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Hello and welcome to another edition of Tressel Tales from Cus Words Sports1.
This week, the Ohio State preseason is winding down, and games are just around the corner — much like it was 25 years ago.
The major difference between then and now, of course, is the Buckeyes had a new head coach who came from Youngstown State with the goal of putting the program back on the right track after a pair of disappointing seasons to end the John Cooper era.
With the season-opener against Akron getting closer, anticipation continued to build — and questions continued to need answers.
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What attitude did Jim Tressel bring to Ohio State football?
That was something fans were on the brink of finally finding out for themselves, but junior middle linebacker Matt Wilhelm had a preview.
“There is an aura about Coach Tressel that he brings to the table. You feel it by the things he says to you. It felt special. You feel camaraderie that can develop over five years with a coach.”
Steve Bellisari, the returning starter at quarterback, put it somewhat less eloquently.
“You can almost say he is kind of anal. He’s on the particulars all the time. He’s making sure you’re taking the right steps on everything. If you’re carrying out a fake, he makes sure you get to the cone you need to get to.”
For his part, Tressel didn’t dispute he wanted to know what is going on everywhere all the time.
“I think someone has written about me as a control freak. I am involved in everything I can be to contribute.”
Photo from Buckeye Sports Bulletin
What about schematics?
Then as now, specifics were hard to get out of the coaching staff in the offseason.
Tressel’s offense, coordinated by Jim Bollman, was described as “multiple” and variable, though they still had a tailback, fullback and two receivers on the field with the quarterback under center most of the time.
Bollman said it would also be dependent on what the opponent was doing.
The spring game at Crew Stadium was a pass-happy affair, but Bollman offered this quote that might get the attention of people who watched the Tressel tenure play out in full.
“The worst thing you can do on offense, especially against a good opponent, is try to pound a square peg in a round hole. You have to try and take advantage of the things you can do game by game.”
If that sounds incongruous with the actual product we would see, well, you might be right…
As for the defense, less was expected to change under Mark Dantonio.
No doubt it would still be a 4-3, but again Dantonio said personnel would make a difference.
The biggest question was if he would dial up as many pressure packages as predecessor Fred Pagac Sr., who established the Silver Bullets tradition with a relentless, attacking style over the previous five seasons.
“In this in day and age, we have to be able to affect the quarterback. Depending on how well we are able to affect the quarterback with our front people will dictate how much we have to do in addition to that.”
Here’s another hint:
“We want to be sound and not give up the big play and make them earn everything they get.”
That quote stuck out in light of a few high-profile breakdowns that cost the Buckeyes games in previous seasons, including the 1996 Michigan game when Shawn Springs slipped in man coverage and the 2000 Purdue game when Mike Doss was out of position for a game-winning touchdown pass.
How was the depth chart shaping up?
Tressel’s first team would have a veteran quarterback (Steve Bellisari) and a backfield duo that looked promising with veteran Jamar Martin at fullback and Jonathan Wells expected to dot the ‘I’ behind him.
Darnell Sanders returned at tight end, but receiver had some uncertainty. With veteran Drew Carter nursing an injury, sophomore Michael Jenkins had a strong preseason.
True freshman Chris Gamble also got the attention of the head coach.
“Chris Gamble is a player,” Tressel said. “Chris Gamble reminds me of a freshman we had here once named Cris Carter. He could be a good one. He’s a student of the game.”
The offensive line began preseason as a question mark and that continued as the visit from the Zips got closer despite the return of All-Big Ten center LeCharles Bentley.
On defense, nose tackle Mike Collins was the only returner up front, but Tim Anderson had a strong preseason and youngsters Will Smith and Kenny Peterson brought a lot of potential.
All three starters returned at linebacker — Matt Wilhelm, Joe Cooper, and Courtland Bullard — to give Dantonio a strong nucleus to lean on in the middle.
All-American Mike Doss and fellow safety Donnie Nickey gave Ohio State two more returning starters in the secondary, but cornerback concerns remained despite the return of Derek Ross, who missed spring ball because of a disciplinary issue.
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The more things change?
Much like last month for first-year Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham, the Ohio State-Michigan game was a topic of discussion when Tressel took his first trip to Chicago for Big Ten Media Days.
Players said he had already put his stamp on The Game.
“Coach Tressel talks bout it every practice,” Collins said. “Every Saturday during spring ball, we watched a quarter of the Michigan game. He said, ‘I’m tired of seeing you guys lose. You’ve been successful, but you have not been accomplishing your goals.’
“When he talks about Michigan, he really understands the rivalry. He knows what it means to the players and he nows what it means to the people of Ohio. They hate the Blue.”
Big Ten Media Days also gave a new group of reporters from around the conference a chance to quiz Tressel on a variety of topics, including what he meant when he told an Ohio State basketball crowd in January they would be proud of the team “in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.”
“Whenever you make a statement, you hope that you don’t offend anyone. I don’t think that was offensive in any way, but when you say something, people have the freedom to take it any way they want. I’ve talked to a lot of friends from Ann Arbor and so forth. They like the idea the Ohio State-Michigan game is important.”
Naturally, Tressel was also asked if he knew how many days were left before the Buckeyes’ trip to Ann Arbor, and he delivered.
“I think it’s 114. The only thing I know is we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
What about expectations?
Nowadays, I think we’re getting used to the fact that seasons are harder to predict because so much turnover occurs between each season — even when a team does not change coaches.
The 2001 Buckeyes had a certain similar sense of mystery heading into Tressel’s first season with a lot of new players stepping into new roles but a fair amount of familiarity, too.
Back in 2001, the Big Ten still had an official preseason poll, and the Buckeyes were tabbed to finish third in the Big Ten, trailing just defending champions Northwestern and Michigan.
They were barely viewed as a top 25 team nationally, but in both cases Tressel shrugged it off.
“We coaches talk constantly that preseason ratings don’t mean that much,” Tressel said. “We even said that when we were at Youngstown State and we were picked No. 1. You just focus so much on what you are and what you want to be. I know they picked us third here, but we’re not in some of the top 25s.
“I know Ohio State fans well enough to know that those type of rankings in November will not be well received.”
Previous editions of the Tressel Tales:
1 Since January, I’ve been recapping Jim Tressel’s first season as head coach of the Ohio State football team (click here to see the first edition) through the lens of the Buckeye Sports Bulletin archives. That will continue through the rest of the year, so I hope you’ll subscribe (it’s free!) if Ohio State history is something you enjoy. If you could help spread the word, I would appreciate that even more! Also: This is one recurring series within my newsletter, joining This Week In Ohio State Football, a roundup of what’s going on with the current Buckeyes that goes out every Friday during the season and (usually) Friday or Saturday during the offseason.