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RB Chris "Beanie" Wells (All B1G, All-American)

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Just as long as he doesn't wear 13.

Anyone remember when Zwick wore 2?
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Cuz if he wore 13, he'd suddenly turn into a thug, right?

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Dick Tressel Excited About OSU Backfield Additions (O-Zone link)

He's not Maurice Clarett. He's not Eddie George. He's not Archie Griffin. He's not Robert Smith. He's Chris Wells, and he is touted to be the next great running back at Ohio State.

Wells is his own man, his own player, with his own style and attributes, but if you ask the man who will coach him at his position at Ohio State, OSU running backs coach Dick Tressel, Wells definitely has the characteristics of another running back you may have heard of once or twice.

"Jim Brown. He absolutely reminds me of Jim Brown," said Tressel without hesitating or batting an eye.

Dick Tressel has seen a few football players in his 57 years, and he isn't the type to succumb to to hype or traffic in it. Like his little brother Jimmy (You know, the head coach) he is an even-keel, keep-it-in-perspective kind of guy. All that being said, Tressel couldn't help but go on just a bit about the newest addition to his stable of runners, and was clear that he knew exactly what he was saying when he compared him to Brown.

"That's big time. You probably shouldn't quote me on that because that's putting something on him, but that's who he reminds me of really. He has a little gate in his step almost like Jim Brown," said Tressel.

Jim Brown was a punishing runner, and so reportedly is Wells. Jim Brown was sometimes nearly impossible to bring down, and so reportedly is Wells, but Tressel said that Wells is more than just strength and power.

"Chris is fast. He can absolutely get to the house. He has explosive speed as well as the ability to when he get out there to outrun some people. If he has to outrun some people to get 30 yards he will."

Tressel is excited about having a complimentary back to returning starter Antonio Pittman, and sees the duo as a boon to the entire offense.

"I have no problem playing two backs," said Tressel. "It will bring competition among the group that we have that is going to help us identify and use their various talents. I think the other thing it's going to do is bring the talents to our offensive line out too. The whole things works together. It started last year. As the line got better the back was a little better, and when the back got a little bit better, the line got a little bit better."

"He really is exciting because there's such a potential there that's already out and being developed. We get to move him along to the next level of his competitive life. He truly is gifted physically.'
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ABJ

2/2/06

Commentary

Wells dresses for success as he signs with Ohio State

Buckeye colors, plenty of TV stations part of event

By David Lee Morgan Jr.

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->The look was undeniable.
Gray double-breasted suit.
Scarlet shirt with a white tie and matching white hanky in the breast pocket of the jacket.
And lest we forget: the scarlet alligator shoes with gold tips.
That was Chris Wells' attire Wednesday, when the Garfield star running back signed his national letter of intent to play next season at the Ohio State University.
Garfield's colors are maroon and gold, but Wednesday, school administrators, teachers and Wells' teammates were dressed in Ohio State colors of scarlet and gray.
Then again, there were two television stations from Columbus that made the two-hour trip to Akron to cover Wells' signing, along with every Cleveland station (3, 5, 8, 19 and 43).
It's because Wells was rated the No. 1 running back recruit in the country. And he backed it up by winning the MVP Award in the Army All-American Bowl last month at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. The game featured the top high school players in the country.
``I was playing against the best of the best and it was a great feeling to be named the MVP because all of those guys on both teams were amazing,'' Wells said. ``Being down there (in San Antonio) for a week was an experience that made me better.''
Having known and covered Wells for the last four years, I think his greatest attribute, aside from his mesmerizing 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame that features exceptional speed, is his humbleness.
I know there were critics who thought, because Wells played at Garfield, a team that didn't win a City Series title in the four years Wells was there, that he was overrated. But those are critics who never realized Wells' potential. Wells rushed for more than 2,000 years during his junior and senior years.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel saw Wells' potential years ago, which is why he offered Wells a scholarship last year.
And Wells tries to explain the first time he felt part of the Ohio State family.
``Me and (Garfield) Coach (Bob) Sax were at an Ohio State basketball game against Michigan my junior year. But, I have to let Coach tell it.''
Then, Sax continued: ``We started hearing the student body saying, `We Want Chris Wells! We Want Chris Wells!' I started getting goose bumps.''
No matter what people think or believe about Wells, he will be great for OSU because he has the ability. But to me, it is more important that he is a humble young man, raised in James and Paulette Wells' home, which included a host of foster kids.
So to Wells, family is important, on and off the field.
``I always felt I was part of the Buckeye family before I signed,'' Wells said. ``Now, I can officially say that I'm part of the Ohio State family.''
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ABJ

2/2/06

Posted on Thu, Feb. 02, 2006
Wells leader of class at OSU

Garfield standout rates high comparison to NFL great Jim Brown

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->COLUMBUS - Ohio State running backs coach Dick Tressel might be flogged at the next family picnic.
Asked whom Garfield running back Chris Wells reminds him of, the brother of coach Jim Tressel said unabashedly, ``Jim Brown.''
``He's got a little gait in his step like Jim Brown,'' said Dick Tressel, who grew up in the Browns' back yard in Berea and couldn't resist the comparison to the Hall of Famer.
Forgive Dick Tressel if he was a little excited on national signing day. As OSU announced a class of 20, he was bubbling over ``Beanie'' Wells, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Parade All-American,
``There's not many big backs like this guy,'' Dick Tressel said. ``Once in a while they come along. You go back to Jonathan Wells five years ago, then it's back to Eddie George. Chris Wells is a big, mature youngster. He's 17 years old.
``You never know what he's going to be like in three or four years.''
Jim Tressel also praised Wells, but not to the same degree.
In youth camp ``Coach (Luke) Fickell tried to hide him with the linebackers when he was a freshman or sophomore. We would have nothing to do with that because when he got his hands on the ball, he was special,'' Tressel said.
``One of the things we've talked about over the last couple seasons is we haven't had consistency from a big-back standpoint.
``With Chris, who comes in this spring, we can see if we can make that one of our strengths.''
Wells headlines a class that includes 10 players from Ohio, including three from Cleveland's Glenville High School, a pipeline that has already produced Buckeyes Troy Smith, Donte Whitner, Ted Ginn Jr. and unproven Jamario O'Neal and Curtis Terry. Twenty-one Tarblooders signed letters of intent Wednesday, not all at Division I schools.
``Twenty-one guys and we only got three? Who's recruiting Cleveland?'' Jim Tressel joked.
The Buckeyes' class includes 12 players on defense for a team that loses nine starters on that side of the ball. It boasts two Parade All-Americans (Wells and offensive lineman Connor Smith of Cincinnati Colerain) and three Army All-Americans (Wells, Smith and defensive end Robert Rose of Glenville).
A rarity for Tressel is the presence of a junior-college player, linebacker Larry Grant of City College of San Francisco, the final commitment Tuesday. Tressel recalled only two other juco products in his previous five years -- Chris Vance (2001-02) and Jack Tucker (2002).
``You're only going to have them for a year and a half, which is not really long to educate. We want to educate the whole person,'' Tressel said. ``But Coach (George) Rush at San Francisco City has been there over 30 years and he said Larry Grant is one of the finest leaders he's ever had.''
Along those lines, the Buckeyes might continue the academic improvement in which 56 players achieve a grade-point average of 3.0 or better in the fall quarter of 2005. Ten of the 20 signees meet that standard. Perhaps skewed by fullback Aram Olson's 4.5 on a 4.0 scale, the class average is 3.023.
Dominating the class were five linebackers, which defensive coordinator Jim Heacock hopes will shore up the competition for three open spots. While Grant has the most experience of the newcomers, first-team All-Ohio pick Ross Homan of Coldwater has already enrolled at OSU. Tressel said he was in the weight room at 6 a.m. Wednesday with departing All-American A.J. Hawk and James Laurinaitis.
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CPD

2/2/06

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Dream of Wells comes calling


Thursday, February 02, 2006 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus
-- He was a Buckeye from head to toe, dressed in red shoes, a red shirt, white tie, double- breasted gray suit and Ohio State cap at Akron's Garfield High. When running back Chris Wells signed his national letter of intent Wednesday afternoon, he intensified the dreams of Buckeyes fans envisioning one of the nation's top running back recruits joining a loaded Ohio State offense.
A few hours later, offensive coordinator Jim Boll man praised his starting tail back.
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osu/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT>Not Wells. Antonio Pittman.
Remember him? A sophomore season of 1,331 yards? The game-clinching 60-yard touch down in the Fiesta Bowl?
"Antonio Pittman is the start ing tailback," Bollman said. "Let's make no bones about that. Is he second fiddle to anybody? No. No."
But no one was making any bones about Wells' status as the star of Ohio State's 20-player class, which was split between in-state and out-of-state players and included no signing day additions. Ideally, coach Jim Tressel would have added one more receiver, bringing the class to 21, but the Buckeyes landed only Glenville's Ray Small at that position.
While the defense needed and received the most help with 12 signees, Wells could change the face of the offense.
Maybe the best way to characterize the arrival of the 6-1, 228-pound Wells isn't as a competitor for the starting job belonging to the 5-11, 195-pound Pittman, but as a complement.
"We want to work together to help Ohio State win football games," Wells said
Last year, the Buckeyes retooled their offense to feature their strengths, getting receivers Santonio Holmes, Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez on the field together as much as possible.
But with Holmes leaving for the NFL, there's a chance Ohio State's best 11 offensive players will include both Pittman and Wells.
Wells will arrive in Columbus on Saturday and work out at a private gym before enrolling for spring quarter and taking part in spring practice starting March 30. So the Buckeyes will have plenty of time to work on a two-man backfield that includes the two friends from Akron
"I think that's a great idea," said running backs coach Dick Tressel. "You should ask Jim Bollman if there's a way you can get Wells and Pittman on the field together."
Said Bollman: "We'd be foolish not to consider some things like that."
Dick Tressel, the head coach's older brother, invoked this season's USC backfield, where 6-0, 200-pound Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush rushed 200 times for 1,740 yards and 6-2, 235-pound LenDale White rushed 197 times for 1,302 yards. It wasn't a talent comparison, but an example of a team using a bigger back and quicker back, in tandem and alone, to success.
At the very least, Chris Wells, known to all as "Beanie," should give the Buckeyes an effective second backfield option that Jim Tressel said was often lacking last year.
"We had inconsistencies from a big back standpoint, and Chris has the opportunity when he comes in this spring to see if we can make that one of our strengths rather than one of our inconsistencies," Tressel said.
Bollman especially was quick to pull back on the expectations for a 17-year-old kid. But the Buckeyes know that Wells is mentally and physically advanced enough to contribute as a freshman.
So dream on, Buckeye fans. Just don't leave Pittman out of the picture.
Plain Dealer reporter Tim Rogers contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
"I think that's a great idea," said running backs coach Dick Tressel. "You should ask Jim Bollman if there's a way you can get Wells and Pittman on the field together."
Said Bollman: "We'd be foolish not to consider some things like that."
Dick Tressel, the head coach's older brother, invoked this season's USC backfield, where 6-0, 200-pound Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush rushed 200 times for 1,740 yards and 6-2, 235-pound LenDale White rushed 197 times for 1,302 yards. It wasn't a talent comparison, but an example of a team using a bigger back and quicker back, in tandem and alone, to success.
At the very least, Chris Wells, known to all as "Beanie," should give the Buckeyes an effective second backfield option that Jim Tressel said was often lacking last year.
"We had inconsistencies from a big back standpoint, and Chris has the opportunity when he comes in this spring to see if we can make that one of our strengths rather than one of our inconsistencies," Tressel said.
Bollman especially was quick to pull back on the expectations for a 17-year-old kid. But the Buckeyes know that Wells is mentally and physically advanced enough to contribute as a freshman.
So dream on, Buckeye fans. Just don't leave Pittman out of the picture.
Plain Dealer reporter Tim Rogers contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
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