Fox, Palmer look back on their signing day choices
By Todd Porter
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Feb 01, 2011
CantonRep.com file
A coaching change almost made Fox change his mind. He committed to Ohio State head coach John Cooper before Cooper was fired late in the 2000 season.
There were rumors that Glen Mason would be hired. Fox?s high school head coach, Jack Rose, coached with Mason at Kent State and the two had a good relationship.
?When Cooper got canned, I thought the next head coach was going to be Glen Mason,? Fox said. ?I thought I would be a good fit with him and I was looking forward to it.?
Then things changed.
Jim Tressel stepped out of Youngstown State and had a great interview for the Buckeyes job. Eventually, Andy Geiger hired Tressel as Ohio State?s head coach.
?When Tressel got hired, I thought I was probably going to Penn State,? Fox said. ?I didn?t know a thing about Coach Tressel then.?
Fox made it clear that he was looking elsewhere. His brother, Derek, played for Joe Paterno at Penn State. Dustin was a Penn State fan.
Fox visited Penn State. He said Paterno used Ohio State?s state of flux to try to sway him.
?I was very seriously considering Penn State,? Fox said. ?This was before I met Coach Tressel. ... But Penn State, I loved the campus. And remember, for almost four years I went to just about every Penn State game with Derek playing there. When I was 15 years old, I was as big a Penn State fan as there was.?
Then Tressel?s charisma changed the game ? again.
At halftime of the Ohio State-Michigan basketball game, Tressel was introduced and made his famous proclamation to fans how proud of the football team they would be when they played Michigan, and then he recalled the exact number of days until the game.
?A couple of minutes after that speech, my phone rings and it?s Tressel,? Fox said. ?He and Coach (Mark Dantonio) were coming to my house to introduce themselves.?
Tressel, Dantonio, who would be his defensive coordinator, and the Foxes had dinner in Plain Township. Fox scheduled an official visit to Ohio State?s campus.
His life was probably changed by that visit.
?There wasn?t a lot of time to take the official visit so I went down on a Tuesday,? Fox said. ?Ultimately, I was sitting in Tressel?s office and it was just me and Derek in there with him. It was the first time I got to see ?The Winner?s Manual.? He brought that out and started showing us stuff.?
?The Winner?s Manual? is Tressel compilation of motivational messages and journal entries for his players.
?I look at my brother and he was blown away,? Fox said. ?And remember, he?s a Penn State guy. When we walked out of there, Derek looked at me and said, ?You got to go here.? We just knew right there it was right.?
Fox was the first recruit Tressel visited as Ohio State?s head coach. He re-secured the commitment. Together, they made a lifetime of memories two years later.
?I?m very happy with my decision,? Fox said. ?There isn?t anything I would do differently other than maybe I would have visited a few more schools just to get out of Ohio and see what else is out there. I wouldn?t have changed where I ended up. I ended up playing for a special man.?
