DC Jim Heacock (official thread)

[osugrad21]

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State of your U -- Summer '06 (By: Since 1948)

Welcome once again to the State of you U. This version will focus on several different areas. They include but are not limited to Academics, Jim Heacock, Jim Tressel, Night Games, Allan Johnson, and Jack Nicklaus. Thanks Junior for "hijacking" the State of your U for this annual review of the Spring Game. The Mysterious One has a way with words and his dedication is appreciated.
I must also say thank you to Jim Keckler. He has been the President of the Tampa Bay Alumni Association for 14 years. It is an unselfish and often a thankless position which doesn't pay well and consumes a great bit of time. His right hand man Jeff is off to Ohio for good, so Jim will only have more work ahead. Thanks Jim for all that you do.
I was fortunate to go to one of the most recent Alumni functions here in Tampa last Saturday. Jim Keckler had somehow corralled a very busy Jim Heacock, Defensive Coordinator for The Ohio State University Football Team, to speak to the group who gathered at Steinbrenners' Radisson Hotel. Coach Heacock is a terribly nice person and very engaging. He walked right up to me and said, "Hello Sean how are you?" shaking my hand and looking me in the eye. I said, "I was well and thanked him profusely for his taking time out for us.
Coach then talked for 15 minutes or so discussing recruiting and the football team. He praised Tory Smith as he spoke generally about the team. He expressed minor disdain as to the trend of Senior High School Football players graduating early in time to enroll for Spring Football. That stated, Coach Heacock praised 3 individuals who graduated early in Ross Homan, Kurt Coleman and Chris "beanie" Wells. Coach specifically mentioned Beanie Wells again at little later. When your position Coach (Dick Tressel) tells the media Beanie reminds him of Jim Brown, uh err, well the kid is special. Coach Heacock also commented on the schedule for '06 and the Tejas game was a major concern for him as he joked about losing sleep at the though of taking 9 new defensive starters into Austin He then mentioned Michigan State. He felt they would be very good. Coach mentioned Iowa as well. Since that is a night game, I feel it will be a loss. You heard it here first. I hate to be negative but coming off Penn State, the Bucks will likely be flat heading in to one of the toughest venues in the country. I hope I am wrong.
Coach Heacock also referenced the 2005 Penn State game as the most intense environment he had ever seen in his time at OSU. HE alluded to the unfortunate vie some have for OSU fans ad he was clearly holding back his contempt for the treatment the Buckeyes received in Crappy Valley. Coach was basically hinting OSU fans are tame compared to PSU fans, at least during the evening. Coach mentioned there were no fences guarding the coaches and players as they entered the field of play. He seemed to allude to safety concerns and verbal abuse without using it as an excuse for the loss. One could interpret he will have his boys extra focused for the PSU game in September when the kittens visit Chick Harley Field*.
Coach then field some question. Most were good, some were just bad, but he rolled with them all. I asked Coach Heacock if he still had contact with Dick Vermeil and who were some other coaches from whom he learned recently. He stated he had not talked with coach Vermeil recently and, "we steal from everyone and anyone". At this moment I realized he and I had plenty in common as I steams from nearly 100 College Football websites and magazines to bring you this attempt at journalism.
Coach Heacock went on to mention Lovey Smith as one of the coaches who recently provided some information and ideas. "Lovey coached at Ohio State for 5 minutes or so", said Coach Heacock to some chuckles.
And lastly a question was posed to Coach Heacock regarding who his starters would be were there to be a game tomorrow. This is from memory, but I'm pretty sure it is spot on.
Defensive Line: Gholston and Wilson on end; Patterson and Pitcock at DT. He also mentioned the tremendous depth with several who will rotate in, including but not limited to Jay Richardson and Todd Denlinger.
Linebacker will be a surprise to some. Laruinaitis and Freeman might not be a surprise, but Ross Homan is. Coach Heacock beamed about Homan and anyone who saw the SPring Game understands why.
The secondary seemed to be the main concern for Coach Heacock. he said Smith and Jenkins will man the corners and O'Neal and Patterson were at Safety. Mitchell would be the Nickel and Coach mentioned Coleman and Amos possibly unseating Smith (In fact, Coach expressed doubt as to 5th year senior Antonio Smith holding either one off)
Keep in mind, all of the above is not set in stone as there are 29 practices in the fall where all this could change.
In the previous State of your U, I referenced some players individually and as a whole and their academic excellence. I must say Heacock praised Tressel for hiring former Principals of High Schools to check in on the football players to make sure they were not only in class, but are on time, don't leave early and are excelling. As I understand it, Coach Tressel pays them himself. It is obviously working.
The following is a link to the Ohio State University regarding it as an outstanding Academic Institution. I am sure some of youwill appreciate the rare accolades from the Cleveland Pain Dealer.
There is no doubt Jim Tressel is an outstanding Football Coach and person. As most of you know, Coach Tressel has been rewarded with a new/extended contract making him one of the highest paid Coaches in America. In fact, only Tejas Coach Mack Brown and USC Coach Pete Carroll are more highly compensated. Clearly Tressel's contract renewal is a reward for going 50-13 with a 4-1 bowl record (3 BCS Bowl Wins), 4-1 vs. Michigan, 2 Big 11 Championships and a National Championship which capped a season with the most wins by a Div 1A team in history. But the incentive/reward is also for Tressel's continued pursuit of Academic prowess, not JUST victories. Here are some details provided by the Ozone.
No doubt Coach Tressel will be earning some of those dollars while he searches for a replacement for Allan Johnson. I would personal like to hank Coach Johnson for his input and subsequent success at The Ohio State University. I can only hope his successor will be as good.
Shifting gears now, I wan to point out one of the jewels in Columbus (actually Upper Arlington). This place got all of my Pell Grant monies for several springs, summers, and falls. At the time it was ONLY $18 for a student to play. We must give credit to T-Bird for allowing me to skip recitation WAY TOO often without failing me for TOO many absences. Thanks Kris-T!
While the $18 fee for students has increased, it is worth it to pay for the greatest golfer of all time redesigning her and subsequently bringing her back to where she belongs; the finest Collegiate golf Course in the world. She was one of the Top 100 courses in America, and I'm certain she is again. The following is and article about Jack Nicklaus redesigning the Scarlet Course. I was very happy to see the greatest Athletic Director of all time included in the 1st foursome to play her post redesign.
In closing I am including a funny speech I found a while back. It is a little dated, has a little cursing and would scare Karen Holbrook to death, but it got me fired up in this, the slowest time waiting for College Football to begin. Enjoy and look forward to the next installment of The State of the U/The State of your U where I will discuss what may be one of the best Offensive Lines in American and the continuity/benefit having all the Coaches (Johnson excluded) back for the '06 season.
*Chic Harley Field is a creation by yours truly. We all know the Stadium is the Horseshoe, but it would likely not exist were it not for Chick Harley. Therefore I am starting a movement to name the Field, not the Stadium, Chick Harley Field. Chick would have bee a 4 time all American if he did not serve is country in 1918.

[BB73]

Some Saturday quotes from Heacock.

official.site


Aug. 13, 2006 Jim Heacock, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line

On Saturday practice session
"Today is a great day, because it is our first day with pads. We've been in sweats lately, doing a little bit of hitting, but today is when we see who likes to hit and who really gets into it. That is what football is all about. I want to see who will go out there and get after it. I enjoy the guys who like to hit."

On his young linebackers
"Currently, we are looking for some seperation. It's still too early to see who the leaders are. Someone needs to step up and make some plays. We are happy with all of our young guys. Tyler Moeller has definitly made the most plays out here. But hitting takes a lot of teaching. They need to stay low, bend their knees and hold the line of scrimmage."

On the current depth chart of the defensive line
"Right now, it is pretty close. We have our No. 1s and 2s set. As for the others, we will play all of them early until someone seperates themselves. For the first three or four games, we will let them all compete--as we have in the past--and see who pulls away."

[BB73]

Ozone interview with Coach Heacock.

ozone.youngdefense

Despite Negative Rhetoric, Heacock Rebuilding Buckeye Defense By John Porentas

You gotta love OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock.
At the close of his press conference yesterday prior to OSU practice, Heacock delivered the following line to reporters.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=left border=0><CAPTION align=bottom>Defensive Coordinator Jim Heacock
Photo by Jim Davidson </CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"I know we've (the OSU defense) got a lot of work to do. There's no question about that. We're not where we need to be and our players know that and we as coaches know that. We've got a long way to go."

That's not exactly what Buckeye fans wanted to hear about their young but talented defense. Don't panic. (And yes, for those of you who read it, we stole that from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).

We checked, and that was almost verbatim the same line that Heacock has used the last two seasons as fall camp convened, and if memory serves correctly, the two defenses that emerged from those camps weren't too shabby. As Heacock left reporters to head out to practice, a reporter asked Heacock if he had ever had a season when he hadn't felt that way when fall camp began. Heacock answered directly.

"No," he admitted.

The concern over the OSU defense is the fact that the Buckeyes must find nine new starters. Historically, replacing that many new starters spells
trouble for a defense. Or does it?

The recent history says that's just not true. The Buckeyes replaced nine starters on defense in 1997 and fielded a team that was 10-1 heading into the Michigan game. That team also allowed just under 11 points per game for the season. That's not too bad...unless you ask Jim Heacock.
"We didn't win a championship that year," Heacock lamented.

Heacock's early-camp demeanor is always the same. In his own words, he's in the phase of being "a bit critical" right now, so don't look for too much optimism coming from OSU's defensive coordinator. What you can expect from him is a solid plan for taking the talent he has and turning it into a solid defense.

"There's no question that we're going to have to simplify it. We're going to have guys in there that have only been here a year starting in the back end. We won't be able to be as complex as we were last year," Heacock said.

Don't take that to mean simplistic. It just means that Heacock won't overload his young team with complex check-offs and reads. Instead, he'll minimize those kind of adjustments to allow his young defense to do what it does best, run to the football.

"The most important thing is that they execute what we're doing and it's important that we give them stuff that they can execute. I think that's the fine line that we have to spend a lot of time with as coaches.

"We have to give them enough that it gives them an opportunity to be successful against who we're playing, but not give them too much that they have to think about what they're doing and slowing them down. We want then to run and play hard. That's the top priority," Heacock said.

Heacock was asked if this defense is faster than last season's. He was in true early-camp form with an immediate no to that question, but then he qualified the answer.

"A lot of speed is when you know what you're doing, and that group last year had a lot of experience. I think right now we're thinking a little bit and that's slowing us down," he said.

Heacock is known as a coordinator whose schemes are "player friendly." Cornerbacks Coach Tim Beckman explained.

"It means letting the kids play and fitting the scheme that we have to our players. I think Jim Heacock and Luke Fickell have done a great job of doing that," said Beckman.

"I think that there will be not quite as much as we've had in the past, but because of the scheme being so friendly, it's very easy for kids to play here early, because they can learn it. In football when you say something, it means something, it's not just a term and the kids can pick it up and go out there and play full speed, and that's what you ask them to do.

Don't ask Jim Heacock how his defense is going to be, unless you want some gray hairs. Just watch it on the field in September and draw your own conclusions. That worked out pretty well in 1997.

Defensive Notes and Quotes:

Head Knocking Time: The Buckeyes put on the pads for their first hitting of the season on Saturday. That brought a smile to the face of Jim Heacock.

"Today is a great day because it's the first day of pads. We've been going in sweats for about three days, then we went a little bit of shoulder pads and shorts. You get a little bit of hitting and a little bit of nudgin', but now today is the day we really get after it. We'll get a chance to see the young guys and see who likes to hit and who has fun with it. This is what football is all about. Everything up until now since spring ball is has been track and running around and jumping and all those things. This is kind of an exciting day for a defensive player in particular to just get out and hit somebody and just play football," said Heacock.

"What we're looking for is somebody who likes to hit. I like to watch from the sidelines to see who really enjoys getting out there and getting after it, the mentality more than actually how hard they hit or what they do," Heacock said.

D'Andrea Progressing: Linebacker Mike D'Andrea has endured a series of injuries over his career that has prevented him from being on the field. Now in his fifth season with the Buckeyes after a medical redshirt year, D'Andrea is trying to overcome a knee injury to regain his form.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=left border=0><CAPTION align=bottom>Mike D'Andrea </CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"He went three days pretty good for us," said Heacock of D'Andrea's early fall camp participation.

"He has a little bit of soreness so we're going to back off a little bit. I think the key is getting him through two-a-days. Getting him through this period of time is pretty tough with all the pounding, but we're counting on him.

"I think he's doing a lot better now than he was in the spring. I think he feels good about it and that's the important thing. When he was out here he looked good. He's a tough guy who knows what he's doing.

"We'll look at him at the mike (middle linebacker) and a little bit at viper like he did in the spring a couple or years ago where he can be that Bobby Carpenter type guy," Heacock said.

Depth Chart Update: OSU released a depth chart this week that indicated the Lawrence Wilson is currently holding down a number one spot at defensive end. That was news to Heacock, though he likes Wilson as a player very much.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=right border=0><CAPTION align=bottom>Lawrence Wilson </CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"Lawrence is a good player. He's a good instinctive defensive end. He's very aggressive and comes off the edge. He's got instincts. He's the whole package. He's big, he's 275 now, he's put on some size. He's got good toughness and is a competitor. He's what you're looking for in a defensive end.

"On my depth chart he was number two. Jay (Richardson) and he are playing that same spot, so they're both pushing each other. We've Vernon Gholston and Alex Barrow at the other end," said Heacock.

Heacock is high on Wilson. He seems even higher on Gholston
"Vernon really came on in the spring," said Heacock.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=50 align=left border=0><CAPTION align=bottom>Vernon Gholston </CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

"He probably surprised me honestly because of his improvement. I thought he had a great spring. He seems to be continuing that. Right now he's with the ones. To be honest with you he's about as improved as any player I've coached from what he did last year and what my expectations were."

Heacock also like what he sees in a newcomer to the defensive end group, freshman Robert Rose.

"He looks like he has good movement. He's very intelligent and picks up the defense well. He's got a good knack for the game of football and knows the game of football. He runs well and is a big kid, 275, 280. Coming off the edge he looks good," Heacock said.

In other roster news, Chad Hoobler has been moved from linebacker to defensive end. Former OSU kicker Jonathan Skeete is no longer on the roster. He has transferred to Morgan State.

Yellow Jerseys: It was just the first day of hitting for the Buckeyes, but there were already some players with the yellow limited-contact jerseys on. They included fullback Ryan Franzinger, linebacker Austin Spitler, linebacker Ross Homan and defensive end Lawrence Wilson.

[sandgk]

That ozone article and the one on BN (free) have Heacock delivering a very realistic - perhaps deliberately conservative - assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ohio State Defense entering the final weeks of practice.

He has confidence in the front four, and wants them to take the burden of setting the tone.
It suggests that he feels the LB Corps will have to play their assignments with precision, though he likely has the tools to do that and more.
The articles acknowledge that the backfield will need help from up front and must execute crisply to make best use of their talents.
His answer on team speed (BN) is carefully couched. He does not dismiss what onlookers saw in the Spring Game, but it allows that the full speed won't be there till all the pieces mesh.
Of course, in all this you have to consider that Heacock is often very critical - a glass half empty till his cup runneth over type of quote.

It is good to hear that Worthington is a full go