In defense of Tressel

[Sdgobucks]

I am on both sides of this argument. 1st I think well we just won a NC and we are young, so if we have a bad year oh well. Then I see what teams like USC, Choklahoma, and Cryami have done. These teams have had very solid runs for as long as we have or longer. Is tOSU just not as good of a program as these? They dump out 1st rounders like its nothing, and are still damn good. Growing up in Columbus I don't think any school has a better program than us, so I find it hard to justify a bad season when others have managed. I just kinda go back and forth between those arguments, let me know what you think.

 

[kn1f3party]

I am on both sides of this argument. 1st I think well we just won a NC and we are young, so if we have a bad year oh well. Then I see what teams like USC, Choklahoma, and Cryami have done. These teams have had very solid runs for as long as we have or longer. Is tOSU just not as good of a program as these? They dump out 1st rounders like its nothing, and are still damn good. Growing up in Columbus I don't think any school has a better program than us, so I find it hard to justify a bad season when others have managed. I just kinda go back and forth between those arguments, let me know what you think.

You bring up a good point. Some programs seem to stay around longer in the top five. Unfortunately, for us, it was a case of doing more with less. We had some magnificent players but these other schools have continuosly brought in bluechips. I think Tressel is pushing us in the right direction. We've landed some great recruits since he showed up and I can only assume it gets better. Another thing to consider is conference play. The Big 10 is a tough conference. Until this year, Miami hasn't really played tough teams. Oklahoma disappeared and came back. USC was absolutely pathetic until Carroll turned the program around three years ago. I think we've got a real coach on our hands. We just have to stick through the tough years. Mililani brought up an interesting point about Tressel's previous team. Another thing to consider was Youngstown St. statistics in 1999--the rebound year. They were 49th in the country in Total Offense with 374.45 yards / game. 49th in scoring offense with 27.2 points / game and 91st in Total Defense. Tressel has been here before. We're in good hands.

 

[Bucklion]

Given all I have seen and heard the last 2 days, I have a hypothetical question, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way at all to anyone, but I am curious what people think regarding what the perception would be:


Obviously, Jim Tressel's job is not in jeopardy at all in reality now, though we could finish 6-5 or 5-6 this season. BUT...let's say for arguement's sake that we don't get the PI call, and we lose the National Championship game on fourth down. Would his job still be in no danger whatsoever right now, or do people start to see a guy who had one good season with someone else's players, who has no offense to speak of his entire tenure, and will be losing his biggest weapons (Nugent, the punters, CK) who bailed him out countless times in close games? Remember, Nebraska fired Solich after 3 years and he played for a title, and North Carolina hoops fired (or pushed out) Bill Guthridge, and he went to 2 final 4s in 3 seasons.

Just curious.

Edit: Let me repeat, I am NOT one of these fire Tressel people, and I have spoken up against radical change to our program over the last 2 days. I'm merely posing a question.

 

[StoRMinBrutus]

Bucklion,
Even if OSU had not won the National championship, I'd still hope Tressel would be here for many reasons. For one, he's a top nothced class act and he did so much with that group back in 2002. I mean comon Craig was an awesomely talented QB but not a great consistent arm. He threw alot of times at people feet. He had good running skills too but not a great QB in the traditional sense. I still think he's a great kids and deserves to be amoung the highly touted of OSU, just for his heart and where he brought us. Coach Tressel did that. He put OSU in the position to be Champions with the talent he had. He also has beaten Michigan and thats big for me as well as many others.
There is room for being critical about his Offensive line production though. Thats been his achilles heel all through his tenure at OSU. Thats getting harder and harder for anyone to defend. If anything it can be argued that his loyalty to his coaching staff is something that needs to be adressed , in particular to Bollman. Bottom line is that that aspect of the Offense is not producing and the name of this game is wins and producing consistently. They are not. I'd be very sad to see such a class act as Coach Tressel be booted for those reasons, but not Bollman. He needs to get his players acts together or make some changes. On that note I hate to say that about anyone. I hope it turns around for everyone. We shall see in the coming weeks.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

...Then I see what teams like USC, Choklahoma, and Cryami have done. These teams have had very solid runs for as long as we have or longer...They dump out 1st rounders like its nothing, and are still damn good...

USC? Their "run" is in its third year. They happened to get a few more top-notch recruits in the last few years due to everyone being Caroll's "#1 guy" and the glamor of playing at USC. The Trojans don't look as dominating as they did last year, and could lose a game or two this year also. As for Oklahoma, they've had two losses in each of the last three seasons, and even though they're starting to look as tough as they were during last year's regular season, I think they'll also lose a game or two. Now, we're probably going to lose a few more games this year, but if a four- or five-loss season helps set us up for another title run either next year or the following year, then I'll take it. I'll take a three-, four-, or even five-loss year every four or five seasons if it means we also get a national title during than span in return.

 

[DEBuckeye]

A very small fraction of that can be attributed to Cooper players

Just wanted to point out something in Scarletflag's initial post that jumped out at me.

If you want to argue that many of the players on the NC team were Cooper's, fine. But think about this- do you think Cooper could have gotten a Championship with that team? Highly unlikely. Tressel is a much better coach.

And, as Mili pointed out, everybody has down years. Even those considered "the best" are going to lose, but JT has always brought them back. I, for one, am looking forward to watching our guys kick ass next year and in '06.

 

[Buck Nasty]

I have a couple theories on why we do not seem to be able to execute and are struggling so much right now. For one I think we are very inexperienced right now, but the reason why we are not able to reload such as a Miami, or Oklahoma is actually a side effect of Tresselball. Miami and Oklahoma consistently blow out the teams they are supposed to blow out. When Oklahoma plays a Rice, or San Diego State, they beat them by 40 and the second and third stringers play the whole second half. We have not blown out a team in 2 plus years. The guys we have playing now on offense have had no meaningful playing time in before this year. On defense, we rotate so many players in and out that the effect is not nearly as dramatic. That being said. Our offense has not been good at all for the past three years. You can try to put the blame on Ross, or the line, but to me it is flat out poor execution. I don't like to throw the blame at Tressel, because he is obviously a good coach, but how long do you let it go before you face the fact that its a problem.

 

[AKAK]

Remember, Nebraska fired Solich after 3 years and he played for a title,

Well- see, there's and excellent reason to guar against unrealistic expectations... to the Solich Hater's out there I say:

70-10

 

[kn1f3party]

Just wanted to point out something in Scarletflag's initial post that jumped out at me.

If you want to argue that many of the players on the NC team were Cooper's, fine. But think about this- do you think Cooper could have gotten a Championship with that team? Highly unlikely. Tressel is a much better coach.

And, as Mili pointed out, everybody has down years. Even those considered "the best" are going to lose, but JT has always brought them back. I, for one, am looking forward to watching our guys kick ass next year and in '06.

That was my point. There were excellent players here when Tressel arrived, but it took great coaching to win us a National Title... undisputed! We'll be back, kids really like to see how many players go to the pros more than the scores throughout the season.

 

[Carmen Ohio]

[QUOTE But, as Brett Musburger so emphatically put it near the end of the game yesterday, this is a young team that is learning, and they will be much, much better down the road. I can see us going 7-4, maybe even 6-5 this year, but I know we'll be the kind of team next year like we were in 2002, and that we come out of no where off of a mediocre-at-best season to shock everyone. We aren't going to go 11-2 or 12-1 every year...there is simply too much parity in the conference and in I-A football in general. This is why a storied program like Michigan--the winningest of all time--losses three games or more nearly every year.[/QUOTE]Amen!

 

[OhioStadium]

If Zwick can't hit the broadside of a barn in the first quarter this Saturday. his ass has got to be on the bench - he wasn't even close on those out's and post's and his long ball was too flat. I hope JT isn't too stubborn to try TS if Zwick is way off again against Iowa. Also you can't keep blaming the o-line if your QB throws it 10 feet over the receivers' heads - Our stud wide outs had the Wisky CB's burnt serveral times only to have the ball rifled over their heads.

 

[Piney]

Everyone keeps blaming Bollman. And he deserves it for the O-Line performance. But it goes along with another problem. The root of the problem is play calling and overall offensive philosophy. It can be traced to the Offensive Coordinator... and that person is Tressel himself. He calls all the plays. This has always bothered me, but when you win the NC and win a BCS bowl the next year you kinda just sweep it under the rug.

The fact is the offense has never done anything during his tenure. So my question is why hasn't Tressel even thought about hiring a fulltime offensive coordinator. This is where pressure should be put on Tressel. Tressel, you are the head coach of big time major college football program, you have alot on your plate on a weekly basis. The OC is in charge of preparing the gameplans, hire a fulltime OC to allow the proper preparation.

We don't need a Norm Chow type offense, or even the west coast offense. Find the best run oriented coach you can find and hire him. More importantly let him call the plays. And let him live and breathe offense so we can see a good flow on offense.

 

[osugrad21]

Piney...I'm really not picking on you so don't take it that way but....

Last year, the fans screamed for 5 wide and more passing...got it

Now that the spread set has arrived, due mostly to inability to run, the offense is sputtering again.

Now people are screaming for the run again....

The problem DOES lie in execution and it starts up front. If Lydell Ross or even dang Diana Ross was given the holes that Eddie George or even Jonathan Wells were given...none of would be all over his performance. The playcalling is severely limited due to this lack of execution up front and when it is opened up as the fans asked for, the QB has not executed. Numerous calls were on the money saturday but the opportunities were missed due to lack of execution.

Now take this however you want because there are flip sides to my argument...lineman were so ineffective at tOSU but getting PT in the NFL. So do we blame Bollman? the blocking philosophy? Either way, it is not getting done...but I do know this, Coach Bollman has never told a lineman to miss an assignment just like JT has never told his QB to miss a streaking Teddy Ginn and give up a sure TD.

I will stick to my guns in the coaching department...the execution is the key. If we are going to fault the coaches for anything, fault the lack of execution because ultimately, a coach is responsible for the product. It just goes with the territory

 

[Elephant]

Bottom line is this offense sucks donkey dick!
1) Zwick is struggling getting rid of the ball in key moments, struggling to hit the 15 yard pass.
2) Ross looks like a damn linebacker running the ball. Slower!
3) O-line is not working together. One guy pulls the other stays base. 4 guys block the other falls down because he is too damn fat.
4) Playing calling has been okay but you can't call the plays if the players are not executing to begin with!
5) Michigan fucks goats and they have piss color uniforms!

See its everybody! This offense is not doing the little things right. Will the buckeyes get better on offense?......Does a bear shit in the woods?

 

[Piney]

No offense taken... but I know what ya mean about everyone screaming for spread offenses. I admit I was screaming for more passing, but you can pass in formations other than 5 wide shotgun.

That is what drives me crazy. The extremes that this offense goes through. We want to run the ball, so bring in the 2 TEs and a FB, but since it fails let us just go shotgun formation to pass all game. But if we want to run we bring in 2 TEs and a fullback anyway?

I almost died when we actually ran out of shotgun. The funny thing is it worked. The scary thing is it would have worked even better if we didn't advertise it last week.

But how about this. Try to execute passing plays out of our base package? I can bet if we can start passing successfully out of a 2 WR sets better that our running game will open up.

But I do agree that execution must be better. Zwick must hit the open receivers, the Oline has to block, no more fumbling, and receiver must get open. But when our O-Lineman get drafted in the NFL and play better in the pros. You have to start thinking that maybe the technique is not working and you have to execute at 110% for it to work. Is that fair for the players?