Jim Bollman (Stay calm and run Dave)

[BuckeyeNation27]

I'm sure he's a great guy and I'm sure he works hard. And I'm glad the blue chippers that he's brought in vouch for him and say they wouldn't be here if it weren't for him....

But what good is a stable full of 4 and 5 star OLinemen who seemingly don't get the job done? I don't know the first thing about playing or coaching the offensive line....but how long has it been since I haven't heard the Ohio State offensive line being criticized by people who do know what they're talking about?

 

[fanaticbuckeye]

Coach Bollman has forgotten more about offensive line play than most coaches will ever know. People want to point fingers at the man because they really don't know who to point them at when our guys seem to under perform. When it comes to knowledge, motivation, effort, and skill as a coach. Bolls is second to none.

Having been his assistant, I can tell you Bolls is relentless in his preparation and looks in every nook and cranny when putting his gameplan together. Also, the gameplan is a group effort with all of the offensive coaches. They meet after practices and don't leave until around 10pm ("nothing good happens after 10" - Jim Tressel) Bolls will go through everything, play by play and get opinions and feedback from the coaches respective to thier position coached. Coach Tressell is also in this process and effort these coaches make every night is more than most could handle. They don't even leave for lunch DURING the day, it is usually snagged by a GA or and intern.

When it comes to the players and people within the program, Jim Bollman can come accross as tough and in his own world sometimes, mostly because he is so focused on the task at hand, but when you do catch him when he comes up for air, he cares about people, he is driven by his faith, and he sets a GREAT example for our young Buckeyes to follow. He is a moral beacon even though he is the first to admit he has had his struggles when he was a young man.

I owe so much to coach Jim Bollman as a man. He taught me a lot in the years I was fortunate to work for him and I will never forget the things he taught me not only about football, but about life.

I would love to see Coach Bollman stay as long as he wants to. I also hope that he can take the time when he retires to enjoy his family and enjoy a happy, healthy long retirement when he does decide to walk away from the game.

Its great to hear this perspective, thank you.

What is your response to the O-Line play on Saturday? Mind you, I am not a coach or have enough knowledge of the tactical play to dissect, I know we want our linemen to create wholes and punish people. That's the extent of my knowledge. It appears the people that understand line play are not as worried as the common fan. Do you fall in that boat?

What will Coach Bollman focus on this week and do you expect a drastic improvement this Saturday?

 

[GomerBucks]

Its great to hear this perspective, thank you.

What is your response to the O-Line play on Saturday? Mind you, I am not a coach or have enough knowledge of the tactical play to dissect, I know we want our linemen to create wholes and punish people. That's the extent of my knowledge. It appears the people that understand line play are not as worried as the common fan. Do you fall in that boat?

What will Coach Bollman focus on this week and do you expect a drastic improvement this Saturday?

Navy presented a unique problem for our boys in that they were smaller and very quick. What a casual fan doesnt realize is, just because you outweigh your opponent doesnt mean that you can just push they guy out of the endzone every play.

While USC will be the biggest test for us this year, our guys may actually play better.....

Like ExHawg stated earlier in the Oline discussion thread:

"I can't offer much right now. I'll try to remember to DVR the USC game and give it a second look. I would have liked to see more push against Navy, but from personal experience against Navy they are a hard team to get push against. Navy usually has smaller players and rely on scheme rather than speed and athleticism. They use smarts and discipline because they don't usually have the athleticism to match up with better schools.
It will be interesting to see how our OL matches up with other top tier athletes from USC. I'm sure there will be some wrinkles added this week for USC, but I would like to see a some better play calling at better times. For example when you are in a 4th and a yard or two you don't run a play where the OL has to pull. The defense stacks the box, tries to get penetration, and clogs the play. In that situation it would have been better off to rely on one on one drive blocking and/or TP to get the yards. As he showed on the TD run play action boot with TP is almost impossible to stop for at least a couple yard gain.
Once again I'll try to do a better job with players and positions next week. Things are never as good or as bad as they look after one game."

 

[lvbuckeye]

i call bullshit. stop making excuses. fucking DUKE scored 41 points on Navy last year. they gave up like 29 points a game.
a team with this much talent should be able to muster better than 4 more points than Temple did a year ago...

 

[Bleed S & G]

Navy presented a unique problem for our boys in that they were smaller and very quick. What a casual fan doesnt realize is, just because you outweigh your opponent doesnt mean that you can just push they guy out of the endzone every play.

Some pass this post along to JT and Bollman - they need to know which type of lineman to recruit.. we need no swagger, no size, no mean streak.. we need rich-rod lineman.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

i call bullshit. stop making excuses. fucking DUKE scored 41 points on Navy last year. they gave up like 29 points a game.
a team with this much talent should be able to muster better than 4 more points than Temple did a year ago...

Yes, the transitive property theory is foolproof in college football.

 

[MaxBuck]

Yes, the transitive property theory is foolproof in college football.

With respect, I don't think the transitive theory comes into it when lvbuckeye simply pointed out that Duke scored 41 points against Navy last year.

I understand what GomerBucks has said, and I think it's clear that Jim Bollman is both a fine man and a fine recruiter. But the fact remains that the offensive lines for the Buckeyes have not performed at a championship level. Given that championships are the goal, some changes seem to be appropriate, whether they include Mr. Bollman's departure or not.

 

[strohs]

It really always comes down to how much blame you want to give Bollman for the overall lack of offensive performance during the JT era. Most people don't want to go after Tress so they focus on Bollman. Everything else is just a variation on this central theme.

I have been critical of JT's playcalling for years, but I truly believe the game is won and lost in the trenches and if the OL could open some holes for the RB's and block better for the QBs then I think JT would look much better as a offensive coordinator...
But there comes a point with Bollman where there is no longer room left for excuses and explanations. Its time to play up to potential, period. The talent is there but the motivation, the fire, the nastiness, whatever it is, is missing.
The OL is the only thing that has held tOSU back from multiplie national championships under Tress...

 

[kippy1040]

The offensive line play will certainly remain a mystery for Ohio State. At times they seem to click and mesh as one unit. Then the next they are
hard to figure out. The Penn State game 2007 was a prime example. The time that they gave Boeckman in that game was great i think. He played one of his better games and i think the O/line contributed highly. The other time was with the LSU N/C game in the first quarter where we struck quick for a 10 point lead and then after that the wheels seemed to come off. Playing in the trenches like they do is hard to judge what goes down there. Lets hope they can make it all better for the USC game.

 

[BuckeyeRob]

Navy presented a unique problem for our boys in that they were smaller and very quick. What a casual fan doesnt realize is, just because you outweigh your opponent doesnt mean that you can just push they guy out of the endzone every play.

While USC will be the biggest test for us this year, our guys may actually play better.....

Like ExHawg stated earlier in the Oline discussion thread:

"I can't offer much right now. I'll try to remember to DVR the USC game and give it a second look. I would have liked to see more push against Navy, but from personal experience against Navy they are a hard team to get push against. Navy usually has smaller players and rely on scheme rather than speed and athleticism. They use smarts and discipline because they don't usually have the athleticism to match up with better schools.
It will be interesting to see how our OL matches up with other top tier athletes from USC. I'm sure there will be some wrinkles added this week for USC, but I would like to see a some better play calling at better times. For example when you are in a 4th and a yard or two you don't run a play where the OL has to pull. The defense stacks the box, tries to get penetration, and clogs the play. In that situation it would have been better off to rely on one on one drive blocking and/or TP to get the yards. As he showed on the TD run play action boot with TP is almost impossible to stop for at least a couple yard gain.
Once again I'll try to do a better job with players and positions next week. Things are never as good or as bad as they look after one game."

I know CFN had some very, very positive things to say about Navy's Front 4.

I know in pass rushing its much more about your quickness and speed to get around the tackles.

I forget where I saw this... it might have been a write up Duane Long did. He showed how the staff is particularly good at setting up an opponent with a down and distance formation only to show that same formation in a similar situation with a different opponent and do something completely different.... usually resulting in a big play.

Clearly the tackles have to improve and I saw too many whiffs by the full backs. The GOOD news is those are technique issues.

 

[GomerBucks]

i call bull[censored]. stop making excuses. [censored]ing DUKE scored 41 points on Navy last year. they gave up like 29 points a game.
a team with this much talent should be able to muster better than 4 more points than Temple did a year ago...

I was giving some perspective from the inside in relation to a great coach. I am not making excuses for ANYONE. I am telling you that Bolls is a great OL coach. don't come on here and tell me YOU are calling BS.... You don't know me and you don't know the ins and outs of what is going on in the Woody Hayes Center. Go be pissed off somewhere else and whine to other uneducated football morons.

 

[notfadeaway]

I was giving some perspective from the inside in relation to a great coach. I am not making excuses for ANYONE. I am telling you that Bolls is a great OL coach. don't come on here and tell me YOU are calling BS.... You don't know me and you don't know the ins and outs of what is going on in the Woody Hayes Center. Go be [censored]ed off somewhere else and whine to other uneducated football morons.

DITTO!

 

[MaxBuck]

I was giving some perspective from the inside in relation to a great coach... I am telling you that Bolls is a great OL coach. ...whine to other uneducated football morons.

As one of those uneducated football morons (and I'm serious here; I know less about the game than probably 90% of the posters on the board), I still need to ask this: is the game not about results? Can you honestly say the results of Mr. Bollman's coaching have been other than disappointing? Can you honestly say that the performance of Ohio State offensive lines for the past 6-7 years has been at a championship level? If you believe that, then I think you are kidding yourself.

It's clear that Coach Bollman has many fine points, is undoubtedly a fine man, and equally clear that he has formed strong bonds with many (if not most) of his charges. But those facts don't compensate for failure of the line play to meet the same level of performance that most other units on the Buckeye team have operated on, in my opinion. That isn't the hallmark of a "great coach." (I'm NOT saying he's not a good coach; rather that he's clearly not a great one. And great coaching is required to field a championship team.)

 

[GomerBucks]

As one of those uneducated football morons (and I'm serious here; I know less about the game than probably 90% of the posters on the board), I still need to ask this: is the game not about results? Can you honestly say the results of Mr. Bollman's coaching have been other than disappointing? Can you honestly say that the performance of Ohio State offensive lines for the past 6-7 years has been at a championship level? If you believe that, then I think you are kidding yourself.

It's clear that Coach Bollman has many fine points, is undoubtedly a fine man, and equally clear that he has formed strong bonds with many (if not most) of his charges. But those facts don't compensate for failure of the line play to meet the same level of performance that most other units on the Buckeye team have operated on, in my opinion. That isn't the hallmark of a "great coach." (I'm NOT saying he's not a good coach; rather that he's clearly not a great one. And great coaching is required to field a championship team.)

I can appreciate the questions when posed the way you did (referring to the second paragraph, you don't need to be self depricating)

The fact of the matter is, many times what most people see on TV is run right, run left, run up the middle, short pass long pass etc.... there is nothing wrong with that.

At the end of the day, if Ohio State did not have the coaches that we do, we would not have been to 3 BCS championship games (no matter the outcome) We would not have the incredible win loss record we have. We darn sure would not have FIVE IN A ROW against scUM.

All of the coaches, Jim Bollman included, are at Ohio State because they are the best in the business. If we truly had a coach that was not up to the job, the results would be far worse. Even if there is a perspective of our guys not doing the best on the national stage, the Buckeyes are one of the most dominant teams in the country year in and year out. I guarantee you none of the teams we have faced in the last 7 years has taken us lightly, not Florida, not LSU, not Texas, not USC, not Michigan, not PSU, NO ONE.

"You win with people" - Woody Hayes

Our people are are GREAT.

 

[Jaxbuck]

No one is criticizing the man. We are criticizing the coach. I don't really care how much he's forgotten or knows, for some reason that isn't translating into success on the field. Schools are full of teachers who know their subject matter inside and out but for some reason can't get it through to the students they are responsible for.

In 8 years you have a 6-7 game stretch early in 2002 with a healthy MoC and about 16 games of good offense under Troy Smith. Other than that the offense has consistently been the weakest part of the program. The winning has been in spite of the offense for the better part of the last 8 years, not because of it.

"You win with people" - I absolutely agree. Bollman has recruited, developed and seen play in the NFL 4-5 players by my count. Mangold, Simms, Barton, Downing and now Boone. I'm not 100% sure Barton or Downing ever made a team. 4-5 guys in 8 years when the OL has the highest percentage of players as a unit on the team is pretty sub standard as compared to the rest of the team.

So we're not seeing OSU level NFL production from the position group Bollman is responsible for and the offense, of which he is technically the coordinator, has consistently underperformed/been the weak spot of the team for far too long to blame it on Navy being a bad match up.

So if you aren't putting good players on the field as a position coach and you are the coordinator for the weakest part of the team,to steal a line from the movie, what is it you say you do around here Jim?

I'm sure Bollman is a fine man but so was John Cooper.