Jim Tressel Quotes From March 29 Press Conference – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 31, 2005
Jim Tressel, Ohio State head football coach, March 29, 2005
Opening statement
“Over the winter quarter our guys had 10 6 a.m. workouts and in those workouts we believe we got some significant work done. We also finished our strength workouts and we made some good progress in that respect, as well. Our guys did a good job in the classroom as 49 of our guys reached over a 3.0 grade point average for winter quarter and 44 of our guys reached over a 3.0 cumulative average. We feel good about our work in the classroom and our work on the field and we are ready to get started this spring.”
On the Troy Smith situation
“The Troy Smith issue was solidified by the NCAA and they said they would consider reinstatement. He will have one more game suspension and he will take part in spring practice. So Troy will be reinstated after the first game and he will be with the team through spring practice and the 29 practices in August.”
On the injury situation
“Caesar Buie should have gradual return. Mike D’Andrea will not have contact and will have gradual movement. Tyler Everett will start spring practice with limited action, but could be up to full strength by the end of the spring. Steve Fender will be out this spring. Rob Harley, Jordan Hoewischer, Devin Jordan and Mike Kudla will not be participating. Devon Lyons sustained a foot fracture and seems to be moving along faster than we had hoped. Anthony Schlegel and Jon Skinner both will have gradual return.”
On the coaches’ scouting trips
“When our players had exams and then had spring break off, our coaches had some chances to study the progression of the game by traveling to some other schools to help us find out what our identity would be this season. Our coaches traveled to LSU, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech.”
On the returnees in the trenches
“Starting in the trenches, we have a good nucleus back in Nick Mangold and Rob Sims. I think they have done a good job in getting the younger guys involved from an offensive line standpoint. This spring there could be a lot of competition on the offensive line. On the defensive line we have a lot of experience back and I know Jim Heacock is very excited about some of the players he has coming back.”
On the linebackers
“We have all of our starting linebackers coming back this season in Anthony Schlegel, Bobby Carpenter and A.J. Hawk, all of whom will make us very strong at the position along with returnees Chad Hoobler and Curtis Terry.”
On the corners
“At the cornerback position we have Ashton Youboty coming back who brings with him experience and a lot of minutes. Beyond Ashton we do not have a whole lot of experience at cornerback, but we believe Sirjo Welsh and Shaun Lane have a lot of promise. We have a group of guys who could grow to become a great hard hitting group.”
On the offensive side of the ball
“Moving over to the offensive side of the ball we have Ryan Hamby back along with Rory Nicol, Marcel Frost and R.J. Coleman at tight end. At receiver we have Santonio Holmes, Anthony Gonzalez, Roy Hall and Ted Ginn which give us a lot of speed outside.”
On the backfield
“In the backfield we have Brandon Schnittker coming back for a fifth season. We have Stan White back for his third season and we also have Dionte Johnson, who will begin his second season.”
On the tailbacks
“You know last year we had four or five seniors back there at tailback who all won’t be returning in 2005, so Antonio Pittman and Erik Haw are the two guys we have talked about the most. Their numbers have improved in the weight room over the offseason and we hope for both of them to step up this season.”
On the quarterback position
“Justin Zwick will receive two-thirds of the time with the first group and Troy Smith will get the other one-third of the time and that is the way it will begin, because you have to have a starting point.”
On the special teams
“If you want to win a championship you better have good special teams. Over the last couple of years we have been fortunate enough to have good special teams and that has been one of the reasons for our success. At long snapper we have three guys, Drew Norman, Dimitrious Makridis and Matt Drummelsmith, that we feel confident about this season and we have to get them all experience this spring.”
On spring practice
“We have a plan for the next 15 days and we hope to get a lot of work accomplished. We met with a lot of our juniors and seniors and they are all very interested in being good and being coached hard.”
On dealing with outside negative news
“I spent more time this spring talking with our guys about dealing with negative outside issues than anything else. The thing we talk about is just how do we get better with everything. There’s a long list of things that we talked about that we can get better at.”
On having high expectations for the 2005 season
“I don’t think it’s out of the question at all. We have a lot of talented guys, bright guys and experiences guys who understand what it takes. Like Anthony Schlegel said when I met with him earlier this spring, the most important thing we need to do is make everyone understand what it takes to make it happen and be the absolute very best we can be.”
On having one-on-one meetings with the players
“I have enjoyed sitting down with all of our older guys and talking with them one-on-one. I learn more from those guys than anything because their perspective is right there. I’ve said it before, every one of our best ideas has come from them. I enjoy February and March as much as any time of year because you get to really talk to the guys and find out where they want to go and you get to talk about how are we going to get there.”
On his offensive philosophy for 2005
“We would like to very be explosive and give defenses as many problems as possible. You know I would like to have every scheme there is and make defenses have to stop everything there is to stop.”
On the running back situation
“Yes, it’s a concern, absolutely, but we’ll be fine. I’m sure our wide receivers are liking that because they think we’ll be lining up in four or five wide receivers every play. Our running backs need experience and we need to find out who can hang in there and take the pounding. I like the size and strength Antonio (Pittman) and Eric (Haw) gained in the winter and I have been really impressed with their winter (strength and conditioning) numbers.”
On Ted Ginn Jr.
“At the beginning of last season Teddy was a novice playing a new position, and you could see his growth and progression go up as the season went along, and with that his confidence went up, too. But I’ll tell you this, we better go into a game wanting to get Teddy and Santonio (Holmes) the ball on the outside and have them make big plays for you.”
On the new academic standards set forth by the APR
“Any time you put accountability on something it’s not a bad thing, but any time you implement something new you have to work out the chinks in the armor. Our guys have plenty of time to be good students. There is a lot of discussion on about some decisions that need to be made on how this will affect us.”
### Go Bucks! ###
