Football Audio: Fickell, Linebackers Meet with the Media – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Buckeyes continued preparations for the 2008 season Tuesday with a morning full of meetings and film review. Afterwards, Luke Fickell, Ohio State linebackers coach, and linebackers Marcus Freeman, Ross Homan, James Laurinaitis and Austin Spitler met with the media at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Luke Fickell, Ohio State linebackers coach
On Jermale Hines and Tyler Moeller switching to linebacker
“Sometimes it is a confidence issue and there are some people who don’t mind. You always have to find out where they see themselves fitting best. Sometimes as a player it takes a little while to learn different things but as a linebacker coach you try to teach the whole concept of whether you’re a safety or a linebacker.”
Marcus Freeman, senior linebacker
On playing with James Laurinaitis
“I’m a football fan and to have a great player like that is really interesting because it’s not so often that you’re going to have that. I don’t need all the accolades I’m happy being the sidekick and I want to keep doing a good job.”
On flying under the radar
“When you have a player like (James Laurinaitis), opposing teams are going to usually send two players just to make sure he is blocked. I was reading Sports Illustrated yesterday and it said when LSU was getting ready for us they had two No. 33’s on their scout team. That helps me out a lot because with so much focus on a guy like that, maybe they aren’t concentrating on me so that I can slip in and be unblocked.”
On earning his undergraduate degree and beginning his master’s degree at Ohio State
“Coming in early helped me a lot. Starting in the winter gave me two extra quarters and in the summer I took 12 hours which helped me complete my undergraduate and gave me an early start on my master’s. Now after football season, I think I only have four classes until I finish with my master’s.
“You have to have plans for after football and that is something coming in here I didn’t have. Coming in here I said I’m a football player and if I don’t have football, I don’t know what I am going to do.’ Being here for five years now, I know football is not always going to be there and I have a plan and I have other options.”
