Duane - I posted on TOS my thoughts on Uecker. He was the OL coach at Akron when I was playing LB, and I absolutely loved the guy. The definition of a red a**. At that time our staff also included current OSU coaches Luke Fickell (LBs), Greg Gillum (WRs), and Chris Hauser (Def. GA), so there is certainly some familiarity among the staff and Uecker.

One thing is for sure - he will get after people in the weight room, practice, film sessions, and games. He wants guys that play the game hard and with an attitude through the whistle.

During my transfer year he used to single me out before practice and make sure I played my a** off everyday to give his OL a good look, and would make me start fights just to get the juices flowing......

Quite an exciting development it seems. If you take the Siciliano hiring as precedent, I'd say we are indeed seeing the beginning of something different. Perhaps in a year or so Bollman will officially give up the OL coach role.

I will take others critique of this new hire at this point and if he is as capable as advertised indeed this is exciting news. (Boren should love him!) However I am not as excited about the move of Siciliano. I completely understand Daniels having to step down and want to wish him the very best. Daniels was an excellent QB coach and in my opinion should have been replaced by someone of equal caliber and name. If you are going to attract the top QBs your QB coach better be well recognized for his abilities.

I may have missed it. Has Uecker actually started coaching at Ohio St yet?

I don't want to rain on the parade, but with all the coaching changes that have taken place in the last year, including his alma mater, if this guy is so great, and everybody thinks he walks on water, why is he still at Wayne State. Luke Fickell hasn't been at Akron for many years, and Wayne State is the best he can do??? He'll have to get the players to buy into what he's preaching. Ihope it works, but he has a lot to prove.

I don't want to rain on the parade, but with all the coaching changes that have taken place in the last year, including his alma mater, if this guy is so great, and everybody thinks he walks on water, why is he still at Wayne State. Luke Fickell hasn't been at Akron for many years, and Wayne State is the best he can do??? He'll have to get the players to buy into what he's preaching. Ihope it works, but he has a lot to prove.

You never know the reasoning behind things like that--it might not be as cut and dry as "if he's so good why is here still there?" I'm sure many people questioned why Youngstown State was the best Tressel could do at the time of his hiring at OSU.

Siciliano had an NCAA waiver to participate in on field coaching. Unless Uecker is granted one, and there is no reason he should be as Bollman is not incapacitated, he'll be in a support role. But he will bring a different set of eyes and perspective to the table. I'm not surprised to find out that he has solid ties to the staff and has a track record of being able to work with many of them.

Perhaps JT is preparing the ground for an eventual change, but I think he's just a likely to be bringing in a good OQC coach that he knows will be a good fit for the rest of the staff. It helps that Uecker has the qualities one would want in a position coach.

Hmmmm - maybe Jim Tressel knows what he's doing after all. (Which I have suspected all along.) You don't compile a resume like his -- and a sterling record as he has at OSU, despite the marquee losses -- without knowing a lot more than us amateurs.

love to hear that the coaches are excited to bring him on - hopefully his success in college and in the nfl will rub off on the OL.

and what's going on with this taylor graham offer?

I don't want to rain on the parade, but with all the coaching changes that have taken place in the last year, including his alma mater, if this guy is so great, and everybody thinks he walks on water, why is he still at Wayne State. Luke Fickell hasn't been at Akron for many years, and Wayne State is the best he can do??? He'll have to get the players to buy into what he's preaching. Ihope it works, but he has a lot to prove.

He left Akron and went to Wayne State after Lee Owens was let go at Akron, and our Off Coordinator at the time, Paul Winters was offered and took the head job at WSU. Coach Uecker had 4 young sons at the time, and I believe was going through some family problems that made it unrealistic to take a job very far away so he went with him. He did have other opportunities but never took them.

This sounds great--I like Coach Bolls a lot, but he does have a great deal to do with being OC and OL coach. Bringing in a guy like this to help on the OL should be great based on what ryrob said. And, even if he was at Wayne State, I wouldn't hold that against him--people have many different reasons for being where they are--ryrob's latest post provides good reasons. Plus, his credentials as an outstanding O-lineman at Auburn and in the NFL show he knows the game. Sounds very positive, and Buckeye fans should respond accordingly.

Excitement, advertising, and emails aside, please describe what, according to the 'fraternity', makes Uecker a good OL coach.

Please, not another 'physicality' claim. Appreciate ryrob45's first hand player's input that he's 'tough' and 'stays on' players...if ryrob will appreciate that we've heard this before somewhere.

You can label me however you feel - amateur, dunce, whatever - some just can't enough of labeling. I'm still interested in what are the S&W of Uecker the coach, the leader, the man.

As for position titles in the Buckeye coaching pantheon...observe one practice and it puts those titles ...in perspective. "Offensive Quality Control Coach"? LOL. I was in QC / inspections / evaluations for the last half of my military career. A cardinal 'sin' of DOING any of the named leadership/management techniques [old ideas reinvented into an exciting new approach that's so better...over again] ...was using a quantity to 'have' quality. Yet...there it was, over and over again...

BTW, timing question: was Uecker at Auburn in 199? when they gave us a dose of our own 'physicality', 31-14?

GO BUCKS!

thanks for the background on Coach Uecker's situation at WSU, Ron.

He left Akron and went to Wayne State after Lee Owens was let go at Akron, and our Off Coordinator at the time, Paul Winters was offered and took the head job at WSU. Coach Uecker had 4 young sons at the time, and I believe was going through some family problems that made it unrealistic to take a job very far away so he went with him. He did have other opportunities but never took them.

One last thing--I love Duane's comment that Uecker is a tough guy that believes in a physical approach to the game. That's what football is all about. Despite all the smack talk about speed, the thing that killed us against USC and LSU was the fact that those teams' lines were much more physical than the Bucks' lines on both sides of the ball. Plus, the one thing I believe Coach Tressel has lacked (that Woody had) was the ability to transmit a nastiness and indomitable will to the team. They have been a bit too cerebral in their approach at times, and a dose of toughness, physiciality and intensity is what this team, and especially the offensive line, needs. So it's exciting to think of what Uecker can bring to the table. Now, the other question is, can he play cards?

Fun developments.Dang. Is it football season YET?

Daniels was an excellent QB coach and in my opinion should have been replaced by someone of equal caliber and name.

Just like Tressel was a big name?

Every coach starts somewhere. Tressel sees Siciliano every day. He wouldn't promote him if he didn't think he was qualified. That's all you should care about. Not what some tool writer for a sports site thinks.

Duane - how does elevating Siciliano to QB coach affect our QB recruiting? What are his creds in that department? If you were a D1 QB prospect, would you commit to a program with a new, untested QB coach (as opposed to a new hire with prior big school or NFL experience