Jim Bollman (Stay calm and run Dave)

[daddyphatsacs]

I almost wonder if a younger, more energetic coach would be a good change along the line. Bollman is not a dumb man by any means, I just think that maybe he lacks "it" factor at times. A energetic, ass buster may be what they need.

 

[starBUCKS]

I almost wonder if a younger, more energetic coach would be a good change along the line. Bollman is not a dumb man by any means, I just think that maybe he lacks "it" factor at times. A energetic, ass buster may be what they need.

Imagine what a recruiter and technique coach big Orlando Pace would be.

 

[OState29]

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.

And it's not like they had a week to prepare for the Navy D-Line's "quickness" or whatever people choose to attribute to our subpar play on the O-Line to. They had ALL summer to prepare a scheme that should have dominated this defense without showing our hand for USC. Also the O-line goes up against a great defensive line everyday in practice that is by no means anything less than quick.

 

[GomerBucks]

And it's not like they had a week to prepare for the Navy D-Line's "quickness" or whatever people choose to attribute to our subpar play on the O-Line to. They had ALL summer to prepare a scheme that should have dominated this defense without showing our hand for USC. Also the O-line goes up against a great defensive line everyday in practice that is by no means anything less than quick.

while I am not saying we overlooked Navy. I am sure we put a normal amount of scouting and prep as we would for any other opponent. Seriously though, if you think we spent the summer thinking about Navy instead of scUM and USC and PSU, you may want to think about that a little longer. Just sayin.......

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Imagine what a recruiter and technique coach big Orlando Pace would be.

I'm stealing from unionfutura when I say this, but I don't think he'd be that great of a recruiter. Recruiting is about kissing ass....and I don't think NFL stars even know how to do that. Especially not NFL stars who might be the best ever at their position.

 

[starBUCKS]

I'm stealing from unionfutura when I say this, but I don't think he'd be that great of a recruiter. Recruiting is about kissing ass....and I don't think NFL stars even know how to do that. Especially not NFL stars who might be the best ever at their position.

I don't know... He would come across geniuine to me... I can see the 6-6 300+ lb "coach" walking in with his Ohio State polo on to a high school, and not really neeeding to say much. Maybe "You want to be the best, you have to learn from the best'

 

[osubartender23]

while I am not saying we overlooked Navy. I am sure we put a normal amount of scouting and prep as we would for any other opponent. Seriously though, if you think we spent the summer thinking about Navy instead of scUM and USC and PSU, you may want to think about that a little longer. Just sayin.......

They may be putting in the extra prep time for the scUM's the PSU's and the USC's but it isnt translating onto the field in the big games. The lack of execution, discipline and overall nastiness that the OL has shown for several years now is not acceptable. I honestly cant remember the last time that the OL went out and dominated an opponent. You cant tell me we dont have the talent, as noted above with the number of OL in the NFL right now. So that just leaves one thing to blame : Coaching. Bollman might be a great guy but that doesnt translate into being able to get your players to perform at the highest level possible. I just think that people are getting sick and tired of hearing about the excuses about the lackadaisical OL play. We can see other schools with lesser talent have dominating OL, why cant OSU? I dont think anyone can truly give any answers to this, but the only constant there has been over the years is the coaching. Thats why I think Bollman gets so much heat is that he is the constant when it comes to the OL. The players change, and the play calls change, but the lack of execution and nastiness still remains the same.

 

[Joe56]

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."

Both Hawg and Gomer are correct. Schematically,Navy presented a unique problem because of their offense. This is the offense we run,as I mentioned before, with my team.It's tricky and designed primarily to make up for personnel deficiencies. So I can agree that in that situation, their scheme negated some of our size advantage. Additonally, the o line can only perform to the assignment. If the play call is not the best, it's going to show.

However, that doesn't account for being flummoxed by the zone blitz, which Coach Carroll is extremely fond of, nor the lack of push on some plays.

Simply put, I think we have a confidence problem, and we play with very little swagger.I'm not talking "Random SEC spanking Florida School of Technology by 73 and acting as they won the BCS Title.", but rather "We're Ohio State, We play Football, You're in for a Fight.."

 

[kippy1040]

I almost wonder if a younger, more energetic coach would be a good change along the line. Bollman is not a dumb man by any means, I just think that maybe he lacks "it" factor at times. A energetic, ass buster may be what they need.

So where does Jon Petersen fit in the schematics of things to come for Ohio State. I know he is coaching tight ends but he should know something about the O/line. Istn he an energetic ass buster already????

 

[NightmaresDad]

They may be putting in the extra prep time for the scUM's the PSU's and the USC's but it isnt translating onto the field in the big games. The lack of execution, discipline and overall nastiness that the OL has shown for several years now is not acceptable. I honestly cant remember the last time that the OL went out and dominated an opponent. You cant tell me we dont have the talent, as noted above with the number of OL in the NFL right now. So that just leaves one thing to blame : Coaching. Bollman might be a great guy but that doesnt translate into being able to get your players to perform at the highest level possible. I just think that people are getting sick and tired of hearing about the excuses about the lackadaisical OL play. We can see other schools with lesser talent have dominating OL, why cant OSU? I dont think anyone can truly give any answers to this, but the only constant there has been over the years is the coaching. Thats why I think Bollman gets so much heat is that he is the constant when it comes to the OL. The players change, and the play calls change, but the lack of execution and nastiness still remains the same.

I don't think the guys in the NFL are playing for this year's OSU team, are they? And there really aren't that many of our (O-Line) guys going to the NFL since Tress has been here. Certainly not like they did under Woody.
Simple fact is that, with obvious singular exceptions, we have not recruited the same level of talent - until the last couple of classes - as we used to.
No way do Cordle and Browning become multiple year starters on any of the teams of the 70s or 90s. Person and Rehring don't meet the standard either.
I think our O-line is still at least one more year away from being the force that we would expect. This year they will be OK, and maybe get better once Shugarts is the starter. Next year they will be pretty darn good, and in 2011 they should be pretty dominant.

And when the play calls DID change somewhat, in '05 and '06, we had a pretty dynamic offense. Expect to see more of that type of offense the next few years with Pryor and then B Miller.

And it's not like they had a week to prepare for the Navy D-Line's "quickness" or whatever people choose to attribute to our subpar play on the O-Line to. They had ALL summer to prepare a scheme that should have dominated this defense without showing our hand for USC. Also the O-line goes up against a great defensive line everyday in practice that is by no means anything less than quick.

You really think the month of practice before the start of the season is spent preparing for you rfirst opponent? Or even any opponent, for that matter?
Have you ever heard of player development?

And FWIW, our O ran the ball pretty well against our D during camp.

 

[matcar]

while I am not saying we overlooked Navy. I am sure we put a normal amount of scouting and prep as we would for any other opponent. Seriously though, if you think we spent the summer thinking about Navy instead of scUM and USC and PSU, you may want to think about that a little longer. Just sayin.......

I like a lot of what you're saying, but you've danced around the question Jax and others have posted. Simply put, the offense has been the weaker group and the oline has been a culprit in this for most of JTs tenure. I'm not saying it's Jim Bollman...perhaps it's JT. But there is SOME reason why that part of our team has not been as strong. I'll concede immediately that I don't know what the reason is, but I know the men who claim the responsibility.

 

[ant80]

I know someone posted Bollman's resume in another thread, perhaps Wad. Very impressive resume. But given the OL performance over the past few years,

I am telling you that Bolls is a great OL coach.

I question that preposition. I ask myself whether was might have been a better preposition in that sentence.

No doubt that Bollman has had a stellar career. Would like to know how the OL performed when he was coaching at various teams, but that doesn't matter to my argument. People's coaching change over time. Some get better, some get worse. Joe Pa, Bear Bryant and Bobby Bowden come to mind. And given our OL underachieving under Bollman, I wonder if his coaching hasn't changed over time. It is current performance I am concerned about, not whether historically he was a good coach or not.

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.

This part of the post is complete homerism. So all the best coaches come to OSU? How are Florida, USC, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas all able to maintain better lines than OSU perennially if that is the case?

Lets temper that enthusiasm a bit. We have an excellent staff. But there are strengths and weaknesses to our staff, as is going to be at any program. Our staff is on par with the coaches on most of the elite teams, but not overwhelmingly superior. Did Bollman play a part in the past successes? Definitely. Was he irreplaceable? Most certainly not. Would we have lost any of the past 5 games against scUM? Would we have gone to 3 BCS championship games since JT showed up if it were not for Bollman? Would we have replicated the performance, or perhaps even bettered it, with another OC and another OL coach? The answers to these questions is a matter of perspective.

edit: Deleted the last sentence because that might be considered bashing.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I'm not calling for a firing or demotion or anything....I'm calling for an explanation for why our OLine looks like it's not doing it's job. Maybe they are and I can't tell because I wouldn't know any better. Maybe they aren't and it's because the talent isn't there. I honestly don't know...so if somebody does know and can explain it, I'd be all ears.

 

[GomerBucks]

Look, the main reason I have posted in these threads about the Oline and Coach Bollman is because I have a world of faith in them. They know more than anyone that they can play better. The toughest part of being a Buckeye is that we must be the best year in and year out, it is expected.

If you feel like you are frustrated and you feel like our guys arent performing, that is your opinion. You are entitled to that. I have expressed mine. I am entitled to that as well. You can come out and "call BS" you can call me a "homer" and you can say our stuff is "unacceptable." Come at me with statistics (ie. how many Olinemen from other top programs have been drafted the past few years), demanding "answers" when you don't know the first thing about OLine play is unrealistic. Looking back, I seriously doubt our team would be consistantly in BCS games year in and year out if we didn't have Coach Bollman and the young men who have played on our Offensive Line. You may disagree, but all of these guys are solid in MY book.

 

[ant80]

Look, the main reason I have posted in these threads about the Oline and Coach Bollman is because I have a world of faith in them. They know more than anyone that they can play better. The toughest part of being a Buckeye is that we must be the best year in and year out, it is expected.

If you feel like you are frustrated and you feel like our guys arent performing, that is your opinion. You are entitled to that. I have expressed mine. I am entitled to that as well. You can come out and "call BS" you can call me a "homer" and you can say our stuff is "unacceptable." Come at me with statistics (ie. how many Olinemen from other top programs have been drafted the past few years), demanding "answers" when you don't know the first thing about OLine play is unrealistic. Looking back, I seriously doubt our team would be consistantly in BCS games year in and year out if we didn't have Coach Bollman and the young men who have played on our Offensive Line. You may disagree, but all of these guys are solid in MY book.

Any insight on why you say that? An elaboration would be nice, since you seem to be close to the situation and knowledgeable.