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Penguins of the Year
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Heacock
Mooney Vs. Ursuline 2008
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BENDING BUT NOT BREAKING - Mooney's John Simon #95 - catches Big Reds QB #17 Dwight Macon for a big loss during first half action at Fawcett Stadium in Canton
By Pete Mollica
Jim Tressel was back in town Sunday, this time to help the Penguins fund the new WATTS center.
It’s been 23 years since Jim Tressel walked onto Youngstown State University’s campus to take over as coach of the football program.
Fifteen years later, after four national championships and many other records, Tressel left to become head coach at Ohio State.
Tressel, his wife Ellen and his in-laws, Frank and Norma Watson, were honored by the university on Sunday as the 2009 Penguins of the Year.
The awards were presented as part of the Penguin Club’s annual scholarship/ring dinner at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman
Tressel, who in the past eight years in Columbus has led the Buckeyes to three BCS title games, one national championship and eight straight bowl games, just concluded another recruiting season and this year’s class was ranked among the top classes in the country.
“It’s a great class,” he said. “We signed 25 guys and we already have four who have committed for next season. Seven of this year’s class will be taking part in spring practice.”
Included in his class of 25 are two local standouts, Boardman’s Corey Lindsey and Cardinal Mooney’s John Simon.
“Those two are a couple of big, strong guys,” said Tressel. “They are both great kids, very competitive and come from strong programs. They are healthy and very sound academically. They will be difference makers for us.”
Tressel was asked how soon the two local players could be contributing to the Buckeyes.
“That’s a tough one to decide right now,” he said. “They’ll report sometime at the end of June and the first thing for them will be to learn how to adjust from being away from home. Then there’s the language difference. We play the same game, but we might use different language.
“As soon as they are comfortable with all of that they should be able to help us on the field,” he said.
Tressel said the recruiting process has really come a long way over the years.
“It has really speeded up,” he said. “Kids today have so much more information available to them over the internet. They can go on line and read so much about a team. They can actually get a feel for that team’s program.
“As a result they are finding out more early and leaning toward a school they want to go a lot earlier which makes our decision-making have to happen earlier and at times with a lot less data.
“As I said earlier we’ve already have four commitments for next season and that will be in a class of only 17, so we have to be even more selective,” Tressel added.
Once again this season the Buckeyes will have several players who will be giving up their final season of college ball to enter the NFL draft. But to Tressel and his staff they are still part of the family and they spend a lot of time preparing those players for their futures.
“We put those players in a separate workout program at different days and times then our regular players,” he said.
“Most of the workouts are combine specific and we work them on all different aspects of the combine such as interviews, running and jumping. There’s really not a whole lot of football at the combine, all that comes from game tapes during the season.”
Last year’s top recruit, quarterback Terrell Pryor is someone the coach loves to talk about.
“I thought Terrell progressed very well this year, especially in the bowl preparation where he got in 15 great practices and made a lot of major steps,” he said.
“Now he has time to sit back and to reflect on that season. To go back and study his performances and see what he can do better,” he added. “I know one thing, that he’ll just do nothing but get better and better.”
mollica@vindy.com