LB Curtis Grant (National Champion)

[Buckskin86]

Grant Gets Career Back On Track

June 16, 2012
Curtis Grant knows that his growing pains as a freshman student-athlete are somewhat common, especially for an out-of-state kid who arrived with astronomical expectations.

Still, his frustration reached a point where he considered giving up the game of football.

?I?m not going to lie, I did (think about quitting),? he said while seated before reporters at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center that has been his new pseudo-home. ?But I couldn?t do it. I love it too much.?

That is good news for the Ohio State coaches and followers of the program who are about to see Grant in a key role for the Buckeyes.

After shedding weight, improving his awareness on the field and letting his talent shine through this spring, Grant emerged as OSU?s listed middle linebacker. He?s expected to line up as a defensive starter between speedy weakside ?backer Ryan Shazier and senior Etienne Sabino.

?I think I?ve found a home there,? said Grant, who was a Parade and USA Today All-American while at Richmond (Va.) Hermitage. ?I like being in the middle and seeing what everybody is doing and knowing what everybody?s position is.

?The mental side is a lot different. You?ve got to recognize a lot of things and make sure everybody is lined up, but then when you?ve got the older guys who know what they?re doing, that have been here before you, that helps you out a lot more, too.?

cont...

http://sportsrappup.com/sections/stories/12-06-16/Grant_Gets_Career_Back_On_Track.aspx

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU's Grant looks ready to earn his stars
June 25, 2012
Jim Naveau

COLUMBUS ? Ohio State sophomore linebacker Curtis Grant says he looks back at the struggles of his freshman year now and just smiles.

But he wasn?t smiling a lot back then.

Grant arrived at Ohio State a year ago rated as a 5-star recruit. There was talk of him starting right away. And then he spent much of the season on the bench and played a little on special teams.

It happens to a lot of recruits. But it was happening to Grant for the first time, so he found it confusing and, at times, a little depressing.

In today?s instant reaction atmosphere, people were asking what ever happened to him.

But now Grant appears to be one of the Buckeyes who has made the biggest strides since Urban Meyer became OSU?s coach in late November.

Ohio State needs the 235-pound sophomore to be productive at middle linebacker and he says he ready to deliver the kind of things expected of him when he signed in 2011.

It didn?t take Meyer long to begin talking about him as the starting linebacker in the fall. Part of that was because of Grant?s improvement and maybe the rest of it was that there weren?t a whole lot of other candidates on the Buckeyes? roster.

"My confidence level has gone up a lot," Grant said earlier this summer. "It started off hard because expectations were so high. I probably just needed a year to catch up to the college speed and study the game and get to know things better and get a good confidence level."

cont...

http://varsity.limaohio.com/articles/looks-8972-osu-ready.html

 

[Buckskin86]

2012 All-Breakthrough Team: The Defense
By Matt Hinton | CBSSports.com College Football Blogger
July 18, 2012

Linebacker ? Curtis Grant, Ohio State
With the possible exception of Texas, no major team was more open to throwing freshmen to the wolves in 2011 than Ohio State; by the end of the year, first-year players were holding down major roles at quarterback, wide receiver, linebacker and cornerback, and contributing significantly on the defensive line. Somehow, that number did not include the five-star headliner of Jim Tressel's final signing class, Curtis Grant, whose advance hype bought him just enough time to record two tackles and blow his redshirt. No more waiting in 2012: The new coaching staff was impressed enough with Grant in the spring to promote him in front of returning starter Storm Klein at middle linebacker, and Klein's subsequent departure from the teamin the wake of a domestic violence arrest leaves the MIKE job to Grant and Grant alone.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19609150

 

[Buckskin86]

Grant misses practice to tend to family matter

Projected starting middle linebacker Curtis Grant was absent from practice.

Meyer said that Grant?s grandfather is ill, and he went home to Virginia to visit him.

?Our prayers are with him,? Meyer said. ?I understand he?s doing better, so I think he?ll be back at practice (today).?

Freshman Connor Crowell took first-team reps in Grant?s absence.

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/...-are-progressing-but-still-cant-practice.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Ohio State notebook: Grant is right in middle of things
Coaches want to see leadership from linebacker
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday August 8

With Curtis Grant back from visiting his ill grandfather, the Ohio State defense had the look yesterday that most people expected at the starting spots, because Grant was at middle linebacker.

But defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said after practice that the middle linebacker position has not been set, because he and his staff are seeking more than just a tackler.

?If you?re going to be in there, especially at inside linebacker, that leadership role, you?ve got to have confidence in what you?re doing,? Fickell said. ?And sometimes I think that was our biggest problem defensively last year. We just didn?t have somebody that could get the thing set.?

Ohio State tried to let defensive end John Simon or safety C.J. Barnett make some of the calls last year, but Fickell said the calls ideally need to come from the middle. He believes Grant has that ability.

?He?s got to continue to do what he?s done, continue to show us,? Fickell said. ?But he?s one of those guys I promise you, I lay my head on the pillow at night knowing he?s going to give you everything he?s got. He?d die for this game. He loves this game. He studies it. He works at it. He?s got a chance to be a great player because of his passion to play football.?

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stories/2012/08/08/grant-is-right-in-middle-of-things.html

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JoOLJBQgM0"]grant 8 10 12 mpg - YouTube[/ame]

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

What the hell is that noise in the background?

 

[mercer_buckeye]

What the hell is that noise in the background?

Gigglefucks?

 

[OH10]

You can't help but be impressed with how well this young man carries himself; recognizes that he made mistakes; trying to be a leader to the freshman; willing to take advice from his predecessors. He wants to be great.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

This guy just needs one good game. Just to get in there and make plays. Hopefully he has an impact early in the season and gets his confidence up. Seems like that has been his hold up. I know everyone says that he did too much time thinking but that can also be because he doesn't trust his instincts. Once he lays some dude on his back and makes an impact in a game I think that weakness moves more in the rearview mirror.

 

[HilmerJ]

if he would have played a few snaps on defense last year he could have made some plays but the coaches didn't want to see it...they should have let him get out there and hit some guys on defense, instead of just covering punts...add this with the fact that it took an injury to the starter to get shazier in the game, and he blows up...we all know he should have gotten more time earlier in the season...this season both of them are gonna go bobby boucher on some quarterbacks...

 

[Taosman]

if he would have played a few snaps on defense last year he could have made some plays but the coaches didn't want to see it...they should have let him get out there and hit some guys on defense, instead of just covering punts...add this with the fact that it took an injury to the starter to get shazier in the game, and he blows up...we all know he should have gotten more time earlier in the season...this season both of them are gonna go bobby boucher on some quarterbacks...

No. Last year the coaches had all they could handle and there were things that just couldn't get done with player development. Last year was pretty much a disaster and the coaches did what they could under the circumstances. Time to move on.
Curtis is gonna make some mistakes but he'll just get better and better with each snap.

 

[Buckskin86]

Going to middle school
LB Curtis Grant works on the mental side of game to live up to potential
Updated: August 24, 2012
By Austin Ward | BuckeyeNation

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The hype is building again. This time, Curtis Grant appears to know how to handle it.

The Ohio State sophomore has now been through the grind once and failed to meet the outsized expectations that come with signing as perhaps the top prize in the 2011 recruiting class. Grant still has those impressive physical tools that originally generated all that buzz, and in some ways he's improved them. But he learned the hard way it will take more than that to reach his potential and become the anchor the Buckeyes need at middle linebacker.

So one workout, one practice and one 15-minute mentoring session at a time, Grant set out to become the player most everybody expects him to be.

"A year ago I just came in wanting to earn a spot just like any other kid, but I just didn't show it," Grant said. "I talked about it, but I didn't show it.

"This year, it's kind of different."

cont...

http://espn.go.com/colleges/osu/sto...t-big-expectations-starting-middle-linebacker

 

[ant80]

Grant was supposed to play a lot tonight at ILB MIKE. But I really didn't see him play at all. Does anyone know if Grant played at all yesterday?

 

[scarletngray]

yes he started and played Mike all game long