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Former LB Coach Al Washington (Official Thread)

Al Washington on why he's a better recruiter in year 2 with OSU

Like most young football coaches, Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington has bounced around to different jobs during his career thus far. That is just the way it goes in that profession. However, the Columbus native — whose father Al Washington Sr. played for the Buckeyes — might have found himself a long-term home at OSU. Well, at least relatively-speaking when it comes to coaches.

Furthermore, Washington feels a lot more comfortable as a recruiter in year No. 2 with the Buckeyes as he discussed on a conference call with reporters.

“Yeah, for me personally — and I’m sure most of our other assistant coaches like Kevin Wilson and Greg Studrawa (who were the other two coaches on the call) can relate and they’ve been in the game a lot longer than I have — this is the first time I’ve been in the same place since 2016,” Washington said. “So, every year I’ve been at a different place you educate yourself on what that school can offer a player or student-athlete. You can educate them on facilities, different exposures, you can educate them on the history. But it’s hard to educate them on the actual program; the people that are actually living and breathing there because you just got there.

“And so, I think my time last year when I first got to Ohio State, to be honest it was difficult. From where I was coming from (Michigan), a month earlier I was talking to a kid from one school and a month later I’m at a new school. So, that is not necessarily the most natural thing. And so, that was … not being full of crap, that is difficult.

“But this year going in, I know the team. I’m a part of the team. I know Kevin Wilson deeply. I know Greg Studrawa deeply. So, if I’m recruiting an offensive lineman, I can tell them with everything in my soul that he’s not going to play for a better coach. And I can tell him and look that kid in the eye and mean it. And people pick that up. People are smart. They can read people and they can see those things. Same thing if I’m recruiting a tight end. We do a lot of group recruiting here, which is probably the reason why we do well as a staff because we work so well together. And I’m in the process with a couple players that me and Kevin are both involved with. I can’t name names or anything, but I can tell you this, man: You’re far more effective when you’re able to speak from experience as opposed to what you know from what you read. I am not theorizing, I’m talking from experience. And that is different and it creates a better vibe when you’re talking to young student-athletes.

“So, that’s been the biggest difference with me from year one to year two.”

Entire article: https://247sports.com/college/ohio-...etter-recruiter-in-year-2-with-OSU-148302842/
 
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LINEBACKERS COACH AL WASHINGTON
IS THERE A WAY TO ROTATE ALL SEVEN OF THE UPPERCLASSMEN?
There are veteran-heavy units, and then there’s whatever you want to call Ohio State’s linebacker room. Washington has seven upperclassmen to fit into his lineup: Tuf Borland, Justin Hilliard, Pete Werner, Baron Browning, Teradja Mitchell, Dallas Gant and K’Vaughan Pope.

Earlier this year, Washington spoke about the benefit of having so many different juniors and seniors with varied skillsets. He talked about how it can allow the coaches to put players in advantageous positions, maximizing their opportunities to succeed.

Might that, however, be easier said than done?

In an ideal world, it sounds great. But in the flow of a game, it will likely be significantly harder. Washington needs to figure out how much he can run through all seven upperclassmen before game action begins.
 
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NFL draft: Ohio State's rare LB group shows how far it has come at Senior Bowl

With the Miami Dolphins coaching the Senior Bowl’s National Team in Mobile, Alabama, Washington fired up two text-message chains at the start of this week.

The first was with his three linebackers — Baron Browning, Justin Hilliard and Tuf Borland — practicing for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

The second was with Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, Washington’s college teammate for two years at Boston College, and Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, whom Washington worked with at BC in 2016.

Washington set the bar high for his Buckeyes linebackers to their new surrogate coaches.

“Before the first day [of Senior Bowl practice], I told [Flores and Campanile], ‘Don’t take it easy on these guys,’ just busting their chops a little,” he told Yahoo Sports this week. “But I told them for real: ‘My guys will be ready to be coached hard.’”

Then Washington sat back and hoped for the best. So far, he’s feeling like a gratified father.

“The first day [Campanile] hit me back and told me how professional they were, how well they worked, how well they picked everything up right away,” he said. “That made me proud.”

Entire article: https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-draft-...far-it-has-come-at-senior-bowl-192001246.html
 
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Is it official? If so, tough loss. I had visions of Washington being here for at least a few more years. Columbus native, dad played at OSU. It sounds like OSU was up in the mil+ range to keep him here. UT's $$$$ (upwards of 1.5 mil I saw) was too good to pass up.

I like where things were going with that position group, especially on the technique and recruiting side of things. Need a splash hire to keep this position group momemtum rollin'.
 
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Freeman is sole DC making a rumored 2 large per.
He isn’t coming back get that out of your head.

This is a big hire for Day.
It needs to be an African American.

We lost flexibility in that regard when we bumped up Sara Jessica Parker or whatever his name is.

oh and this better not be filled by an intern.

I don’t blame us for not matching Tenn offer.
The SEC has endless money for football.

but we can’t try and skimp if we are trying to compete with them.
 
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