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LB Mike Mitchell (transfer to Texas Tech, transfer to Southeastern FL)

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Yea I'm really not sure how a player like him doesn't see the field. I would have to assume that, given our depth, for him not to even be put in garbage time (let alone not being on ST), he would have to have the mental part of the game completely lacking. Not really sure.
 
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UpNorth_Buckeye said:
Yea I'm really not sure how a player like him doesn't see the field. I would have to assume that, given our depth, for him not to even be put in garbage time (let alone not being on ST), he would have to have the mental part of the game completely lacking. Not really sure.
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You would think ANY healthy bodies at the end of last season, let alone a relatively healthy up and comer like Mitchell would at least see the field. But no. We sit our five star prototypical MLB and play our 2nd team WLB who's injured. Love Cam Williams, and when he's healthy, he could eventually be a player, but when he was documented as being injured and out there vs. IL and UM, those were some of the most spectacular miss tackles we were watching from the last decade.

When you watch this kid's youtube highlight, it's pretty f***ing clear that the kid's mom cheers loudly in the background while the father tapes. You want get a kid 14 hours away from home, from that family, and expect everybody to be happy with you sitting the kid behind a 2nd team Will LBer?

Between this and Bell, this is really disgusting stuff from the coaching staff here. I'd stand behind this statement regardless whether Fickell, Urban or for that matter Tressel (although I don't think the man is capable of making a personnel mistake like this) calling the shots. This is just pure and simple lack of effort and attention from the coaches here.
 
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WaitingforKickoff said:
You would think ANY healthy bodies at the end of last season, let alone a relatively healthy up and comer like Mitchell would at least see the field. But no. We sit our five star prototypical MLB and play our 2nd team WLB who's injured. Love Cam Williams, and when he's healthy, he could eventually be a player, but when he was documented as being injured and out there vs. IL and UM, those were some of the most spectacular miss tackles we were watching from the last decade.

When you watch this kid's youtube highlight, it's pretty f***ing clear that the kid's mom cheers loudly in the background while the father tapes. You want get a kid 14 hours away from home, from that family, and expect everybody to be happy with you sitting the kid behind a 2nd team Will LBer?

Between this and Bell, this is really disgusting stuff from the coaching staff here. I'd stand behind this statement regardless whether Fickell, Urban or for that matter Tressel (although I don't think the man is capable of making a personnel mistake like this) calling the shots. This is just pure and simple lack of effort and attention from the coaches here.
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I don't know why he left, but I wish they should throw any idea of redshirting anyone in the toilet. Play everyone normally and if they don't see the field because they aren't good enough, then they will get a redshirt, but don't do it for the sake of doing it. You don't hold him on the bench for the last 3 games because you don't want to burn a year of playing time for 3 games. Those are the most important games of the season, and it's not a waste if you won the previous 11! Urban even said he made some redshirting mistakes in the last few weeks of the season. It's not a mistake, you can still play the guys. We already had a 82 man roster, why is he forcing the roster even smaller? When you're recruiting at a high level you don't think about redshirting those elite guys as much any more, you just pray they stick around for 4 years, let alone 5.

Plus you run the risk of pissing off and alienating the guys that don't get to play when they at least deserve a shot.
 
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Mike80 said:
Wait huh? That reads like he's leaving because of playing time and not because of his father's illness....??
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I agree with you "Mike80. I just don't get it here. Is his father facing a terminal illness? We don't know that for sure, but to be aware that there was grumblings from Mitchell that he was not playing is another story.. Something just does not add up. He is able to go home and be with his father and maybe request leave of absence from campus for a time? That could be a better explanation. If he is transferring to another school, tells me, he was not happy at Ohio State in my opinion..
 
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Some think Mike could have contributed at least as much as our other options at LB last year (read: Cam Williams) and if he had done so perhaps he wouldn't be looking to transfer despite his fathers illness. I believe this is the point Waiting for Kickoff was trying to make. Personally I'm not so sure. If my parent had a serious illness I would do whatever is necessary to be near them, especially if I was early in my career and I had good transfer options.
 
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Yikes.
grandpa-simpson-gif.gif
 
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Not sure if I saw this posted elsewhere, but Jeremy Birmingham at 11W posted this:

I posted this in another thread, but here's what we knew and when on Mitchell.

I know there's a number of people out there who are going to make this story about something more than it is - a kid who wants to be closer to his family - so I decided right now to post what we knew and when, to let you all make the decision. As for me, Mitchell and his family are a class group, so I choose to believe that what we've been told (that this is a family decision) is the truth. No reason to think otherwise.

I was told two weeks before the Orange Bowl, the week after the B1G championship game, that Mike was going to be leaving school after winter break, and that he was going to head home to Texas Tech. He absolutely was frustrated by the fact that he didn't burn his redshirt because he was told that when he enrolled at Ohio State he'd be in line to earn some key minutes as a freshman. He was in essence "promised" he wouldn't redshirt, but he did.

At that time, Ohio State did their due diligence and had a sitdown with Mike and the coaching staff and cleared the air. Things were "smoothed over," and the Buckeyes felt confident that they had rode out the storm in regard to him potentially transferring. He realized that a transfer would put him out another year and that he'd be in line to be a starter at Ohio State this coming season and he was on board with that that line of thinking.

After the bowl game (because I was told point blank on 1/9, a week after the Orange Bowl, that he was for sure staying put at Ohio State,) Mike got the word that his father's condition had worsened quite a bit and unexpectedly, so he took off from school for a few days and went back to Texas. When he came back, the decision to leave Columbus had been made, but the coaching staff had once again asked us to not run the story because they wanted to make sure they had a chance to talk to him about when the sudden emotional response to his father's illness had run its course. That has not happened. Mike has been away from the football team and trying to handle his business privately, but today we were told it was "ok" to run the story, so we did.

I know that Mike's plan as of now is to leave Ohio State post-semester (which he has to do in order to keep financial aid/scholarship stuff in line for future endeavors) and to take time away from football to help stabilize his family.
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I'm sure this would be better suited in another thread so someone can feel free to move...

For all the talk about lack of OL recruiting at OSU the thing that has been most disturbing to me is the lack of talent development and depth at the LB spot over the years and this is just another example of a large hole that will be left. Let's review the last six years of LB recruiting (using Scout's star system and rankings):

2007 - I've been on record saying what a bust this class was, one of the worst after 2004, but the two LBs recruited actually were pretty solid although one was a safety/star
Jermale Hines - 4-star #16 SLB - played mostly star/safety in this career and was a solid contributor, including an All-Big 10 selection in 2010
Brian Rolle - 4-star #6 WLB - could almost argue he exceeded expectations by the time he left, led the team in tackles his senior year with 76

2008 - again only two LBs signed and neither lived up to the hype despite being decent contributors, I consider Nate Williams to have been a DE
Etienne Sabino - 5-star #2 MLB - things were so bad he redshirted his junior season only to become a an honorable mention All-Big 10 selection in 2012 despite injuries, obviously never lived up to his lofty ranking
Andrew Sweat - 4-star #6 MLB - became the starting SAM in 2010 and made 41 tackles, never lived up to his lofty ranking either

2009 - just a mess...the best player in the group for OSU was the guy they started for 3+ years at fullback
Jonathan Newsome - 4-star #27 DE - played in five games his first two years before transferring to Ball State and becoming 2nd team All-MAC in 2012 and 1st team in 2013
Zach Boren - 3-star #45 MLB - started out his career at fullback and started 27 games in the first three years before moving to MLB before the Indiana game in 2012 where he literally helped save the season and became a reliable starter and could have possible been in line for post-season awards had he played there all year
Dorian Bell - 5-star #2 WLB - transferred to Duquesne after playing minimally in 8 games his first two seasons, names third team All-American in FCS his junior year and finished his senior year being named 2nd team All-NEC his senior year
Storm Klein - 4-star # 10 WLB - 10 starts his junior year and totaled 45 tackles, senior year marred by a temporary dismissal from the team because of a domestic violence report
Jordan Whiting - 4-star #16 MLB - transferred to Louisville prior to the 2012 season, played in just 8 games in 2010-2011, recorded no stats at Louisville last year

2010 - not one player of the four signed panned out for OSU...worse of a mess than 2009...point to this group as to why the LB play was so bad in 2012-2013 outside of Shazier
Chad Hagan - 3-star #84 S - granted a medical hardship waiver, not sure if he would have been a LB or a S/star
Scott McVey - 4-star #3 MLB - granted a medical hardship waiver
David Durham - 3-star #100 OLB - moved to fullback and transferred to Pitt, recorded 21 total tackles in 2013 for the Panthers
Jamel Turner - 4-star #6 OLB - ask Bucknuts what happened

2011 - three linebackers signed...one was great, one the jury's still out on and another was forced out of football because of injuries
Curtis Grant - 5-star #1 MLB - could be be the next great LB at OSU or will he be another Etienne Sabino? We will find out. 52 tackles in 2013
Ryan Shazier - 4-star #5 OLB - the best LB OSU has produced since Laurinaitis, 144 tackles in 2013 and named an All-American by ESPN
Conner Crowell - 3-star #24 MLB - granted a medical hardship waiver

2012 - jury is still out on this group but they've already lost two LBs to transfers and they look to be dangerously close to only having one LB produce from this group
Cam Williams - 4-star #16 OLB - looked absolutely lost at times, recorded 15 tackles in 2013, possibly recruited over at this point
David Perkins - 4-star #22 OLB - transferred to Illinois State, wish Newsome would have stayed in hindsight, looking into the future wish Perkins would have stayed too
Luke Roberts - 3-star #28 MLB - transferred to Harvard, interim HC Fickell recruit if there ever was one
Josh Perry - 4-star #9 OLB - the lights have started to flicker for Josh and looks to be a solid started this year if he can stay healthy, 64 tackles in 2013

2013 - jury is still out but this group, needs to step up big time
Christopher Worley - 3-star #38 OLB - I have high hopes for him, believe he redshirted last year
Mike Mitchell - 5-star #2 MLB - transferring to be closer to home after being redshirted and dealing with family issues
Trey Johnson - 4-star #16 OLB - recorded 11 tackles in 2013 on special teams and mop up duty
Darron Lee - 4-star #29 S - will be interesting to see what he brings to the table at LB/star, believer he redshirted as well

So right now the active LBs on the roster who were recruited by one of two staffs are Curtis Grant, Cam Williams, Josh Perry, Chris Worley, Trey Johson and Darron Lee. Six scholarship linebackers. With Joe Burger and Craig Cataline among others providing LB depth/special teams help despite both being walk-ons. Add to that mix Sam Hubbard, Dante Booker, Kyle Berger and Raekwon McMillan and you can see why Coach Meyer says he expects all four of them to play next year, as @RugbyBuck mentioned.
 
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I think we were all aware the LB situation has been less than stellar the past 5-6 years but when it's laid out like that, and you see the number of bodies that never panned out or left for various reasons, it's a bit disturbing. Thanks for the thoroughness, wadc.
 
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I might be overly optimistic, but is there any chance Mike Mitchell might be staying? None of the reports have been verified publicly by Mike, the University, or his family.Its been almost three days since the story broke but nobody making decisions has said anything nor has his profile been removed from the website. Maybe the coaches are trying to keep him with one last ditch effort and trying to let the dust settle before a the final decision is made.Or maybe the decision has been made and they aren't rushing the transfer process along. Who knows…

While I fully understand his frustration with not playing and redshirting especially with our LB woes, he has a gift wrapped starting spot for next year (granted he shows up ready in the spring). I can't think playing time here for him is a major issue going forward. If he does leave, I believe its more because of his father's illness, which is totally reasonable and something most people would do. I just hope this situation works out quick, and Mike does what makes him happy. I wish him and the Mitchell family the best either way, but I'm hoping him and his brother (Mickey) can still be buckeyes. Still holding out a little hope, until I hear it from the horses mouth.
 
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Re: the comment above about whether there's any chance that he night stay. The 11W article says that the staff asked them to hold off publishing while they tried to see if they could talk MM back into the boat (again). I think the fact that the whole issue was ok'd for publication by the WHAC brain trust says he's really gone.
Curtis Grant's going to be seeing a lot of special teams... They're not going to chance losing RM the way they've lost MM.
 
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