OZone
Walkons Toil in Summer Conditioning the Same as Scholarship Players By John Porentas Not everybody is over six feet tall. Not everybody runs a 4.5 40. Not everybody is blessed with great physical talent.
Most of the not everybodies just described enjoy their OSU football from the stands and their summers sitting next to the swimming pool, but for a select few others, the burning desire to be a part of Buckeye football in a more significant way pushes them to something more. It's why players walk on at Ohio State despite having an uphill climb to ever have any playing time. A few do, particularly along the offensive line, but for the most part, the walkons toil in anonymity deriving their satisfaction simply from being a part of the team. <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <tbody><tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>
Matt Daniels
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Safety Matt Daniels is one of those people. Daniels loves Buckeye football, and at a muscular 207 pounds is strong enough to be a player. But Matt got the short end of the stick when it came to the genes for height. At 5-7, its just tough to break into the Buckeye lineup, but the drive to be a part of the team has Daniels doing all the grueling running and lifting of summer conditioning, and assuming all the other responsibilities associated with being a member of the football team. It's sometimes not a lot of fun, but it makes him a member of the team, something he has aspired to for a long time.
"This is the beginning of my third year. Before then I used to just pick up trash on the sidelines," chuckled Daniels.
"I was in high school then. I would come from a JV football game in my uniform and change in the car and make it about kickoff for the
OSU game."
Daniels spent his first two seasons at Ohio State as a fullback, but has moved to safety this season. Though an NFL career probably isn't in the cards for Daniels, a football career is still not out of the question, which somewhat explains his move to the defensive side of the ball.
"We have a freshman fullback coming in from South Carolina, and one of the linebackers, Trevor Robinson, moved to fullback and that's a lot of fullbacks," explained Daniels.
"I think coaching is something that I would like to pursue after I'm finished here. Coach Tress and I were talking and he said a great way to learn about defense is to play defense, so that was kind of the decision that we made in the spring.
"Our numbers were a little low as far as safeties go, so it helped the team too. It was a struggle to learn the new position in four weeks, but since spring its come easier for me."
Daniels' role as a scout team player does not leave him feeling like a red-headed step child on the
OSU football team.
"Absolutely not," said Daniels.
"To be honest, scout team guys have a lot of pride in the things that we do, offense and defense scout team.
"Our feeling is that if we don't do the best that we can do then the defense that plays on Saturdays won't do the best that they can do. We take a lot of pride in preparing. We have scout team film sessions and we take it serious, just like the ones and twos take it serious on Saturdays."
Daniels does all the work that any other player on the team does and contributes in his own way. He is also, of course, the son of
OSU passing game coordinator Joe Daniels. Matt says that for the most part, that relationship does not enter into the picture at practices or in meeting rooms, but there have been moments that have been a bit "awkward".
"My first year we were in summer camp and I caught the ball on the five-yard line and got tackles on the two.
"The whole offense was in the meeting room together watching film of that play. It got real quiet but when I got tackled. He (Joe Daniels) yelled 'Score a touchdown!' and the whole room exploded. They were laughing at me because he was getting on me for not scoring," said Daniels.
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100"> <tbody><tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td>
Matt Daniels (36) carries the ball against Northwestern last season. Daniels has two carrer carries at OSU for four yards.
Photo by Jim Davidson
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
Outside the rare incident of that nature, it is routine business for both of the Daniels while on campus. Once off campus, it's back to being father and son.
"Honestly we don't talk about a whole lot of football stuff outside of football," said Matt.
"I think it's because there's a time for football and time for other things. We go home or out to eat or whatever, we don't really discuss a lot of football. Every now and then I'll ask him how his recruiting is going or what he thinks about a team, but usually it's football here at the WHAC and family stuff when we're not here."
Matt's father Joe Daniels is recovering from a serious heart condition that required his hospitalization this spring. Though there were some scary moments, Matt said that Joe is well on his way to getting back to work.
"He's coming along and recovering. He's looking forward to going back to work to be honest. Our film guy here has taken him over some film to look at. Coach Bollman, he's recovering too, is always over and my dad is seeing him on a regular basis and they're talking football. Coach Heacock says they're probably conspiring against the defense," said Daniels.
"He's really anxious to be back. I think he'll be ready for camp. The doctors have been great.
"We're going to have a wing over there for assistant coaches. They like us over there," he said with a grin.
FB Matt Daniels (official thread)
In Thad & Tressel we trust 
Linear Mode
