I attended an event tonight for the Ohio State Alumni Club of Greater New York (yes, I wish it was THE Ohio State UNIVERSITY Alumni Club of Greater New York too,
). Assistant Coach Darrell Hazell spoke at the event.
I went to the event having no idea what to expect. There could be 10 people there or 200 (there were about 30). All I knew was that the proceeds of the ticket sales and any other fund raising was primarily to go to scholarships for local New York metropolitan area kids to attend The Ohio State University. The recipient of this upcoming year’s scholarship, as well as his parents, were in attendance. The young man is a great, smart kid, a fine addition to Ohio State, and he is an Ohio State football fan who is planning on traveling out for the non-conference games that take place before the school year.
So I didn’t know if football was going to be much of the program. Silly me. It was all football—and Hazell was more candid than I expected.
Following is all that I can remember from Hazell’s comments and from what he said while chatting afterwards. And, before I forget, Hazell is an amazing, natural, intelligent speaker and represents the university very well. Even my wife, a casual fan, was very impressed (though she kept talking about his suave cufflinks and charisma too – I think she liked him. . . :P). Much or most of the following is old news to most of you, but much of it was interesting to me, and I figure I might as well jot down everything I can remember, even if it isn’t anything “grand,” to me, being there, it was great just because of who was speaking. So just read quickly and see if anything interests you. . . Oh, and the only down point of the night: Coach Hazell was introduced as the receivers coach at the end of his introductory biography, ignoring his recent advancement (being the class act he is, he addressed all the personnel changes in the staff and didn’t even mention his). . .
Anyway:
On Recruiting
Hazell first pointed out that while he sees all the conjecture about who we get and who we don’t, and specifically hears about who we “missed,” in reality we don’t know what is going on in the “war room” and that the people we think they “missed” on are often ones that they weren’t high on trying to lure into the program. The way he framed recruiting, it seemed like we get who we want, at least for the most part. He mentioned that Michigan got one player last year that we wanted (I wonder who?
). He also said that Michigan has 5 outstanding players produced each year in-state, while we have 35 or so in Ohio. He stated this while addressing a question regarding our national recruiting. For us, he said, it simply doesn’t pay to send more than one guy out to California, for instance, to try and pick a few guys up. We have so much here and it almost always requires an uncle, cousin, or something other link to get a far west guy to come to Ohio State. Michigan can research that, our interests are better focused elsewhere.
He also mentioned that Malcolm Jenkins, of Piscataway New Jersey, is an example of where by the tape (Ohio State uses about 4 or 5 recruiting services for this) didn’t show the player that showed up at camp. This was a kid who gave it his all and was outstanding in camp and was offered. (This says something about all the rankings, etc., who don’t get this kind of experience with the kids – we don’t know how good they may be, and neither do they. . .)
He also mentioned they are looking for 18 ACTs and around 1000 SATs.
For next year, he said we will go for 2 running backs, Chris Wells and a speed back. We will also try for 4 linebackers.
Haw “Situation”
I might as well get this one out now. He said he expects a one or two game suspension.
Upcoming season:
Wow, he is excited about this team. Also, I loved how when someone asked him about how to deal with Vince Young he just said, “man, that’s the second game” or something like that. One game at a time, of course. . .
Freshmen
He stated that freshmen will compete and play at some positions. The first one he named was defensive backs, and he did it quickly. He also said freshmen will help out with the offensive line a bit. Wells is addressed in:
Running Backs
He said that there is going to be a fight between Wells and Haw for the #2 spot, and it isn’t clear who will win. Maybe this is due to Haw’s current situation, but it sounded like more of a season-long type comment. Maybe this is just the normal speak now to try to spark Haw into shape? He said if we go through those two maybe Smith, or then Ginn, would get in the game (half-joking).
Receivers
Nothing to say, he just mentioned that we were loaded with a laugh, a very happy one. . .
Quarterbacks
This is pretty set now anyway, it seems, but he spoke of Smith as the quarterback; he didn’t mention Zwick (or Boeckman) when talking about the upcoming season, while he did mention how formidable we will be with Ginn on one side followed by Pittman (I assume he meant lined up as a tailback still), Smith at QB, then Gonzo and Holmes. . . No doubt that Smith is the man, from the way it sounded (and Pittman). Of course he was addressing a question about Smith. Also, he mentioned that they have been focusing much more on a more open offense, as seen at the end of last year. (Of course.)
Corner
Ginn in red zone situations, man to man. Nothing new.
Punt Returns
He spoke for a bit about how putting both Ginn and Holmes back on punts we will be able to limit the punting-away aspect of the other team, and that how if, for instance, Ginn gets the punt, Holmes will be able to take out that first defender and then bam!, Ginn is gone. . . I couldn't get a feel for how often they may do this. . .
Academics
He, as a class act, would not address specific players with academic problems. We know of one, though, of course. (He was surprised we knew, you could tell.)
He said they have two employees who visit the classes on players’ schedules and see if they are attending class. . .
Going Pro
College serves to prepare someone for life. If a player is going to go pro and make $10 million, they don’t try to talk him out of it. However, if a player isn’t a top pick, they work with the situation. Holmes was debating going pro last year, and though he may have been a second round pick, a Colts person told them that Holmes could use more work and size, etc., and Holmes stayed. . .
They are big on getting the people who leave early their education. “Tress,” he said, is very big on the education. Vrabel is doing this now (as Eddie did).
Okay, I tired of typing, and typing not much new, and can’t remember everything else for now. Most of this is just filler anyway. . .
Gotta say one more time though, I really like Hazell and the way he represented our program and university.
