COLLEGE FOOTBALL
OSU seniors display leadership qualities
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Pyramid schemes aren?t all bad. Look at the one being used for leadership among Ohio State players this season.
"You learn from experience, you learn from coach (Jim) Tressel and what he preaches ? he preaches senior leadership," senior center and co-captain Doug Datish said. "The seniors I have been around in previous years have always tried to do a good job leading, and most of them have.
"Then we?ve got a guy like Troy who is like the supreme leader, and we all feed off of that."
Datish was referring to senior co-captain and quarterback Troy Smith. There?s no doubt about who?s at the point of the players? pyramid.
"Troy is a great leader, not just in his performance," Tressel said. "You have to produce to lead, and he does that. But he enjoys leading. Sometimes he even gets after them a little bit. I?d love to see him coaching some day. He would have a revolving door with the way he gets after people sometimes.
"He truly is a leader, but don?t discount the layers of that pyramid, because you?ve got to have a foundation, and I think we have a great foundation."
Tressel was counting on a huge group of 16 fifth-year seniors to help make the 2006 team special. It has worked out that way so far, with the Buckeyes No. 1 not only in the major polls but in the first edition of the Bowl Championship Series standings this week.
The fifth-year players "have had some bruises, they?ve had some wonderful times (like being freshmen on the 2002 national championship team), they?ve seen how we should do it and what it takes to win, and they?ve seen how we shouldn?t do it and what makes you come up short," Tressel said. "I think the experiences they?ve had kind of sets them apart."
Now they are being counted upon to relate those experiences to the underclassmen.
Freshman tailback Chris Wells, who enrolled in the spring to get a head start on college, has witnessed the hierarchy in the players? ranks almost from the start.
"It shows up in the locker room, on the field, in the film room and, of course, at game time," Wells said. "These guys know what?s going on, and they know we?re all a part of it."
After he lost his fumble Saturday on Ohio State?s first possession against Michigan State, he didn?t have anyone chastise him on the sideline. Everyone was offering support, including Smith.
"The team showed a lot of confidence in me, and it boosted my confidence when I got back into the game," Wells said. "I just wasn?t being responsible with the football, and they reminded me of that."
Sophomore receiver Brian Robiskie had a similar experience when he dropped a pass early in the Texas game.
"Troy came up to me on the sideline and said, ?I?m going to keep looking for you. I?m going to keep throwing you the ball,? " Robiskie said. "That means a whole lot when your senior quarterback has that kind of confidence in you."
That?s the point, senior defensive end Jay Richardson said. He and the others haven?t forgotten that not too long ago they were the ones doing the listening.
"The challenge of being a veteran is in keeping the young guys focused, keeping everybody on the same page all season," he said. "Because as the season goes on, guys have got school and social things, and the next thing you know you?re doing different stuff."
Sophomore tight end Rory Nicol said he hears the seniors every day in practice.
"The thing they do is encourage everybody all the time," Nicol said. "You see guys like (defensive co-captains) Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson on the sideline screaming for those young guys like Ryan Williams and Doug Worthington to do things well.
"But there is a sense of calmness about them at the same time. They?ve all won a national title here. They have been through it all."
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