplined 90 minute workout routine now, but for the most part he'll be around working," said Tressel.
"As far a Joe goes we're designing a plan where he'll spend we hope nearly half of the day with us. Some days on the field, some days not."
Big Line: The OSU offensive line is expected to be a strength this season, and according to senior offensive lineman Doug Datish, one of the reason is that it will be large, very large.
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"The offensive line is going to be a little bigger than we have been in the past with Alex Boone and Steve Rehring and T. J. (Downing and Kirk (Barton), but right now we have the left guard spot open and that's going to be a good battle this camp between Tim Schafer, Jon Skinner and Steve Rehring," Datish said.
For the record, the current OSU roster lists Boone at 6-8, 325, Rehring at 6-8, 329, Barton at 6-6, 310 and Downing at 6-4, 305. Datish is listed at 6-5, 295, while Skinner and Schafer are listed at 6-5, 300 and 6-5, 290 respectively.
The Rose is in Bloom: OSU senior defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock is expected to anchor a veteran defensive line this season, but Pitcock likes what he sees in some of the newcomers to the defensive line as well.
"I think one guy that has a chance is Robert Rose coming out of high school," said Pitcock.
"He has an opportunity because he already has the speed and talent, though we'll see what coach feels.
"Lawrence Wilson had some opportunities last year and did well here and there. With him one of the biggest things is having that year under his belt. That will give him a little more confidence and he'll be able to play looser and be able to play his game."
Giving Props: Senior quarterback Troy Smith is a Heisman candidate and firmly entrenched as the number one quarterback at OSU this season, but Smith is a fan of the man who he replaced and is now his backup, Justin Zwick.
"Some people don't give Justin enough credit," said Smith.
"If our tight end had caught the ball (in the Texas game) we would have won the game.
"They just remember the last play where he lost the ball. That's pretty much the knock on him, and that's not fair to him," Smith said.
Troy's Plans: Troy Smith is focused of football right now, but he has plans for what he wants to do after his football career is ended. To begin, he is taking courses in Real Estate investment with an eye toward one day becoming a land developer.
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"That's the only thing we're not getting any more of is land," said Smith.
"In Columbus there's a lot of housing development and I want to do that same kind of thing in Cleveland."
Smith, however, does not see himself abandoning the Columbus area. Quite the contrary.
"I want a couple of restaurants and I want them in Columbus because there are lot soul-food placed in Cleveland that Columbus doesn't have, and I want the people of Columbus to understand what made me the athlete that I am," said a chuckling Smith who elicited a laugh from reporters.
What is his favorite?
"My favorite food is macaroni and cheese. I love my mother's macaroni and cheese," he said.
Smith said that Ohio is definitely part of his post-football plans.
"A lot of the people that I deal with in general say that they are moving when they get some money, but that bothers me. I think Ohio is where its at. I want to help make Ohio a place were people want to vacation. It starts with dreams," Smith said.
Buckeye State Football Cudos: Football is important in Ohio. Just ask the coaches around the Big Ten who have Ohio ties but are now coaching elsewhere.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook
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"I enjoyed living in Columbus. My best friend lives in Columbus. I have family that lives about an hour north of Columbus," said Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook.
"I think number one you have a lot of history and tradition there, but you have a lot of very good high school football in Ohio," said Zook explaining why the football is so good in Ohio.
"The high school coaches do a great job and there's a lot of passion for Ohio State University, going back to Woody. I grew up under that philosophy, but I think the number one thing is the high school coaches and the Ohio State coaches have done a great job of keeping their players in-state. You have guys growing up wanting to be Buckeyes."
Minnesota Head Coach Glen Mason sees in much the same way, and says that the football culture in Ohio makes it a great place for college football coaches, particularly when it comes to recruiting.
"There's no comparison. In any given year there might be from seven to 15 division one players in Minnesota. The state of Ohio probably has 70, maybe more," said Mason.
"You look at the quality of the (high school) programs. Some of it has to do with the population, but the other is the commitment to the feeder programs. If you look at the number of hockey players coming from Minnesota and the number is large. That's because they have all these feeder programs. All these kids play hockey. I think there's a correlation, but in Ohio its football."
game a few years back. any one wanta send me a copy?
