Ben Folds (musician) & Michigan

I found this little blurb in today's Plain Dealer and thought it would be enjoyable on the blog...

"Speaking of Michigan...
Musician Ben Folds appeared in concert at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor Wednesday. It was just a coincidence that one of the first songs he played was "Effington," which begins with the lyrics, "If there's a God he is laughing at us and our football team." Bet any Ohioans in attendance no doubt appreciated it. "

Only 271 days till the Michigan game...

Inspiring Article on Tyson Gentry

Looking through some of the newslink articles, I found this article from Jason Lloyd of The Lorain Morning Journal on former Ohio State walk-on Tyson Gentry. Gentry was paralyzed a few years ago during spring football practice, but this article talks about the special bond Gentry has with his sister and his family, and how they have all bonded to get through this challenging development in Tyson's life. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Why I Do Not Concern Myself With Recruiting Rankings

National Letter Of Intent Day has come and gone for 2009, and already Ohio State has lined up three verbal commitments for its 2010 class. While I follow recruiting, I truthfully do not concern myself with arbitrary concepts as to whether or not Ohio State has signed a player who is a three-star, four-star, or five-star recruit. I also do not concern myself as to how Ohio State compares with other teams around the country.

If Jim Tressel and the coaching staff have determined that a player is worthy of a scholarship to Ohio State, I believe Coach Tressel and his staff know more about this process than any recruiting analyst from Rivals.com, Scout.com, or ESPN.com. While a recruiting analyst can suggest that a player is going to come in and contribute immediately as a freshman, or will be a difference maker (gotta love those cliches you hear around this time of year), the truth of the matter is it is the coach and the coaching staff that will win or lose with the players they have on the field. It therefore behooves the coaching staff to do as much research as possible on the recruits as they can, and develop them as much as they can.

Speaking of recruits and rankings, do yourself a favor and go back to look at the rankings of Ohio State's 2005 class. The so-called five-star recruits that year were OT Alex Boone, DL Doug Worthington, and DB Jamario O'Neal. Worthington was redshirted in 2005, and will be back next year for his senior season. The lowest-ranked player in that class? WR Brian Robiskie.

And my point is? It really does not matter what any recruiting analyst thinks, or how highly a player is rated. It only matters what a player does on the football field, and how much they develop while they are in college. Considering the results Ohio State has had with Coach Tressel at the helm, I believe Ohio State fans should trust that he and his staff know what they are doing when it comes to player evaluation and development.

Jim Tressel's Recruiting Philosophies

When Jim Tressel was hired as Ohio State's head football coach back in 2001, there were concerns among Ohio State fans that Tressel would not be an effective recruiter. After all, Tressel had spent fifteen years as the head coach of I-AA Youngstown State - how would Tressel do against the big boys on the recruiting trails?

After signing another highly-ranked recruiting class, the question should now become - how does Tressel do it year after year? Below are some observations I would argue about Tressel's recruiting philosophies:

1. Concentrate on signing the top players in the state of Ohio: When John Cooper was fired by Ohio State on January 2, 2001, there were not too many high school coaches in the state who were disappointed or hurt by the decision. Cooper had a very good eye for talent, but did not cultivate the relationships with the top high school coaches in Ohio. As a result, some of the top talent in the state of Ohio left to play for other programs, most notably Michigan - Ricky Powers, Desmond Howard, and Charles Woodson are just three examples of Ohioans who spurned Ohio State.

On the other hand, Tressel was well-known and respected by coaches throughout the state as a result of his tenure at Youngstown State, and was the favorite of these coaches to be Cooper's successor. Does this necessarily mean that these coaches will steer players to play for Jim Tressel and Ohio State? Not at all. But I do not find it entirely coincidental that Ohio State's latest recruiting class has the top six rated players in the state of Ohio coming to play for Ohio State. The point? Jim Tressel will rarely lose out on a top player from the state of Ohio.

2. Focus Beyond Football: Comparable to Woody Hayes, most of the players who sign at Ohio State usually say that Tressel rarely discussed football during their recruitment. Woody Hayes was famous for recruiting a player's parents - after Hayes ensured a player's parents that their son would earn their college degree while playing at Ohio State, most of the time, the player signed with Ohio State.

I believe Tressel uses a different methodology but just as efficient - The Block "O" Of Life. One of Tressel's key coaching tenets, The Block "O" Of Life is meant as a guide and pathway to help a player develop beyond their talents on the football field and well beyond their days at Ohio State.

3. Focus On Quality, Not Quantity: Ohio State signed 25 players, but only had 30 players in for official visits; the NCAA allows teams to have up to 56 players come per year on official visits. To sign 25 out of 30 visitors shows the Ohio State coaching staff had targeted players that they not only felt could help their team, but that they felt would want to become Buckeyes. An 83% close ratio is impressive.

Here is a link to the class, as well as a percentage breakdown of where the recruiting class is from provided below. As stated above, Ohio State will always focus on the state of Ohio, as more than half of the class is from Ohio.

Alex Boone's NFL Career Is Hanging By A Thread

Media outlets such as bucknuts.com and espn.com are reporting Alex Boone was arrested this weekend out in CA on a drunken tirade. Boone supposedly was three times over the legal limit and needed to be subdued with a Taser (sorry, but I could not resist on that one).

Recently I suggested that Alex Boone's poor performance in The East/West Shrine Game, as well as his previous DUI back in 2006 would affect his NFL draft status. After this report, it is entirely possible that Alex Boone will not be selected in the NFL draft in April.