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Fall Practice 2006

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gobucks19 said:
Thnx

Anyone think Cordle looks like a LB?? Looks to be 280-290 to me.....

Richardson looks pretty good, even a little older than I would expect.

I think some of his names are wrong. That sure doesnt look like Pittman, not sure about the Grant picture.
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Richardson does look old, and I also noticed that Walter Dublin looks like an absolute beast.
 
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OZone

Football Buckeye Seniors Taking Nothing for Granted Despite Number One RankingBy John Porentas​
The preseason coaches poll that tabbed the Buckeyes preseason number one placed the bulls eye squarely in the middle of the Buckeyes' chest. It also could have given them reason to be a little full of themselves as Fall camp convenes, but according to several OSU seniors, the number one ranking is nice, but it isn't bringing any extra pressure and they are taking nothing for granted.​
"Anytime you're at Ohio State you expect to be at the top of the Big Ten and compete for a national championship, this year being no different. I think this year maybe nationally that those expectations are there as well," said fullback Stan White.​
White feels that the pressure that goes with being a Buckeye every year will help his team cope with the perceived pressure of a number one ranking.​
"I think the pressure is there on us from ourselves and from the people of Columbus and Ohio State fans in general, year and year out. I don't think this year is any different than that," he said.​
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <caption align="bottom"> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jay Richardson
Photo by Jim[/FONT] Davidson </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
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Senior defensive end Jay Richardson appreciates the number one ranking, but knows the difference between talk and performance.​
"I just know that it was an honor to be number one, and I think we're all appreciative of it, but we all know we have a lot of work to do and it's something you have to live up to," said Richardson.​
"There's always a target on us being Ohio State. Team's are always going to play us hard. That's just the way it is," Richardson said.​
Richardson said that he expects no letup among the Buckeyes as a result of the ranking.​
"That's the beauty of being at Ohio State," said Richardson.​
"You can never slack off, because every year we have a tough schedule and every game you have to go as hard as you can. With this BCS system, if you don't knock them all down you might not have a good chance. That's just how it is," Richardson said.​
David Patterson was on much the same page as his classmates.​
<table align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <caption align="bottom"> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]David Patterson
Photo by Jim Davidson [/FONT] </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
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"I think it is just an honor for people to think that we have that much talent to be considered the number one team, but it really doesn't put any pressure on us because we have to work to prove we're the number one team," said Patterson.​
"That's a ranking we got before we've even played any games, so we know we have to go out and practice hard and become a great team."​
Offensive lineman T. J. Downing said that as far has he's concerned, anybody who enters fall camp with a complacent attitude is simply asking to loose a job.​
"You can never sleep because there's always somebody out there trying to get your job, trying to eat your food," said Downing.​
"Getting comfortable is going to kill you. Being satisfied will make you lazy. You always have to stay hungry and think 'You know what, maybe this isn't my spot. Maybe right guard is open and it's not T. J.'s spot, nobody put T. J.'s name on it, but I can put my name on it if I work hard and I practice well, but you have to do that first."​
 
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Cincy

8/7/06

Buckeyes wearing bulls-eye
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->COLUMBUS - Ohio State football players reporting to camp Sunday have noticed something on their new scarlet-and-not-so-gray jerseys: bulls-eyes painted on the preseason picks to win the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes' sixth season under coach Jim Tressel begins Monday with heavy expectations for a group that includes 19 seniors.
Many of the players haven't gone more than a few days without seeing each other this offseason. Coaches can't supervise summer workouts, but quarterback Troy Smith organized 11-on-11 scrimmages.
If you're going to be in Columbus, you might as well come in and get some work in and get better," guard T.J. Downing said.
"We don't get too much time apart from one another, which is good and bad," center Doug Datish said. "But to compete at the level we play at, you've got to be here year-round."
Ohio State opens the season Sept. 2 at home against Northern Illinois, the preseason media choice to win the Mid-American Conference.
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CPD

8/7/06

OSU FOOTBALL


Extra work forging confidence





Monday, August 07, 2006

Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus- Ohio State begins preseason practice today, the players having arrived at the University Plaza Hotel on Sunday knowing their lives are no longer their own.
"Now we're on lockdown," said senior offensive lineman T.J. Downing. "We ain't going nowhere. We're on Ohio State time."
After the most cohesive and complete summer workouts most of the players have ever experienced, to call today the start of practice is really a misnomer. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from overseeing any practices during the summer break, but the seniors gathered players for 11-on-11 workouts two or three times a week, something that had never really happened before with the Buckeyes.
"The work never stops," senior defensive end Jay Richardson said. "It's just official now. But we were all here together."
Many players were around to hit the weight room nearly every day, a typical summer reality. But with marker boards coordinating when players planned to be around for workouts, the summer expanded beyond traditional lifting, running and 7-on-7 drills.
Though offensive and defensive linemen didn't hit each other, they lined up with the linebackers and defensive backs, receivers, running backs and quarterbacks in 20- or 30-minute sessions, giving everyone a broader sense of what the No. 1-ranked team in America looks and feels like. The linemen also dueled each other in 1-on-1 pass-rush drills, honing their footwork.
Quinn Pitcock led the defensive lineman, John Kerr the linebackers and Malcolm Jenkins the defensive backs, while Downing and Doug Datish took over the offensive line and quarterback Troy Smith loomed over everything.
"Troy thought to build our team unity even more, we would have more 11-on-11," senior linebacker John Kerr said, "and it was good thing. At least the offensive and defensive lineman could line up next to each other and they were moving in synchronization. It's hard to figure out how the run game is going to happen, but you get to know the defense, to know a guy will be disciplined and do his job and you know where the ball should end up.
"And it's a time where you have to grow up. You get a lot of young guys together and a lot of the time it turns into a time to goof around. And the leaders have to step up and say, 'No more goofing around, we're out here to work.' "
Another player who showed his coaching side in the player-only sessions was receiver Ted Ginn Jr.
"Ted could be a coach," Downing said. "He likes to talk a lot. It's in his genes."
In some way, every player had to be a bit of a coach to pull off 22-player drills when no one with a whistle was around.
So when practice starts today, it's really more of a continuation, these players already a team.
"This summer guys were throwing up, working as hard as they can, crying in the weight room because they were working so hard," Kerr said. "That's when you start to build your friendships, when you work hard together."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
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DDN

8/7/06

OSU FOOTBALL
OSU guard: Offensive line will put on quite a show

By Doug Harris
Staff Writer

COLUMBUS | Ohio State offensive line coach Jim Bollman underwent heart bypass surgery this summer, which means guard T.J. Downing and his cohorts may encounter a more docile leader when fall practice begins today.

Or maybe not.
"He told us he's angrier now, so we'll have to watch out," Downing said.

The offensive line developed a nasty streak of its own last season and emerged as a dominant unit. OSU finished the year with a seven-game winning streak, averaging 470.9 total yards in that span.

And although center Nick Mangold and guard Rob Sims need to be replaced, several back-ups gained experience last year, and Downing doesn't expect much of a drop-off.

"We're going to be fun to watch," he said. "People in the past have said we're kind of boring and we don't do that much. It'll be nice to move the ball around and not know who's going to end up getting it.

"It'll be fun to put on a show for the fans," he added. "We're supposed to be entertainers."

The Buckeyes will go into the season ranked No. 1, but Downing doesn't see much value in that.

"It doesn't really matter much if you're ranked 15th or first," he said. "You still have to focus each week and try to get another 'kill.' That's what (strength coach) Eric Lichter calls them. We have 13 hunts this season — with the last one being (the national championship game) on Jan. 8."

No breaks this season

The elimination of the bye week because of the addition of the 12th game has left coach Jim Tressel with mixed emotions.

"From a players' standpoint, it's probably pretty healthy (to have a week off)," he said. "They bang and bang and bang.

And it's a good time academically to maybe have a little more energy. And emotionally, it's probably a good thing.

"Personally, I didn't like the open week. For a hundred years, I haven't liked the open week —because everybody thinks I can go do everything (for the public) because I don't have anything to do that week. ... They can call, but I'll be busy all year. I (won't) have any time."

Rivalry dominance?

Tressel was asked whether the Buckeyes have gained a psychological edge on Michigan after prevailing in four of the last five meetings. Not surprisingly, he didn't take the bait.

"No," he said. "I've watched those games many times on film, and they looked like those typical Michigan-Ohio State games where one play changes the outcome. ... I don't think that at all."


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or [email protected]
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Dispatch

8/7/06

Players arrive prepared for fall practice

Year-round workouts now the norm for Ohio State players

Monday, August 07, 2006

Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


Ohio State center Doug Datish let his hair grow this summer, his dark, curly locks now spilling over his shoulders.

"I think he’s just copying Nick (Mangold) and Bobby (Carpenter) and A.J. (Hawk)," guard T.J. Downing said of their departed teammates. "He’s getting on the bandwagon."

But Datish’s new look didn’t surprise Downing yesterday as the pair reported for the start of fall practice today. Downing has been watching it grow for months.

Thanks to their chock-full offseason schedule, the Buckeyes reporting for camp weren’t asking their teammates, "How was your summer?" It’s more like, "How was your weekend? "

That’s how often college football players are together these days, when year-round conditioning and training is considered mandatory.

February and March marked winter conditioning and drills. April was spring practice. June and July was summer conditioning and more drills.

Director of football performance Eric Lichter oversaw summer workouts that at times numbered 130 players.

It’s a far cry from the old days.

"When I was an assistant here (1983 to 1985), we used to have them come in one Sunday in July just to look at them and see if someone had eaten too much cotton candy at the local fair," OSU coach Jim Tressel said. "Now, gosh, they’re there more in the summer than we are."

Stan White was an OSU linebacker from 1969 to 1971. He has commented to his son, current fullback Stan White Jr., on the difference in offseason programs.

"He always tells me his practices and his (fall) camp were much, much harder, but that our offseason was much harder," White Jr. said. "What we do to prepare all year around is much harder, whereas I think their strength and conditioning program is there was a Universal (weight machine) here in Biggs (where the Woody Hayes Center now stands) and a Universal over in French Fieldhouse, and that was it.

"They would stand in a circle and go around the Universal machine, and that was their offseason training."

This summer, the Buckeyes took their offseason regimen to a new level.

Coaches are forbidden to supervise summer workouts, and contact is forbidden. But quarterback Troy Smith decided the team should do 11-on-11 drills rather than the traditional seven-on-sevens that left out linemen.

Downing said this was the first time in his five years they held fullteam summer drills.

"I think it’s really going to help us in the long run," he said. "Troy decided to do it in order to build our team unity more."

Tressel said he tries to create five blocks of time, each seven to 10 days, where players can go home. Ideally, those fall around Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, the end of spring quarter and just before fall camp begins.

But players understand that bigtime college football requires yearround work.

Downing said the summer drills weren’t mandatory, "but you’re expected to be there. If you’re going to be in Columbus, you might as well come in and get some work in and get better."

Datish said, "We don’t get too much time apart from one another, which is good and bad. But to compete at the level we play at, you’ve got to be here year-round."

Keep in mind, many players are die-hards who enjoy the regimen, even if it means not getting a summer vacation.

"You have 10 days off in the very beginning (of summer), but I decided I couldn’t sacrifice those 10 days for anything, I had to start training right away," linebacker John Kerr said. "This is what I want to do. Coming to work out is not like a sentence for me; it’s not bad. I love doing it, so it’s my favorite thing."

[email protected]
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Dispatch

8/7/06

OSU NOTEBOOK

Players set for intense practices

Monday, August 07, 2006

Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


The No. 1-ranked Ohio State football team will hit the practice field running this afternoon, and fullback Stan White knows why. The clock is ticking.

September, starting with a home game against Mid-American Conference West favorite Northern Illinois followed by a trip to No. 2 Texas, is just weeks away.

"I expect these next two weeks — this is my fifth camp — to be the most intense of the five years," White said yesterday. "Just looking at the September we have, and the preparation we put in this summer, I expect this to be as intense a camp as they’ll get."

He admitted that part of that anticipation is in knowing it’s his last season for the Buckeyes.

"You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and you know that each day matters that much more," White said. "But as a team, we know we don’t have the luxury of sort of easing our way into the season. … We better hit the ground running and be the best we can be in September."
All accounted for



A team spokesman said the players expected to report had made it by mid-day yesterday. Division I-A teams are permitted to have a maximum of 105 players — 85 scholarship and 20 preferred walk-ons — in preseason camp.
It’s a mental thing



Especially for the incoming freshmen, things will move fast this week, senior defensive end Jay Richardson said.

The team will have four one-a-day practices leading up to the first full-pad session Friday.

"The most important thing (the freshmen) can do is learn the offense, learn the defense, learn the system, because this first week is really mental," Richardson said. "We have a conditioning test (this morning), and that’s rough, and then we’ve got workouts the rest of the week.

"But this first week is always kind of a little geared down physically and pumped up mentally because they’ve got to get past the mental curve so that next week when we start hitting and getting into the grind of it, they can be ready to go."
So long , pool side



White said one of his favorite activities of the summer was a trip to Cedar Point, his first since seventh grade, but senior right guard T.J. Downing said his fondest memory occurred much closer to his apartment.

"I laid out by the pool, I got to see all the cute ladies out in Hilliard, the west side," Downing said. "That’s fun for me.

"Relaxing was the biggest thing, because now it’s a grind and we’re in it. We’re in it for the long run. The next break we’ll get is Thanksgiving."

[email protected]
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OZone

Football The-Ozone Note and QuotebookBy John Porentas​
New Digs: The Buckeyes arrived at fall camp yesterday and this morning will have their first workouts of fall camp. When they do so they will use the newly renovated areas of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for the very first time. The Buckeyes got their first glimpses of the finished product on arrival day, and they were impressed.​
"When you walk into the locker room and see all those flat-screen TVs and the stereo and those nice wood lockers with hydraulics on the bottom of them, it was unbelievable," said senior fullback Stan White.​
That was the reaction of most of the Buckeyes we spoke to, but there was one that offered us a rather tongue in cheek critique of the updated facilities.​
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <caption align="bottom"> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]T. J. Downing [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Photo by Jim Davidson [/FONT] </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
TJDowning.jpg
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"We're supposed to be football players. They should throw us out in a shack in the back of Woody Hayes and let us change out there with the bugs," deadpanned offensive lineman T. J. Downing.​
"You don't want to pamper yourself too much. You're supposed to be football players. You're supposed to be a little nasty, and this stuff over here will make you soft," Downing smiled.​
Downing's remarks were definitely the minority opinion. Everyone else had nothing but raves.​
"I think it will help as far as recruiting goes," said White.​
"I think we have a tough, hard-nosed football team that's blue-collar and I don't think having a nice locker room is going to affect that," White added in rebuttal of Downing's position.​
Defensive tackle David Patterson marveled not only at the facilities, but at the speed at which the construction was completed that allowed the Buckeyes to be back in their locker rooms for fall camp.​
"It's just beautiful," said Patterson.​
"We've been waiting on it to see what it was going to look like and we finally about a week ago got to see a little bit. It's great. I think it was better than I expected. It's just totally beautiful. Sometimes when I'm around here I don't realize how fast we get things done around here. I just can't believe how fast they got that together."​
Last Days of Freedom: Summer camp is for all intents and purposes a three-week lockdown for the participants. Players and coaches alike spend three weeks doing nothing but thinking football, playing football, and talking to nobody but football players. Most of the players tried to get in a little R&R before camp.​
"My mom and I went to the State Fair with my little sister," said David Patterson of some of his last-minute recreation before camp.​
"That was pretty cool. My girlfriend's grandfather is actually a boxing coach, and they have those boxing matches up there so we watched a lot of that.​
"We played some of those that are almost impossible to win. My sister won two teddy bears where you shoot the water gun. She didn't give me one, but she got an Ohio State Brutus doll. She goes to Miami of Ohio so she says she's going to take it down there and put it up in her room," said Patterson.​
Stan White, who grew up in Maryland, took a visit to an Ohio vacation location that is pretty well known.​
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <caption align="bottom"> Stan White
Photo by Jim Davidson </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
StanWhite.jpg
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"I went to Cedar Point for the first time," said White.​
White went with several teammates, including Jay Richardson. Richardson has made some serious progress in the weight room this summer and has gotten considerably bigger.​
"Right now I'm probably around 285. I actually had to get down a little. I was up to about 290 this summer, but I got back down to to 285, 283. Coach Lichter brings a whole new energy to the weight room. He's kind of an inspiring guy. It makes you want to go in there and work hard," said Richardson.​
That's good news on the football field, but according to White, Richardson's size got him stuck in one of the cars on a ride at Cedar Point. White chuckled over his teammate's misfortune. He also chuckled over some of the other things he saw while on the shores of Lake Erie.​
"I saw about five or six Michigan shirts and while we were in the turnstile lines," said White. Every time I passed them I'd heckle them a little bit," he said.​
It was pointed out to White that Cedar Point is essentially on the Ohio/Michigan border, and it was only natural there be some Wolverine fans there. It didn't seem to matter to White.​
"It's kind of the battle ground there," he said. "It's still in Ohio. They can't be wearing that."​
One player who would not have any problem getting out of cars at Cedar Point now is sophomore offensive lineman Alex Boone who has slimmed down considerably since last season.​
"Alex lost about 30 pounds and he looks trim," said fellow offensive lineman T. J. Downing.​
Mamma Knows Best: Offensive lineman T. J. Downing is somewhat of a free spirit and has developed more than just a passing interest in body art.​
"I'm a tattoo freak. I like them," Downing said.​
Downing currently has three tattoos and was planning on a fourth one, but his plan was vetoed by a higher power; his mom.​
I wanted to get the Grim Reaper holding a machine gun coming down my forearm, but my mom didn't like the sound of it," Downing said.​
For the record, there are no tattoos on his forearms. Looks like mama won out on that debate.​
Last Chance to be a Hero: Some of the seniors coming into camp, like Stan White and T. J. Downing, have had an opportunity to start in games and log considerable playing time. For others, this is their last chance to be an impact player at Ohio State. One of those players is linebacker John Kerr who has not logged as much playing time with the Buckeyes as some of his classmates, but has an opportunity this season to earn a shot at a starting position. Kerr, who began his college football career at Indiana and as a starter there was named the Big Ten defensive freshman of the year before transferring to Ohio State, has been biding his time as a Buckeye.​
"I pretty much could have gone any place in the country after the season I had my freshman year, but Ohio State is a place where I felt I had some unfinished business here. I love this place every since I've been two feet tall," said Kerr.​
Kerr says he has spent his time at OSU trying to become a better linebacker in preparation for this opportunity.​
"I've sat behind the best linebacker in the country for the last few years, and if you sit there and don't learn from him, you've really screwed up," Kerr said.​
"I've already played one year in the Big Ten, I know what that's like, what it's like to be in championship runs, I was in two state titles in high school, and I know what it's like to win championships here. I was just sitting behind this great class that just left. I feel like I've gone through pretty much everything you can go through on a football field and that I can help these guys who are not as experienced," he said.​
Jay Richardson is a senior who has logged some minutes as a reserve, but has an opportunity to win a starting position at defensive end this year. Richardson's confidence level is at an all-time high and he is in the best shape of his life in that quest. He credits new strength coach Eric Lichter for his physical improvement.​
"It's his attitude," said Richardson. "He's a really focused guy and he has proven results. You see the guys in the NFL he has worked with, so you know he can get you where you want to be," he said.​
Richardson is impressed with the fact that not only does Lichter know what to do, he can personally actually do all the workouts he wants his players to do.​
"Not only can he tell you how to do it, he can demonstrate it," said Richardson.​
"He can lead by example, and that's always important when you're talking about a guy who's going to be the leader in the weight room and a guy whose job it is to motivate us to get stronger."​
Lichter also brings some interesting perspective to the connection between training, football, and attitude.​
"Like Eric Lichter said, you try to get a kill each week," said T. J. Downing. "He says we have 13 hunts this year, and the last hunt is on January 8."​
 
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