Editor’s Note: Joey “The People’s Buckeye” DiNapoli joins us for another report from Coach Jim Tressel’s class Coaching Football. If you missed his first post, be sure to check it out here.
Since last week, I’ve forced myself to wake up at 5:30 am on Mondays and Wednesdays in order to have the privilege of learning from a top notch coaching staff amongst the country’s best. So, I would like to take the time to thank my mother for her boiling pot of coffee that would certainly turn any man into the image of the Ultimate Warrior sans face paint.
Since the beginning of class, I have gained a renewed respect for everything, including the drive to campus. Despite being hung up on I-70 W for longer than I care to be, I know what awaits when I park my car in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center parking lot. When I push my way through the twin doors that say, “FOOTBALL PERSONEL ONLY”, I know he will be there.
He was there last Friday, giving his last scheduled lecture. There were guests amongst us from the Wall Street Journal doing a piece on “The Vest’s side gig.” Somewhere in the middle of his lecture, he felt the photographer was taking too many pictures and it became a distraction.
“That’s enough,” he said. “Start back pedaling. Back pedal, back pedal… come back for the DBs class, we’ll teach you how to back pedal.” Everyone had a laugh at the photographer’s expense, but the guy didn’t take it personally. It still amazes me how Tressel rides some sort of fine line from respect to humor. A lot of the stuff Coach Tressel says during class, if Lane Kiffin were to say it for example, would make him sound like an even bigger prick. He’s an extremely endearing and respectful man though despite his vice of personal jesting at times.
Pertaining to the class, Coach Tressel provided excerpts of the Winners’ Manual to illustrate his point that coaching is teaching. He made several definitive points, one more important than the others: “Who we are and what we do is two separate things.” This is something he conveys to all of his players, knowing full well that they are not all going to have lengthy NFL careers. The Block O of Life is given to the players to help them manage their life and become better men before becoming better players. He shared this with us, along with several other handouts given to the players help them understand the traditions of The Ohio State University.
As we went down the list of traditions, discussing Carmen Ohio and TBDBITL, we came to the Victory Bell. Coach asked, “Does anyone know when the Victory Bell is sounded?” Other than the obvious time of victory, a lady responded, “And on third down?” Coach Tressel had a look on his face like a special teams miscue just went down. “Fourth down?”, she rebuts. Caoch shakes off the blindsiding answers to say courteously, “When you graduate.”
Then, the question of the Gold Pants comes into play. “Paul Brown [started it],” a student to the right of me responded. Again, Coach Tressel with all his quirks, corrects him, “Paul Brown? He was just a glimmer in someone’s eye when this guy started coaching. Francis Schmidt, right?”
NCAA regulations prohibit the coaches have a certain amount of direct contact with the players up to a certain point. Coach Tressel made us aware of that and emphasized that most of Ohio State’s preparation time is done in the weight room. Players waking up even before us to put in a three hour commitment every morning in the weight room in hopes of playing are the real strength of the Ohio State program. This last Wednesday, guest Eric Lichter, Director of Football Performance, gave us an overview of the strength and conditioning program. Coach Tressel gave a really warm hearted introduction to the man that spends the most amount of time with his players. His undertone gave Lichter credit for the program’s stability and even chimed in that before Lichter’s mother, Ohio State had only won some ten NCAA championships. Since her arrival, her Ohio State swimmers have won nine in the last fourteen years. Wow, just wow.
Lichter explained that he puts the players through a growth process of conditioning that’s on a year round cycle, “as opposed to the majority of Big Ten teams,” that go through the regiment of pushing their players until, “their calves collapse.” After showing us various slides of the program’s conditioning regiment, he showed us a promo video for his program. Take away the tunes of E.S. Posthumous and Rage Against the Machine, as well as the all known highlights such as Ted Ginn swinging loose in 2004, you find that Lichter has an extreme passion for these students. He is always screaming and pushing them on while Thad Gibson is crawling through sand or after Doug Worthington celebrates successful bench press repetitions by tearing apart a napkin with his teeth like a rabid dog.
That was highly amusing.
Lichter’s time was short as Tressel fielded a lot of questions from us in the beginning of class. We talked a lot about how to gauge a team’s success during the game. Among all else, Tressel values the turnover battle and explosive plays. Big shock, I know. We delved in deeper and Tressel was asked if momentum carries his decision into going for it on fourth down. From there, he recalled his days as a Penguin and going down south to face Georgia Southern. He told us of a time in the latter part of the game where they were confronted with a 4th and 1 in their own territory. He made the decision to go for it based on the wind trajectory being in their face, nullifying the punting option. So, he went for it and his team converted. Three plays later, they were again confronted by a 4th and 1 on the 39. Converted again. Then, as he put it, “Wouldn’t you know, we had a 4th and 6. We’ve come this far, so why not go for it again?” All the time, I’m thinking, “I want video proof of this. This is not the Jim Tressel I and the rest of Buckeye Nation knows him.”
Aside from that, he was asked about Dantonio’s decision to fake the field goal weeks ago against Notre Dame. Tressel thought it was a brilliant call despite whether it had worked or not. He knew Dantonio had a young kicker and the quarterback, “committed the cardinal sin of being sacked in the redzone.” He alluded to the 2002 National Championship Game and his fake field goal call, stating again that it didn’t work because one man on the line was confused about his assignment and thought they were really kicking a field goal. He concluded that momentum weighed heavy on that sort of decision, but you also have to take into account the momentum of the other team, weather conditions, field position and personnel.
These two days served as book ends for Coach Bruce’s lecture on the History of Football this last Monday. I, personally, didn’t take away anything new from the material. Very remedial bullet points of dates from the first college football game up to the insurrection of the West Coast Offense. I can tell you two things about Coach Bruce though – the man does not need a microphone. Once you get this man talking about football, he’s more emphatic than Howard Dean. Secondly, don’t and I repeat DO NOT get the man started on the single wing formation. The formation basically depends on the success of the tailback taking direct snaps and because of that, he chastised the quarterback’s role in the offense. “The tailback does everything… run… pass… the most the quarterback does is throw a block in an off tackle run!” I didn’t have the gumption to ask him what he thought about the wildcat offense. Nor did any other brave soul.
At this juncture, we all have our feet wet and are ready to take an in depth look at the positional break downs starting next week. I’ll leave you now with Coach Tressel’s burn of the week. As you remember, we’re supposed to report on how our high school did the previous Friday during Monday roll call. A student responded, “I don’t know, but they probably lost.”
“They probably did lose with fans like you,” said by a very disappointed man in a sweater vest.
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TPB,
“In Tressel We Trust”. It’s GREAT that you are sharing this with us.
Alan
NA, you’re welcome. I want to share as much as possible with everyone. I was almost concerned that there was nothing said on the last report, but then again, I wasn’t giving an Omaha Nighthawks jersey away. Good to know one person soundly appreciates it. Makes it worth reporting on.
Things I failed to mention were two quotes he touched on in class:
“They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” He attributes this to his father, but I think it was a customer service motivation device.
Also, “Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.” He originally printed this in the Winners’ Manual, but couldn’t remember where it came from and didn’t cite it. During one of his previous years, a student was familiar with that quote. When Tressel asked, “Oh, so you know where this quote came from?”
The student responded, “Yeah, my dad said it.”
At least, that’s where Tressel first heard it, from the student’s father. Although, I did my own research to find that it’s a direct quote from Albert Enstein.
Aside from that, there were musings about how coaching is 24/7 and how you’re always writing things down on napkins. I left some of that out, because the Wall Street Journal made that a focal point and assumed some of you may have already read the article.
Hi,
How can I get into this class next year?
Sorry ….. No girls allowed.
Great report TPB. Keep up the good work. Look forward to hearing your next report.
Go Buckeyes
Apparently, my mother has an issue with the phrase of “boiling coffee.”
AB, as my editor, I blame you.
TPB-It’s not Jim’s fault. With a name like DiNapoli, I wouldn’t want to offend your mother by suggesting “boiling coffee” was neither right nor wrong. If your mother told me Sanka or freeze dried coffee was..well…coffee, who am I to argue?
Respect to your mother.
How can I get into this class next year?
Hey Ann. Don’t listen to them when they say no girls allowed. Although our man Joey would know better, I think it’s a regular course at Ohio State. If you’re a student, I imagine the process is the same as getting into any other over-crowded class.