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

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Dispatch

Big Ten notebook: Improvement always on mind of Laurinaitis

Friday, July 25, 2008 3:04 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CHICAGO -- Out of 35 questions Ohio State coach Jim Tressel fielded yesterday at the Big Ten preseason meetings, nine were about freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-ranked recruit. How many were about running back Chris "Beanie" Wells or linebacker James Laurinaitis, who were named the conference's offensive and defensive preseason players of the year?
Zero.
"Sometimes people take things for granted," Tressel said, "And maybe (reporters) were thinking, 'Well, everyone knows about Laurinaitis and everyone knows about Beanie.'
"But I know what's in their minds, and that's to be better than they've ever been."
It marked the sixth straight year an Ohio State player has been selected as a preseason honoree: Maurice Clarett (2003), A.J. Hawk (2004, 2005), Troy Smith (2006) and Laurinaitis (2007).
Cont...
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More JL tidbits from that interview:

The guys who came back had to come back for the right reasons, like education, our friendships that’ll last a lifetime, and the fun of being in college. That’s why we came back, not for one game. We came back to be college students.
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On the NFL draft:

I think there’s an overemphasis on the measureables and not nearly enough focus on whether or not the guy can actually play. Yeah, people go nuts over a guy who’ll run really, really fast, but is he really fast and running into a block, or is he really fast and making plays?
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Laurinaitis likely won't figure into Heisman talk
Jason Lloyd Journal Register News Service
07/30/2008
Commentary

Someday, another defensive player will win the Heisman Trophy. The only man to win the award twice is convinced of that. It just probably won't happen this year, which is bad news for Ohio State's James Laurinaitis.

"I think James should be in the conversation about the Heisman Trophy," Archie Griffin said during a teleconference Tuesday. "I think he's that great of a linebacker. And I think there will be a day when a defensive player wins it. I don't know that it would be this year, though, when you have a lot of outstanding offensive players."

Florida's Tim Tebow, the reigning winner, is just a junior and conceivably has two more cracks to win it again. Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, who finished fourth in voting last year, returns this season, while Ohio State's own Beanie Wells might have the best shot of anyone.

All of which means Laurinaitis, projected on early boards as the No. 1 NFL prospect in college football, might have to settle for a third-straight season of 100-plus tackles and a few more defensive player-of-the-year awards, but no Heisman. Laurinaitis has come to accept that.
Michigan's Charles Woodson won the Heisman as a cornerback in 1997, but even he served as a two-way player at times and also contributed on special teams.

"To even have a chance on defense, you'd have to play cornerback or safety. Somewhere where you can return interceptions for touchdowns," Laurinaitis said prior to last year's Heisman ceremony. "Whenever you watch highlights, it's all touchdowns. You're not going to see the guy who made 15 tackles."

He's right. Last year, there were 970 ballots distributed to sports writers and former winners. I have one of them, but every Saturday, I get to watch just two teams - Ohio State and the team Ohio State is playing. That greatly hinders anyone's voting knowledge, which ultimately is limited to a few stories and a few highlights.

Maybe Griffin is right. Maybe someday, another defensive player will win the award. By the time it happens, Laurinaitis will be a millionaire. I bet he'll be fine with the tradeoff.
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The News-Herald - Laurinaitis likely won't figure into Heisman talk
 
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The irony of it all is that scUM fans criticize Reggie Bush for taking money during his College Football years, but they get all mad when Charles Woodson is mentioned in the same breath, though Bush is just the modern day version of Woodson. Hypocrites.

edit: End of rant. Back to not so Lil' Animal.
 
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I thought this deserved a mention. From the most recent "Bucket of Bullets":

From Coach Dickie B
They talk about Penn State being "Linebacker U." but I think Ohio State has proven over the years that they are the real linebacker university. I'm going to go with four linebackers in the starting lineup simply because there is so much talent I have to. My starting four are Chris Spielman (1987), Randy Gradishar (1973), AJ Hawk (2005) and James Laurinatis (2008). What a lineup! And backing them up would be Andy Katzenmoyer (1998), Tom Cousineau (1978), Marcus Marek (1982) and Pepper Johnson (1985). And that leaves out of the two deep people like Steve Tovar, Matt Wilhelm, Bobby Carpenter and Na'il Diggs. I remember Chris Spielman pacing the sidelines begging Earle Bruce to let him in his first game. Bruce turns to his assistant and asks about putting him in and his assistant says, "I don't think he's ready". Bruce says, "He's ready". Spielman goes into the game on a blitz call and is so pumped up he damn near dives completely over the ball carrier (I don't remember if it was a running back or the quarterback) and snags the guys shoulder pads on the way over to tackle him for a loss. I remember thinking, "This is going to be a fun four years". I never thought there could ever be a better linebacker at Ohio State than Chris Spielman but if Laurinatis has the kind of year we expect him to have he could move into that sacred and most holy spot.
From our staff guys at Bucknuts
Jeff Rapp: Chris Spielman, Randy Gradishar, James Laurinaitis and AJ Hawk then Marcus Marek, Pepper Johnson, Tom Cousineau and Andy Katzenmoyer (yes, he went with a 3-4 formation?)

Steve Helwagen: Hawk, Spielman, Gradishar and Laurinaitis then Katzenmoyer, Cousineau, Marek and Steve Tovar (Helwagen also went with four, he said, to ?Give Jerry Rudzinski a shot??)

Bill Kurelic: Katzenmoyer, Spielman and Gradishar then Hawk, Tovar and Johnson

Kirk Larrabee: Spielman, Hawk, Laurinaitis, and Katzenmoyer then Tovar, Cousineau, Gradishar and Marek

Duane Long: Spielman, Gradishar, Hawk and Laurinaitis then Katzenmoyer, Johnson, Cousineau and Bobby Carpenter

Jerry Rudzinski: (Not allowed to vote for himself): Hawk, Spielman, Katzenmoyer and Johnson then Marek, Gradishar, Tovar and Laurinaitis.

Dave Biddle: Spielman, Marek and Gradishar then Hawk, Laurinaitis and Katzenmoyer

Steve McAllister: Stan White, Gradishar, Rick Middleton and Hawk then Carpenter, Marek, Spielman and Cousineau
Consensus sez: Spielman, Gradishar, Hawk and Katzenmoyer are your first string. The ?back ups? are Laurinaitis, Marek, Cousineau and Tovar (in a tie-breaker with Pepper?)
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I thought it was interesting how many of the "experts" put JL in the top ranks of OSU LBs. Not that he's a slouch, but to see so many put him above Cousineau, Marek, Katz, Pepper, and Tovar was a bit surprizing.


 
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Conversation with James Laurinaitisby Pete Fiutak
For more previews, predictions and prognostications, go to CollegeFootballNews.com.
Updated: August 10, 2008

In one of the biggest upsets of the 2008 season, Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis decided to come back for his senior year when he could've gone pro. In a weak year for linebackers, he would've been the first one taken and a near-certain top 20 overall pick, but now has a shot to finish up his career as, arguably, one of the five greatest linebackers to ever play college football. Or at least one of the most accomplished.

The winner of the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker and the Nagurski Award (in 2006) as the nation's best defensive player, he has made 236 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, nine sacks and seven interceptions in the last two seasons, highlighted by a 19-tackle day last year in the win over Wisconsin. Don't blame him for the loss to LSU, he made 18 stops. But numbers don't begin to show just what he means to the defense. A tough leader and versatile player able to operate inside and out, he'll be the signature star on yet another national-title-caliber team.

CFN spoke with Laurinaitis about all the attention he's received, about being the son of a former professional wrestler and more.

CFN: With all the attention you receive and all the interviews you have to do, are you used to it all yet?

James Laurinaitis: It's just part of the job, really. If you come to Ohio State, and if you become a big-time player, you have to expect that you're going to have to do lots and lots of interviews and that you're always going to be in the spotlight. Sometimes you wish you could just go home, but you know what you're getting into when you come here.

CFN: Considering you weren't exactly a five-star, can't-miss recruit, you couldn't have really prepared for this.

JL: Not at all. I looked at my goal sheet from my freshman year and my hope was to make the All-Big Ten team as a senior. I never expected to do anything more than that before then considering how many great players are here. I wasn't really prepared for this at all, and I wasn't expecting it.

CFN: How much does having a father like yours prepare you for the media, and what's the best thing you've learned from him as it applies to football?

JL: I think I was comfortable with it all right away because of him. He taught me to be extremely grateful for anything that happens and to enjoy the spotlight, but to always be extremely humble. He helped me with always saying the right thing and to spread the spotlight around. Always talk up the other team and whenever someone says something about you, talk about how everyone else helped you out, and that's true. When you make a lot of plays and have a lot of success, it's because the rest of the guys around you are doing their jobs. If I'm making tackles and doing things well, it's because I'm not blocked thanks to my line, and so on. As far as football, I learned from my dad that you always have to work hard every day no matter what. Somewhere, someone is working their butt off to be better than you and will try to work to take your spot.
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CFN: (Former Minnesota head coach) Glen Mason's pitch wasn't good enough to make you a Gopher?

JL: I had two offers: Minnesota and Ohio State. In the end it was the family atmosphere created by Coach Tressel at Ohio State. At the end of the day, the ultimate dream is to be in the NFL, and no one does that better than Ohio State. If you can't do it coming here, you can't do it, so if the NFL wasn't going to work out for me, I was at least going to know by coming here that I gave it my best shot.

CFN: Who's more nuts: Minnesota high school hockey fans, pro wrestling fans, or Ohio State Buckeye die-hards?

JL: Ohio State football fans. Without question. They're crazy, but in a great way.
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FOX Sports on MSN - COLLEGE FOOTBALL - Conversation with James Laurinaitis
 
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generaladm;1223868; said:
I thought this deserved a mention. From the most recent "Bucket of Bullets":




I thought it was interesting how many of the "experts" put JL in the top ranks of OSU LBs. Not that he's a slouch, but to see so many put him above Cousineau, Marek, Katz, Pepper, and Tovar was a bit surprizing.
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I love all our guys but imo you lose "expert" status when you have JL above any of those guys you just named.

Then Kirk with JL above Gradishar?

Wow.
 
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