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An Ohio State of Mind
After five years on the job, Tressel still keeping things in house
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By Kyle Lamb
On one of my all-time favorite television series, I loved watching them rebellious Duke boys, Bo and Luke, test and torment sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrain and short, stocky mayor Boss Hogg on the late 1970’s Dukes of Hazzard.
<table class="mar_l" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300"> <tbody><tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>One of the in-state recruiting success stories for
OSU coach Jim Tressel; I think you know his name. Photo by jeff mills/UW
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The premise of the show centered around two young, free-spirited cousins that were on probation and couldn’t leave the county line. They spend the entire series being chased around the county by the sheriff in their infamous 1969 Dodge Charger, known as the General Lee, while they were chasing around real criminals trying to lend a hand.
The show’s theme song, Good Old Boys, a catchy acoustic tune by Waylon Jennings, may also accurately label the recruiting of Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel.
“Just two good old boys, wouldn’t change if they could,” the song’s lyrics conclude, “fightin’ the system like two modern day Robin Hoods.”
The sometimes stoic Tressel is such a good old boy that after five years as the head coach of the Buckeyes, he’s still running around the county, or in this case, the Buckeye state, chasing the next big football prospect.
And so far, he’s had very little to stop him.
The 2007 recruiting class is off to a booming start with five in-state prospects already committed to Tressel’s Buckeyes. The nickname is fitting with one of the latest commitments in 5-10 running back Dan “Boom” Herron, a bruising tailback from Warren Harding — yes, that same Warren Harding of Maurice Cla ... I won’t finish that sentence.
Herron and safety Nate Oliver of Lakewood St. Edward are both ranked No. 21 at their position nationally by Scout.com, running back Brandon Saine of Piqua is ranked No. 11, and Ohio State also has commitments from 5-11 cornerback Donnie Evege of Huber Heights Wayne and 5-11 wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher of Toledo Central Catholic.
This has been a trendy theme for Tressel since he got to Ohio State. This past season, Ohio State signed 18 prospects including JUCO linebacker Larry Grant of the College of San Francisco, and 10 of those 18 were from Ohio — a low number compared to year’s past.
Those 10 included USA Today First Team All-American running back Chris Wells, Division VI Player of the Year Ross Homan, a linebacker and Army High School All-American standout defensive end Robert Rose of Cleveland Glenville.
But perhaps more impressive than Tressel’s track record of getting top players from within the state’s boundaries is that he’s not letting too many of them get out of state.
In 2005, the Buckeyes picked up three Top 100 players according to Scout.com from within Ohio, which included massive offensive lineman Alex Boone and Glenville star Jamario O’Neal. They let two go out of state from the Top 100, only one of which they offered a scholarship — Mario Manningham, the receiver from Warren Harding that went to Michigan.
The story was similar in 2004. Ohio State signed Ted Ginn of Glenville and linebacker Marcus Freeman of Huber Heights Wayne, and lost out on Fred Davis, the receiver from Toledo Rogers, to USC.
Davis was a dramatic recruitment where in January he took off to enroll early at USC before pretty much anyone, including his high school coach Rick Rios, even realized he had committed to the Trojans.
Perhaps the biggest losses came in 2003, a year that also saw Ohio State achieve some of its biggest gains. The 2003 recruiting class has eight Ohioans in the top 100 according to Scout.com. Ohio State signed five of the eight.
However, after three years, that recruiting class has not really panned out for anyone.
Of those five Ohio State signed, the Buckeyes have lost Dareus Hiley to academics, Brandon Maupin to a transfer and Louis Irizarry to suspension. Of the three Ohio State missed on — Prescott Burgess and Shawn Crable to Michigan and Brady Quinn to Notre Dame, only Quinn has had a great career, let alone starting consistently.
Burgess, the former Warren Harding teammate of Clarett, publicized for having a high school spat with the former enigmatic running back over a girlfriend, has been a disappointment to many since arriving at Michigan. Crable, a defensive end, has yet to ever find a starting spot with the Wolverines and just finally started seeing the field last season.
This season is expected to be much the same for the Buckeyes. On the state radar is talented defensive end Ben Martin, the No. 8-ranked end by Scout.com, from Cincinnati La Salle. Martin just returned this past weekend from an unofficial visit to Ohio State and for all intents and purposes, is down to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida.
The Buckeyes also have interest in Cincinnati Colerain safety Eugene Clifford, Canton South defensive back Devon Torrence, also a standout baseball player and Massillon Washington linebacker Andrew Dailey.
The premise is simple: Tressel has an Ohio State of mind with regards to recruiting.
And it’s working.
What’s more is that when it’s not working, it’s also not working out for the teams that conquer Ohio on rare occasion. Really, in hindsight (which is always 20-20), who frets now over losing Crable, Burgess or Davis?
The good old Tressel boy is too busy riding his General Lee around the state looking for the next Buckeye.
