Preparing The Way – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2005
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Flipping through the pages of Ohio State football history, men such as Sid Gillman, Fred Pagac, Tim Spencer and Lynn St. John are all linked by at least one thing in common. They suited up for the Scarlet and Gray as student-athletes and later returned to the Buckeye family as a coach.
Current Ohio State assistants Luke Fickell and John Peterson are the 38th and 39th men to do just that, and the 40th could be wearing No. 43 for the Buckeyes this season in senior fullback Brandon Schnittker. The nature of his position, which puts Schnittker in the middle of the Buckeyes’ offense and gives him a different assignment on nearly every play, is helping to prepare the way for the day when he could be helping to implement the OSU attack as a coach.
Blocking for a run or pass play, carrying the football or catching it out of the backfield are just a few tasks which could all be in a play’s work for Schnittker, who studies his assignments not only to help Ohio State win football games, but to be able to teach those same skills down the road.
“Playing fullback lets you see all the pieces come together,” Schnittker said. “Not only do you have to know your assignment, but you have to know what others are doing around you. I can tell you what every position is doing on every play, which is exactly what our coaches have to do. That has always interested me, but even more so since I have been at Ohio State.”
That kind of knowledge has led Schnittker to be an important part of the Buckeye offense, which uses the fullback in a multitude of ways.
“The fullback is like the utility infielder in our offense,” Schnittker said. “The position requires you to be able to do a lot of different things. You have to be everywhere and be everything to everybody.”
The complex principles of playing fullback in the Ohio State scheme have come naturally for Schnittker, who carries a 3.8 grade point average and has been named to the dean’s list every quarter of his collegiate career. Should a door in the coaching profession not open where he wants, his degree in marketing, which he will obtain in March of 2006, will be his ticket to success.
His ticket to college football initially appeared to be on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. It was as a linebacker at Perkins High School in Sandusky, Ohio, that Schnittker was named the Associated Press Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2001, which drew nearly all of the focus from college recruiters.
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“Brandon has the qualities that give you the potential to develop as a successful coach,” Tressel said. “He has great intelligence, a great work ethic and a genuine compassion for young people. When you have that, you have a good chance.” |
“Every school except Ohio State and Syracuse recruited me to play linebacker,” Schnittker said. “But I really enjoyed offense. It was always fun for me, and when (former OSU running backs coach) Tim Spencer talked to me about playing fullback for the Buckeyes, it really got my attention.”
OSU coach Jim Tressel said he was not surprised Ohio State and Syracuse were the only two schools talking to Schnittker about playing fullback instead of linebacker.
“Ohio State and Syracuse are traditional I-formation teams,” Tressel said, noting Spencer was impressed with Schnittker at fullback in Ohio State’s summer camp before his senior year at Perkins. “So we both are always looking for a speed guy at fullback and a powerful guy, too. Fullbacks are hard to find.”
Hard as it might be, the Buckeye coaching staff found one in Schnittker, who not only had the physical abilities to play the position at Ohio State, but had a number of intangibles to compliment Tressel’s young program. Schnittker’s versatility also made him an attractive recruit, as he was Perkins’ punter, back-up long-snapper and back-up field goal kicker. Off the gridiron, he won the state discus championship as a senior in his only season of track and field and was a standout wrestler.
“Brandon is just a great athlete,” Tressel said. “In high school he could do it all and was an extraordinary student, too, with great Ohio passions.”
Schnittker’s versatility has carried itself over to Ohio State, where not only has Tressel penciled him into such roles as emergency punter and emergency long-snapper, but utilized his talents all over the field in an expanded fullback role.
“In the absence of a big tailback, we need our fullback to provide a change of gear with the football,” Tressel said. “And with Brandon, he can play fullback, tailback, our H-back spot and we’ll even split him out some. Defenses predicate what they do based on who you have in the game, and it makes it tough on them when you have a guy like Brandon in there who can do so many different things.”
Dick Tressel, Ohio State running backs coach, echoed those sentiments.
“When our fullback is in the game, he is the focal point of our offense,” he said. “Defenses key the fullback – where the fullback goes, that’s where the defense goes. Brandon is prepared to be the focal point of our offense.”
Despite the value of the fullback to an offense such as Ohio State’s, it is often a position that goes unnoticed in the postgame television highlights. Schnittker has had his share of screen time, though. His 15-yard catch against Michigan in 2002 came on the Buckeyes’ game-winning drive and marked his first collegiate reception. Another highlight came in the 2004 Alamo Bowl when Schnittker caught a short pass out of the backfield and turned up the sideline for a 14-yard gain and a punishing hit on an Oklahoma State defender who tried to bring him down.
“Plays like that are momentum plays for us,” Dick Tressel said. “They help turn the momentum in our favor.”
Those are not the only times Schnittker makes an appearance on the highlight tape, nor are they the examples he takes most pride in. The big hits he is involved in that help send teammates racing through the congestion of linemen toward the goal line are more significant.
“Brandon and our fullbacks are the guys who help turn a short gain or reception into a long gain or reception,” Dick Tressel continued. “He is involved in some serious collisions with linebackers and secondary defenders that make the highlight film, but Brandon sees himself as a team player first. Things like the highlight tape are not really that important.”
Giving up a position like linebacker, albeit more visible to the television cameras, was not as tough as one might think, though. After all, the 6-foot-2-inch, 240-pound Schnittker, knows it is from doing the little things he became one of the few football players who can claim possession of both a state high school championship ring (1999) and a national championship ring (2002).
“Our offense asks the fullback to do a lot and that was a very appealing thing (during the recruiting process),” Schnittker said. “The mental aspect of the game has always intrigued me, like why we are running a certain play. Defense has its schemes and you have to think there, too, but offense fits with my personality more.”
Schnittker said early in his college career there were times when he missed playing on the reaction-ruled defensive side of the ball, but he was able to take that kind of attitude into other aspects of the game.
“Defense is about flying around and playing with more emotion,” Schnittker said. “Offense is more even-keel and playing with a calm aggression, but I have been able to carry the defensive mentality over into special teams. I still enjoy watching our defense, though. The `Silver Bullets’ make up one of the best defenses in the country.”
When it comes to watching, it is back in the film room where Schnittker spends the majority of his free time. It was there that his interest in coaching was fostered.
“I think it is fun to watch video, especially with coach (Jim) Tressel because he will talk you through what he is thinking about each play and each position,” Schnittker said. “I would love to get to that level.”
Tressel gave Schnittker good counsel when he learned of his fullback’s desire to pursue a career in coaching.
“Coach Tressel’s advice was to focus on this season, do well, and see if there is a chance I could play in the NFL,” Schnittker said. “He said to play as long as you can, then start networking and look to get into coaching as a graduate assistant.”
A career in marketing is not entirely out of the question either, considering Schnittker’s standout academic background. His oldest brother, Ryan, a Bowling Green graduate and sales representative at Meeder Financial in Dublin, Ohio, suggested Brandon go into marketing to utilize his people skills. Another brother, Mike, graduated from Eastern Michigan with a degree in nursing, while younger sister, Kelly, played volleyball at Perkins and is a freshman at Bowling Green this fall.
Schnittker even has versatility in his blood. Like Brandon, both Ryan and Mike also were standout football players and wrestlers at Perkins and all three boys are cousins to Dick Schnittker, who was an All-American basketball player for Ohio State in 1950 and played one year of football in 1949. Another cousin, Max Schnittker, lettered twice on the gridiron for the Buckeyes in 1945 and 1946.
“Most of my athletic endeavors have come from my brothers,” Schnittker said. “I didn’t get to know Dick until I was in high school, but it’s funny to hear his story about how he played in the (1950) Rose Bowl and flew home the next day to play in a basketball game.”
Though Schnittker will not be suiting up for Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes anytime soon, that kind of versatility is what has made him a valuable ingredient in the Ohio State offense.
“Brandon brings a multitude of talents to the field that allow us to be successful as an attacking offense,” Dick Tressel said. “He can run, catch, block and adjust, and his intelligence allows him to be a focal point of our offense.”
In addition to making himself a better player and eventually a better coach, Dick Tressel pointed out another way Schnittker’s intelligence helps the Buckeyes be successful.
“If other players have a question, they can turn to Brandon and he usually has the answer,” Dick Tressel said. “He is very perceptive and asks great questions. That helps the entire team understand what we are trying to do.”
Speaking of helping the entire team, Schnittker’s presence on the field and in the locker room will play a big part in helping the 2005 Buckeyes achieve their goals.
“Being a fifth-year senior, Brandon brings maturity and leadership,” Jim Tressel said. “I’ve always said you have a chance to have a good team if guys like Brandon evolve into roles where they do more than they have ever done before.”
When it comes to seeing Schnittker as a future coach, Tressel said his fullback already has the key ingredients.
“Brandon has the qualities that give you the potential to develop as a successful coach,” Tressel said. “He has great intelligence, a great work ethic and a genuine compassion for young people. When you have that, you have a good chance.”
Should the coaching profession be what Schnittker hopes it will be, he would love to have an opportunity open for him at Ohio State.
“Obviously Ohio State is my No. 1 goal,” Schnittker said. “To come back here and coach would be my first option, especially with the coaching staff we have now. My heart is at Ohio State, whether it be as a player or eventually as a coach.”
In either capacity, the Buckeyes could only benefit with Schnittker preparing the way.
