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PRACTICES Fickell v Tressel

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cdiddy70

Hall of Fame
Interested in garnering data points from those with insight or bonafides.

How do they compare.

*Physicality.
*Devotion to special teams.
*pass game v run game.
*pace.
*Conditioning.
*Organization.
*Attention to detail.

As a sidebar.

I hope Luke keeps a number of the traditions Tressel brought.

*The signing of Carmen Ohio.
*Handing the ball to the refs (I was embarassed with our antics under Cooper). General sportsmanship.
*The Block O.
*Community outreach.
*Empasis on acedmic acheivement (See APR, Academic All-B10).
*Even the things many seemed to loathe (winning the surest way, importance of the punt) - were codicles and reasons why we rarely if ever lost games to inferior teams.

Luke needs to put his own stamp on the program, at the same time keep some of the features Tressel built.

Will be really curious as to who he has in mind to fill out "his" staff, if he gets the gig permantly.

Which begets my next point. The timing of when that decision will be made.
Hopefully it is not any later than 12/1/11.
But given our feckless leadership, I posit they haven't set up a timeline, nor begun vetting potential candidates.
 
1. Interesting questions that I've thought about with regards to the intensity of practices.
2. Put down the thesaurus and get a spell checker. You use "bonafides", "Begets" and "vetting" in the same post as "empasis" and "signing Carmen Ohio". And "Codicles"? Going for codicils? Not sure that makes any sense at all...
3. I don't think Tress brought Block O. I remember that from my days going to the games in the late 70s.
 
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One thing I've heard is that the practices have been shorter, but more intense. I've heard there have been less meetings, and the film sessions have been increased with some of them consolidated (receivers with the QB's a lot, O-Line with RB's, etc.)
 
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With re: to special teams it sounds like Basil and Buchanan both had a consistent day this afternoon, despite Basil missing his last FG attempt of the upright.

I know there has been at least one "period" each day where the team practices with "Hail to the Victors" blaring in the background.

The starting OL and the RBs + Boren are without a doubt the strength of the offense. Once Posey comes back you might see a little more balance but I expect this to be a run heavy offense whether it's Joe or Braxton under center.

Team has an embarrassment of riches along the DL. Impressive feedback on Sweat and Whiting as well. Moeller/Bryant are more than capable at the Star and it sounds like Barnett, Howard and Orhian have been very strong throughout camp. Three out of four ain't bad and hopefully they can integrate Roby/Clarke into the rotation opposite Howard.

Johnson, Vrabel, Fickell and Drayton are all known to be intense guys during practice (and to some extent Heacock as well).
 
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oie_iverson_practice1.jpg
 
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I got the honor/chance to go to the closed night practice OSU had on Monday which was very cool. I never saw a Tressel practice so I don't know the differences between the two, but i can speak about Fickell's practices. The night practice was about 2hrs and very organized. They did individually group stuff for the first 30-45min (all LBs together, secondary together, RBs together, etc) which was alot of what we see in pre-game warmups. The rest of the practice was offense vs defense type of drills, with a few breakout sessions for linemen and QBs.

During the group sessions, some of the position coaches were really into it and getting guys fired up. Specially the new WR's coach, Drayton....he was really pushing the guys and making sure everything thing was correct. Most coaches sat back and gave criticism. Once the offense vs defense drills started up that's when things got real fired up. Whenever the defense got a good stop, turnover, etc they would be on one side of the field yelling, jumping up and down, and getting fired up about what their teammates just did. Then when the offense got some big plays in they turned it around and did the same thing back. Fickell just stood back and let it all happen, and it was almost encouraged with other coaches getting into the fun as well. From what people there were saying, that would've never happened at Tressel's practices. Every 25min or so, they would play music over loud speakers which allowed players to have some fun as well while practicing.

I was actually surprised at how little Fickell was involved in practices. Most of the time he just walked around talking to other coaches and watched. He made a few points and statements during the offense vs defense drills, but that was about it. I figured he would've been more hands on and said more to players and coaches. Even without him being involved much you could just feel the energy and electricity in the air. You can tell these guys are carrying a chip on their shoulders and they are out to prove something this year.

I saw alot of very positives and still some question marks for the team as a whole. The defense looks just as good as any other Buckeye defense. Very fast and swarms to the ball, so i don't think we have anything to worry about there. I can tell you guys this, the question mark at WR should not be there...there are a few studs out there for sure. Posey did practice on Monday, but i was very impressed with a few of the other guys, especially T.Y Williams. The running game is as solid as people say it is. Boom was looking even faster and was easily finding the holes in practice...but the backups were just as solid. The biggest question in my mind is still QB. There is definitely not a clear cut #1 at all. Bauserman and Miller were getting the bulk of the reps, but neither separated themselves. Miller is a better passer then Pryor was coming into their freshman seasons, but from what i saw, Pryor was a much better runner. Both QBs had quiet a few miscommunications and were over throwing WRs. It looks like this year will be very heavy run and relying on the defense alot.

Overall the experience was great and i was loving every minute of it. Even met a few of the players, coaches, and higher ups within the football operations. One thing i did think was odd, was that Gene Smith showed up as well and stayed the entire time. He just stood off the side and watched, only talking to coaches every now and then when they would come up.
 
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It looks like a thread meant to compare and contrast the styles of JT and LF has digressed into a discussion about whether LF should be retained as head coach after the season.

I'm not going to move any posts from here, and we're going to have 100 other threads wander onto that topic between now and December. But if anybody feels like actually discussing that topic in the thread best suited for it, it's over here.
 
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