I apologize...thought I had already posted this.
Here is the final installment from Bill Greene:
TP: Making Of The Brew Crew-Part Three
Terrelle Pryor
By Bill Greene
Staff Writer
Posted Apr 30, 2008
In Part-III of TP: The Making of the Brew Crew, we feature more of Bill Greene's EXCLUSIVE interview with Terrelle Pryor. In this final segment Pryor speaks about why he chose Ohio State, his thoughts on his role in 2008 and other topics. Bill Greene has more with Buckeye star recruit Terrelle Pryor.
Much has been written about the recruitment of
Terrelle Pryor, some of it not exactly truthful. But Pryor didn't appear to be too bothered by what's been said about him in the press. "I try not to let things get to me," Pryor said. "If I do that, then I could get off my game and say or do something foolish. People are going to say and write what they want. There's nothing I can do about it. I really did enjoy most of the recruiting process. I didn't read a lot of what was out there in the media, but people around me did and I think they were more bothered than I was. I just try to be the same person, on and off the field. If I were to go through this again I might do some things differently, but you can't go back."
When pressed about what he might do differently, Pryor thought a while before answering.
"The one thing I think about is that maybe I should have decided a little earlier," he admitted. "That would be the main thing I probably would do differently. I ended up having some very tight relationships with a lot of coaches. It was hard for me to tell someone I wasn't going to their school, but I met a lot of great people throughout the process, but I also stayed committed to my basketball team. I never let my team down because of recruiting. I always put my team first and I'm proud of that."
After leading Jeanette High to the football state championship, Pryor followed that up by doing the same thing in basketball. That desire to win another championship made him put recruiting on the back burner.
"Winning the state championship in basketball meant a lot to our community," Pryor stated. "It meant a lot to me and my teammates too. That's why I didn't decide earlier on my college choice. I know some people didn't like it, but I just wanted to stay focused and complete the goal. That was what we were all about. That's what we were driven to accomplish. I put winning first, like I always do. That will never change about me. I'm not about stats or awards. I want to win. I might even run track this spring to win some more."
Pryor will be enrolling at
Ohio State soon after graduation. He is already looking forward to being at Ohio State.
"I'll be at Ohio State on June 16th," he said. "I'll start taking classes right away. I'm coming in as undecided about a major. I'll see where things go and look at what direction I want to go academically. I've given it some thought, but right now I'm just not sure. I've talked to some of the other guys about what they're majoring in, and I should know more by fall."
Speaking of his fellow recruits, it's no secret that Pryor has formed relationships with other members of the Brew Crew.
"I talked with Mike [Brewster], Jake [Stoneburner] and Devier [Posey] throughout the process," Pryor stated. "I know people think they kept on me about committing to Ohio State, but that's not true at all. We just talked about a lot of things, but they never got on me about recruiting at all. We just became friends and it's cool. Devier told me we would still be friends no matter what I decided. Devier is going to be my receiver, so I have to have a tight relationship with him. He's the guy I'm going to be throwing to, so we have to be on the same page at all times. He and I get along really well."
According to Buckeye recruit Devier Posey, the feeling is mutual. Their friendship started long before the recruiting process did.
"Terrelle and I have known each other for a while," Posey began."We played AAU basketball against each other when we were younger. I knew he was a great athlete back then. We played against
O.J. Mayo and guys like that. We were in seventh and eighth grade championships, but we never thought we would be teammates some day. We weren't best friends or anything, but we knew each other well. I started contacting him again on the internet when he became a recruiting star. I got in touch with him and told him to check out my film on the internet. I asked him if I was a receiver he wanted to throw passes to. He checked out my film and he said he was interested in having me as a teammate. I kept talking with him and then [Mike] Brewster got involved. So did Jake [Stoneburner] and Mike [Adams], and then it was on for us to get ourselves the best quarterback in the country."
Posey also revealed that Pryor not only liked his film, but Pryor promised him that he would get him some more scholarship offers.
"He said he wanted me to be one of his receivers and he said he was going to get me a lot more offers," Posey said with a laugh. "This was before I committed to Ohio State. I'm not sure if it was because of Terrelle, but all the sudden I started getting more offers. Once I told him I was going to Ohio State, he told me he would look closely there. He said he would come to camp and we could hang out. I told him I was going to be recruiting him for Ohio State, but he just laughed at me. I always felt he would be coming to Ohio State, but now that he is for sure, it seems too good to be true. We felt like we had everything we needed, all except for the big-time quarterback. Once we got him I just felt like everything was complete with our class. TP fits in real well with all the guys. He's just like us and that's why we are all such good friends. He's just a normal dude and that's how he wants to be treated. He just wants to be like everybody else. If Terrelle would have gone to
Michigan we would still be friends, just only for 364 days a year. I'm still friends with Danny McCartney who went to
Notre Dame, so their college choice wasn't the only reason for our friendship."
Posey also spoke of what he expects to happen on the field over the next four years. His sights are obviously set quite high.
"We are going to be on the same page on the field and we're going to be roommates off the field," Posey stated. "We will be with
Travis Howard and
Lamaar Thomas. Terrelle will be the leader on the field. The only thing he needs to do is drop the Pennsylvania drawl and learn to speak English, but you know I'm just kidding. We saw at the Army game just how good he is and he saw the same thing with all of us. We could see every day in practice just how good things will be. Not just Terrelle, but Stoneburner, Adams, Thomas and Sabino, too. I mean we pushed each other every day to be better. We're going to do that at Ohio State also. I expected him to play great in the game and we expect that out of each other every day. He wants to win and make big plays, and so do I. We all play with a sense of urgency. He's a great leader and he can motivate those around him. The game was cool, but practice was where we really had fun. The game was scripted, but the practices were just guys making plays. We all know how good we can be. My expectations are high for Terrelle because I know the player he is and I know how he is as a person."
The Ohio State staff is already planning to speed up the learning curve for Pryor's development as a college quarterback. He has been sent an itinerary, complete with the playbook, to help him learn the offensive system at Ohio State.
"I've got everything I need to be ready to go to work right off the bat," Pryor admitted. "I know I need to work on every part of my game to succeed. I need to get stronger and I want to be more accurate throwing the football. More importantly, I want to be mentally ready to play from day one. I've been told the biggest adjustment will be mental, in learning the terminology and the way Ohio State wants things done. I want to learn better technique in playing the position and I'm willing to put in the time to learn."
When asked what was the main reason he chose Ohio State, Pryor was quite direct in his answer.
"Why I chose Ohio State is because of Jim Tressel. That's it," Pryor stated emphatically. "I could have went to a lot of great places, but I want to play for coach Tressel. There were a lot of other reasons, like the friends I have here, the distance from home and a few other things, but the main reason is coach Tressel. I want to come here and win a championship for him."
Winning championships mean a lot to Terrelle Pryor, but he knows winning at the college level will be more difficult than winning at Jeanette High School.
"In four years I want to play in the NFL, no doubt about it," Pryor said. "But before that I want to win championships, Big-10 championships and national championships. That's why I came here. To help this team win. Ohio State is my ticket to the NFL, but I want to do great things here for four years before I even think about that. I really feel that coach Tressel and also coach [Joe] Daniels can get me to where I need to be to be able to play at the highest level. Ohio State was my choice, not anyone else's choice. This is where I need to be to get where I want to go. I know it won't be easy, but I'm ready to go to work."
Pryor already has an idea of what he hopes to accomplish in his first season in a Buckeye uniform.
"I see myself getting some playing time next year at Ohio State, but only if I earn it through my performance in fall camp," Pryor stressed. "People keep asking me about coming in here and being the starter, but that's not going to happen.
Todd Boeckman is the man and I hope to learn a lot by watching him and doing things the right way. Me being the starter is not how it's going to go here and I know that. I could have went to a lot of other schools if that was what I wanted to do. No high school quarterback could come in and take a job away from a player like Boeckman. I can see myself coming in here and earning a role for myself in this offense. I can see maybe a role like [Tim] Tebow had at
Florida when he was a freshman, but it's up to me and how much time I'm willing to put in to get better and learn the system."
Finally Terrelle Pryor was asked how he would feel at the end of his career at Ohio State if he were to leave school without a national championship ring on his finger.
"That answer's real easy," he said quickly. "If I leave here without a ring, I'm going to be real ticked off, count on that. That's why I'm here."
In the next edition of the Making of the Brew Crew, we will look at another member of the 2009 Ohio State recruiting class. Every player will be featured in this in-depth look at this exciting class.
