• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

LB Coach James Laurinaitis (2x B1G DPOY, 2006 Nagurski, 2007 Butkus, 2008 Lott, 3x All-American, OSU HOF)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Not that it matters but I do find this amusing....

ESPN has had the story about Tennessee's running back returning for his Senior season on the main college football page for 3 days now (you know him, he was 34th in the nation last year in rushing yards).

I haven't seen anything regarding the Butkus winner JL and the boys returning on there.
 
Upvote 0
Tlangs;1067782; said:
Not that it matters but I do find this amusing....

ESPN has had the story about Tennessee's running back returning for his Senior season on the main college football page for 3 days now (you know him, he was 34th in the nation last year in rushing yards).

I haven't seen anything regarding the Butkus winner JL and the boys returning on there.
Click to expand...

...Insert canned comment about SEC Speed here...
 
Upvote 0
DaddyBigBucks;1067783; said:
...Insert canned comment about SEC Speed here...
Click to expand...

Not to mention the upcoming "pac 10" speed, or actually I think the media buzzword is "loaded with athletes" for the condoms. We are likely to get back-handed compliments from agenda driven writers more than anything worth reading for a while.

I look forward to the buildup to the USC game. Let the media tear us down until right before, and then call us the hungry underdogs right before to get the ratings up. It's going to be nice to shutdown USC's offense considering all those new OL's against JL and company. I really don't remember a defense this deep coming back in recent memory.
 
Upvote 0
Laurinaitis honored by comparisons to Buckeye greats
Thursday, January 17, 2008
By Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

NEW ORLEANS In the large shadow of his father, James Laurinaitis arrived at Ohio State an unknown. He was ?Animal?s? kid, son of half of the Legion of Doom tag team ?The Road Warriors.?

He may be playing his last game tonight, when Ohio State and LSU decide the college football national championship. The 21-year-old linebacker, a virtual NFL first-round lock if he decides to leave after his junior year, has made a name for himself.

Laurinaitis could leave as one of the best linebackers ? if not the best ? in Buckeye history. That?s heady stuff for a kid who was thrown into action against Michigan two years ago because of an injury.

Laurinaitis became the second OSU linebacker to win the Butkus Award, joining Andy Katzenmoyer. He won the Nagurski Award last season and was a finalist for it again, as well as the Lombardi, Lott and Bednarik awards.

?It?s unbelievable to be mentioned in the same category as A.J. (Hawk) or (Chris) Spielman,? Laurinaitis said. ?To be honest, I don?t even feel like it?s necessary yet. I?m so humbled to even be up for these awards.

?I was down at the Lombardi, and seeing the six previous winners and reading those names off, it?s just so surprising to me. I still don?t feel like I?m on the same level as those players. ... I think you have to have the mentality that you?re not there yet. If you?re there, you?re going to be satisfied, and you?re not going to keep working the same.?
Click to expand...

cantonrep.com
 
Upvote 0
TS10HTW;1067574; said:
James is a great player and the game plan was to slow him up and if necessary hold the shit out of him. It's not hard to run right up the middle when the DL is getting pushed off the ball and your linebackers are being held.
Click to expand...

I agree. JL's performance during the 2007 was limited several times by our shortcomings at the DT position.
 
Upvote 0
official.site

Laurinaitis Leads Lombardi Watch List

HOUSTON - One finalist and three semi-finalists from last year's Rotary Lombardi Award voting are among 54 players selected to the 2008 preliminary watch list released today.


Ohio State linebacker [URL="https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87743&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1059421"]James Laurinaitis[/URL], one of four finalists for the 38th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia, was the only junior among last year?s finalists. The other finalists, all seniors, were LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Virginia defensive end Chris Long and Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long. Dorsey won the 38th Rotary Lombardi Award in ceremonies held at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston on December 5, 2007.
The three semi-finalists returning to this year?s list are offensive linemen Alex Mack, California, and Duke Robinson, Oklahoma, and South Florida defensive lineman George Selvie.

Cont'd ...
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Toledo Blade: A Rock-Solid Linebacker

Adds some color to the story BB posted...

Article published Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A ROCK-SOLID LINEBACKER

Buckeyes' Laurinaitis on 2008 Lombardi watch list

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

COLUMBUS - The Lombardi Award is a solid block of granite. Nothing ornate or glitzy. It is given each year to the top lineman or linebacker in college football, a group that customarily fits the same general description.

When the preliminary watch list for this year's Rotary Lombardi Award was released yesterday, about six months before the first game, it featured a number of the blue collar "blocks of granite" types that will provide the foundation for some of the country's best teams.

At the head of that class is Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, a finalist for last season's Lombardi Award, and a previous winner of the Butkus (best linebacker) and Nagurski (best defensive player) awards.

cont'd...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
official.site

Spring Football Player Profile: James Laurinaitis

Name: [URL="https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87743&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1059421"]James Laurinaitis[/URL]
Hometown: Hamel, Minn.
High School: Wayzata
Position: Linebacker
Year: Senior
Last season: Butkus Award Winner; Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
This season: One of nine starters returning on defense; Will again anchor what was the nation?s top-ranked defense in 2007

Spring practice is a time for players to develop. It can be a time when jobs are won and lost and when that second or third teamer lays it all on the line, trying to catch the eye of the coaches in hopes of more playing time.

James Laurinaitis isn?t one of those guys. The 2007 Butkus Award winner had
millions of dollars waiting for him in the National Football League and would have been one of the top players taken in April?s NFL Draft. Instead, after weeks of deliberation, the senior-to-be ultimately decided he wanted one more go-round with his teammates.

?You go through all these battles with the guys you came in with and I didn?t want to leave them. With our class we said, ?we came in together. Let?s leave together.??

cont'd ...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
BB73;1126339; said:
official.site
Click to expand...

Really good piece... The quotes are a must read; dripping with maturity and leadership and it really comes through...

"You always want to make yourself better, but I think you also help yourself mentally by taking the time to help some of the younger guys," he said. "When you teach it helps you learn even more. This is their time to get some reps in because when the season comes around, it's all business."
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
88387.jpg


Tom Dienhart
Laurinaitis an ogre? Not if you call him James
Posted: April 3, 2008

It's James Laurinaitis. Not Jim. And certainly not Jimmy.

"That's what some of my teammates call me," says Laurinaitis. "They know it gets me riled up and I don't like it. I've just always gone by James. That's what I like."

But even Jimmy beats what Laurinaitis, the best linebacker in America, was called during his days at Wayzata High in Plymouth, Minn.

"It was Shrek," he says. "At least that didn't follow me here to Ohio State."
Click to expand...

SportingNews.com - Your expert source for NCAA Football stats, scores, standings, and blogs from NCAA Football columnists
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top