Football: Ohio State brings in Florida assistant
Drayton will coach receivers
Friday, January 28, 2011
By Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In a span of two months, Stan Drayton suddenly found himself at a crossroads as a Florida assistant coach.
First, there was the resignation of head coach Urban Meyer. Meyer's successor, Will Muschamp, retained Drayton and two others from Meyer's staff. But then Ohio State coach Jim Tressel came calling, seeking someone to replace receivers coach Darrell Hazell, who took the head coaching job at Kent State.
Drayton now is Ohio State-bound.
Drayton, a Cleveland native, said he thanked Muschamp for the opportunity to continue at Florida, but that he had to go with his heart. He was announced as Ohio State's newest assistant coach yesterday.
"Anytime you grow up in the great state of Ohio, you are going to figure yourself as a Buckeye at some point, especially if you're a football player," said Drayton, 39, who has a wife and two young daughters. "That always was a dream for me.
"I have known coach Tressel since he was at Youngstown State and I was a high-school kid going to his camp there. I appreciated how he ran his program then, and I've admired how he is running it at Ohio State now. Just to be a part of something like that, the legacy of Jim Tressel and the unbelievable history and tradition of Ohio State, it is more than a homecoming for me. It is really a dream come true."
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I don't understand. There were no forced quotes about how important it is to beat Michigan. Isn't that what makes a great hire?
New guy's been everywhere
At least, assistant coach Stan Drayton and wife will be close to family
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Fred Squillante | DISPATCH
Ohio State is the 12th job in 19 years for new receivers coach Stan Drayton. Frequent moves come with the job of assistant football coach.
Monique Drayton has overseen the packing, moving and unpacking of her house nine times in 11 years of marriage.
But fortunately for her and her husband, Stan, a first-year Ohio State assistant coach, Monique is one of those rare people who don't mind the chaos. She views each new line on Stan's resume as an adventure.
"A lot of people say, 'I don't envy you,'" Monique said earlier this spring, just as the family was getting settled into their New Albany home. "I look at it as a chance to add extensions to my friends - new branches to the tree. When we leave somewhere, I just look at it as another place we can go visit."
But, she adds with a knowing chuckle, "I'm a pro (at moving). If we've been somewhere three years, I start thinking I've got to get prepared."
Ohio State is Stan Drayton's 12th job in 19 years, which includes two stints at Florida. He could provide his own version of Johnny Cash's I've Been Everywhere: "I've been to Bowling Green, Green Bay, Starkville, Knoxville, Ypsilanti, Syracuse ... ."
The Draytons' latest relocation seemed a bit curious to some. Stan had been back with Florida for only a year when Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel called seeking a replacement for receivers coach Darrell Hazell.
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