Aiding ailing assistants
OSU quarterback Troy Smith starts work early with visits to pair of coaches
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
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CHICAGO - Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman had barely gotten the football video equipment set up.
He'd just returned home after undergoing heart bypass surgery in June, when senior quarterback Troy Smith called, wanting to come over and watch film.
And Bollman's reaction to the suggested session?
``He was excited. All that down time, all he was doing was walking around the neighborhood,'' Smith said.
But Bollman isn't the only ailing OSU assistant Smith has perked up. He's also visited quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels, whom school officials revealed Tuesday is undergoing chemotherapy for a malignant tumor. Daniels preferred that the nature of the cancer remain undisclosed, but it was discovered after he suffered a heart attack this summer.
``They've helped me tremendously,'' Smith said. ``They're both warriors. They're fighting through it and they look good.''
While the film sessions might have been somewhat therapeutic for Bollman and Daniels, Smith meant business. The Buckeyes have been picked as the nation's No. 1 team in the preseason by Street & Smith's,
www.CBSSportsline.com and the Blue Ribbon Yearbook and No. 2 by Lindy's College Football and the Sporting News. With the opener Sept. 2 against Northern Illinois and a highly anticipated rematch at Texas on Sept. 9, Smith knows much of the focus will be on him.
Last year, Smith threw for 2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 611 yards and 11 scores. With those numbers, he was voted the Big Ten's preseason offensive player of the year Tuesday at the conference's media days at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. He's being mentioned in the same breath with OSU flanker Ted Ginn Jr. as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He'll likely be chosen a Buckeyes' captain.
But when players report Sunday and begin practice Monday, Smith won't have been the only Buckeyes player to seek out Bollman. The coordinator was also visited at home by senior center Doug Datish, who wanted to talk about his new position after switching from left tackle.
Datish had no idea that Smith was also going.
``It's not something we talked about. I didn't see the sign-in sheet,'' Datish joked.
``Troy's really taken it upon his shoulders to be the person and the player he wants to be. It's inspiring, I guess.''
Smith seemed to indicate that part of his motivation was to show leadership. With a 13-2 record as a starter, he figures if the Buckeyes are to follow in the footsteps of Ohio State's 2002 national championship team, they will need his direction.
``The thing the 2002 team had was leaders and they kept everyone on the same page,'' Smith said.
``For a guy to show up at your doorstep wanting to watch film on a day that a college athlete could be doing so many other things that don't pertain to football, I think that says a lot.''
While Bollman might have wanted to watch only one game while he was recuperating, Smith said he would have none of that during their three or four meetings. (Bollman has since returned to work full time, while Daniels is part time.)
``When I came, I wouldn't let him watch a certain game. We had to start from the top to the bottom, the teams we're going to play,'' Smith said of Bollman. ``I drilled him with questions the whole time.''
Smith goes into 2006 as the unquestioned starter for the first time in his career. He was suspended for the Alamo Bowl after the 2004 season and for the 2005 opener for taking money from a booster. In '04, he supplanted an injured Justin Zwick in week seven and led the team to a 4-1 mark.
Now some of the booster controversy has faded, and Smith is being described in glowing terms, such as a smaller version of former Texas star Vince Young.
``He's a great athlete,'' Penn State coach Joe Paterno said of Smith on Tuesday.
``Last year after losing to Texas and us, he started to get the feel of things. He got better and better as the season wore on.''
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said it wasn't until the ``back half'' of '05 that Smith proved he could be a consistent quarterback.
``He followed it up with a consistent spring. Now we'll find out if he can continue the consistency as we begin the real games here in the fall,'' Tressel said. ``A lot of it is through knowledge and film work and experience. Consistency is the key.''
Finding himself in a secure situation does not make Smith feel any differently.
``No, I still operate out of a sense of hunger,'' Smith said. ``Getting better every day on and off the field.''
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