Football Practices Without Tressel – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2001
%^$The Ohio State football team practiced Tuesday afternoon in the absence of Coach Jim Tressel, who was in Berea, Ohio, for the calling hours of his mother, Eloise. Players commented on the morning practice session prior to the afternoon session, which was moved up to 1:30 p.m. to allow assistant coaches to attend the calling hours.%^$
%^$Kenny Peterson (Jr., Canton, Ohio/McKinley)
%^$On Wednesday being the first day of practice in full pads
%^$”Every day is just another day. Tomorrow we’ll just have pads on. The tempo does change a little bit. Now we get to actually tackle a little bit. The running backs get the feel of being hit a little more and a little harder. But up front it’s the same old thing. We bang every play.”%^$
%^$On the defensive line
%^$”If I had to say one word for the defensive line, I’d say relentless. That’s what we’re going to be this year. Defensive lines in the past were great, and I’m not taking anything from them, but I think we’ve got something special here. We’ve got a mixture of everything, speed, strength, quickness, at every position.”%^$
%^$Jesse Kline(So., Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington)
%^$On the first day practice with full pads
%^$”We’ve had some pretty good contact already. With the pads on, it just adds an extra emphasis on hitting. I’m sure there will be few more drills. It will get us a little excited to have a bit more contact. Every person who plays this game enjoys the contact, to a certain extent. That initial contact is a lot of fun.”%^$
%^$Robert Reynolds (Bowling Green, Ky./Bowling Green)
%^$On the first day of practice in full pads
%^$”It’s fun. It’s good to be back out there in the pads. That’s why I’m here. We’re just going out there and playing football. You can’t have a different mindset. If you take it easy, someone is going to step right in front of you and take your spot.”%^$
%^$On fighting for a starting spot
%^$”I feel really good about where I stand right now. I’m having a really good camp and everything is going well. I’m just focused on learning what I’m supposed to do.%^$
%^$Steve Bellisari (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton)
%^$On the death of Eloise Tressel
%^$”Anytime you have some adversity, it brings people together. I think it really opened some eyes on the team. We realized that there is a lot more than just football and I think it brought us closer together.”%^$
%^$On the first day of practice in full pads
%^$”We’ve been in helmets and shoulder pads and the tempo has been really fast. Even though we’re not technically full-go, we’ve been going mostly full-go. It will certainly be a little more upbeat, but nothing too drastic.”%^$
%^$Cie Grant(Jr., New Philadelpia, Ohio/New Philadelphia)
%^$On the first day of practice in full pads
%^$”It’s been hard these past couple of days. We’re hitting, but we can’t be as aggressive as we want and take everyone down to the ground. But tomorrow, everything is legal, we’re in full pads, and I just can’t wait to start hitting again.”%^$
%^$On Tressel’s absense
%^$”It was a lot different this morning. Coach Tressel is a huge leader on this team and without him being there this morning, we still had to go out there and get our work done but there was a huge part missing.”%^$
%^$On moving from linebacker to the cornerback
%^$”The coaches came to me and asked about moving me to cornerback. It will definitely be a challenge, but I feel that the coaching staff will get me prepared. If I perform well at cornerback, then I’ll be there. Otherwise, I’ll be right back at linebacker. It’s all about what will help the team. We talk about not being selfish. In the past, we’ve had a lot of great individual players, but sometimes we didn’t work as a team. Now we’re all willing to do whatever it takes.”%^$
%^$Courtland Bullard (Sr., Miami, Fla./Southridge)
%^$On the first day of practice in full pads%^$”We’ve been going full-go for a couple days now. With the pads on the lower part of the body, it shouldn’t be that different. We’re looking for the same intensity we’ve had since day one, and we’re getting ready to let it loose.”%^$
%^$On competing for the top spot
%^$”I don’t look at it as a battle. I look at it as trying to get better and trying to help the team as best as I can. I’m trying to help my teammates. When Robert Reynolds makes a mistake, I try to correct him, and vice versa.”
