to Zwick: We believe in you
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By TODD PORTER
From the Canton Repository.
Maybe it was the kind of challenge Justin Zwick needed. Maybe it was the opportunity he finally received to show courage.
Whatever it was, Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel likes what he is seeing in his quarterback. Tressel talked with Zwick last week and said the Massillon graduate, who will be a junior next year, has more pep in his step.
His hamstring injury is healing and his confidence is rising.
Zwick started at quarterback in the Alamo Bowl and played through great pain after pulling his hamstring in the first quarter. He led OSU to a 33-7 win over Oklahoma State. Zwick started after Troy Smith was suspended for accepting an improper benefit from a booster.
“It was a big boost to his confidence. He stepped up, played well and played hurt,” Tressel said. “I can’t tell you the number of pats on the back you get from your teammates when you play hurt like he did.”
Senior linebacker Thomas Matthews, the team’s motivational leader, spoke minutes before the Buckeyes took the field. The talk was inspiring.
“Thomas was like our village motivator,” Tressel said. “He starts to talk and all of a sudden he said, ‘Justin Zwick, stand up.’ Justin stood up before his teammates, and Thomas says, ‘Justin, take a look around this room. We all believe in you. We’ve got your back, and you’re going to get it done.’
“You could feel Justin’s chest swell. You could kind of feel the pulse of the stadium in the locker room. It was important for Justin to have a senior leader endorse him.”
Zwick’s hamstring is 95 percent healed.
“I told him to be careful with it because a hamstring at 95 percent is when it’s most dangerous to reinjury,” Tressel said.
Zwick will be 100 percent by the time spring football begins. In all likelihood, Smith will sit out OSU’s opener against Miami of Ohio. The Buckeyes’ second game could pit two Top 5 teams with Texas coming to the Horseshoe.
Recruits are smarter
Before the Internet and scouting services, high school football players were on their own when it came to determining their college football value. That has changed. Several Internet scouting services call players directly to ask them about the process. It has made for smarter recruits.
“They get taken by all the attention when the recruiting services call,” Tressel said. “These people want to know everything on a daily basis. They like it at first. By signing week, I think they’re more tired of recruiting than we are.”
And that’s a statement. Tressel once compared the recruiting process to shaving. “If you miss a day, you look like a bum.”
Early contributors
Of the 18 Ohio State signed Wednesday, Tressel believes that as many as nine could play as true freshmen. Could there be a Ted Ginn Jr. among them?
“You usually think that half of them will help in the ’05 season,” Tressel said. “I wouldn’t pretend to know which half. They can run, they’re smart, they’re physical, and they have the passion to be Buckeyes.”
One true freshman to bet on is Glenville cornerback Jamario O’Neal. He was the first commitment to the class (two years ago), and Tressel is loyal to a fault. Tressel was impressed with O’Neal during Glenville’s playoff game against McKinley. He returned a punt 95 yards for a TD.
Imagine a punt return tandem of Ginn and O’Neal.
Pair in best situation
OK, Ryan Brinson and Antwon Hight could have hit the books harder. Let’s get past that.
Both McKinley players realize that and are trying to make up as much ground as possible. Give them credit for doing it before it’s too late.
As a result, Brinson signed with West Virginia, and Hight landed at Akron. Both scholarship offers are pending the two meet additional academic requirements.
Cross thinks Brinson and Hight are headed to good situations.
“Ryan has got a good opportunity at West Virginia,” Cross said. “Those guys have hung in with him the whole time. They want him as a running back. That’s what he has an interest in playing, and they’ve turned out some great running backs.”
Cross said Hight has the potential to be “one heck of a football player. He can do it (academically),” Cross said.
Many more Bulldogs got it done in the classroom as well.
Tackle Bryan Arena and safety Kellen Showes, leaders on last fall’s team, have 4.11 grade-point averages. Quarterback Mike Shaffer and guard Ryan Shumway are over 3.5.
“Mark Jackson, Mike Kirksey, Anthony Robinson ... are all good students, too,” Cross said. “We don’t get to talk about those guys enough.”
Showes could end up with a scholarship to Ohio University. Cornerback Brad Jones, headed to Cincinnati, and fullback-linebacker Theo Goodright, headed to Walsh, have academics in order.
Brinson said he looks up to Jones and Showes for “always handling their business in school.” Brinson remains positive he will handle his.
“I can’t get down on myself and start feeling bad,” Brinson said. “That’s how I’ll end up sitting in Canton while Brad and Kellen are off in college. I have to take advantage of (West Virginia’s) kindness.”
Mountaineers land top RB
Brinson wants to play running back, but it will be tough for him to crack the lineup on that side of the ball at West Virginia. The Mountaineers secured one of the nation’s best backs in Jason Gwaltney. He could start the season in the backfield, which is one of the reasons he chose there instead of Ohio State.
“I want to go somewhere to get it rolling, not where it’s already rolling,” Gwaltney told reporters.
Next year starts now
It didn’t take long for the OSU coaching staff to start on next year’s recruiting class. It actually began before the 2005 class was signed.
OSU mailed out offers to nine juniors, including eight from Ohio. The recruit OSU wants to land most is Garfield running back Chris Wells. He goes 6-foot-1, 220 pounds and has the kind of durability Tressel likes. OSU has just three scholarship RBs next year in Antonio Pittman, Erik Haw and true freshman Maurice Wells.
“Running back is going to be a top priority for next year,” Tressel said. “There are some good ones around.”
Other juniors offered include a pair of Cincinnati offensive linemen (Princeton’s 6-6, 270-pound Aaron Brown and Colerain’s 6-5, 280 Conner Smith), and two from Glenville (cornerback Ray Small and defensive end Robert Rose).
The Buckeyes have more than a dozen juniors on campus this weekend for junior day. Among them is GlenOak offensive lineman Ryan Palmer.
Golden Eagle QB Mike Hartline passed on OSU’s junior day offer and the chance to take in Saturday’s OSU-Michigan basketball game.
“I’ve seen everything and more down there already,” Hartline said. “... At this point, I think I need to see different places. I’m going to Purdue and Michigan’s junior day because I haven’t seen those places yet.”
Hartline is not disappointed that OSU didn’t offer him. One of the reasons he hasn’t been offered is because of his position. We’re told OSU will take just one QB in next year’s class, and there are three contenders. Tressel won’t offer three QBs because two may accept.
“The quarterback position is a lot of responsibility, and I would be choosey with the players I offered, too,” Hartline said. “ ... But I’m anxious to get some other offers.”
Pups to play Glenville
McKinley’s boys basketball game against St. Edward, which was snowed out, has been canceled. Instead, fans can watch the Bulldogs play Glenville on Feb. 15 at Memorial Field House. Those with a ticket to the Ed’s game can use it for the Glenville contest.
The Feb. 15 game will not be a doubleheader with Timken as originally scheduled. Timken will play its makeup game with Lake the following night.
Going Big 33
GlenOak receiver Brian Hartline wasn’t eligible for the North-South game because he didn’t play last season after breaking his leg in the opener. However, the OSU-bound athlete will play in the Big 33 game in July.
That should erase any concerns about his injury. Hartline said he won’t redshirt at OSU because of his leg.
“I think it’s going to be stronger than it was before the surgery,” he said.
Mather’s payday at Kansas
When Kansas University hired Chuck Mather away from Massillon to be its head football coach in 1954, his salary was $9,500. That’s a far cry from the millions college coaches earn today. Even adjusted for inflation, $9,500 in 1954 is worth about $70,000 today.
Mather on Massillon today
It is unlikely that any future Massillon coach will come close to Mather’s run. In his six years, he won six straight poll state titles and went 57-3.
“I feel sorry for Massillon today because I don’t think they can get back to the way we were,” Mather said. “We used to get farm boys from around Massillon. Back in those days, they didn’t go to a suburban school because it didn’t exist.”
Mather was one of the first high school coaches to use film to break down and scout his own players. He credits Pro Football Hall of Famer Sid Gillman for the idea.
“I hired two of (Gillman’s) players at Massillon to be assistant coaches,” Mather said. “We used to look a lot at the kickoff teams on film. All you had to do was watch those teams, and you will find guys who like to block and tackle. We could almost pick out our squad from watching the kickoff and kickoff return teams on film.”
Beaven honored
Not many writers in the state put as much effort into covering high school track and cross country as the Repository’s Chris Beaven, and the local scribe has been recognized for his work. The Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches awarded Beaven its Distinguished Service Award at its annual banquet last weekend.
Sandy Valley track and cross country coach Ed Lidderdale, who retired last year, received the 2004 Fred Dafler Career State Coach of the Year Award for boys cross country.
Lidderdale has received a number of awards throughout his 30 years of coaching, including the OHSAA’s Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award.
Winter blues?