[quote=Sherman]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.[/quote]



I said I would stay away from the fire Bollman discussion for awhile. That is not what this blog topic is about. Not to mention I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that Jim Tressel will not fire him. That he might resign is another matter. I could see that happening. No matter what side of the is he a good coach or not argument that you fall on, there is no argument about the fact that he is true gentleman, a class act and man of character. I could see him retiring. Make no mistake. You want as little pressure as possible on the head coach, and there is some pressure about the offense and the offensive line in particular. I could see him making the decision to retire because that is what is best for his friend Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football program. Negative recruiting can have a definite impact on the program. Schools negatively recruit. That is just a fact. You may recall my story recently from a recruits mom who said the only school that did not negatively recruit was Ohio State. The story is all the more plausible because the recruit did not pick Ohio State. Right now schools are negatively recruiting against Bollman. You think all these tight ends are picking up on the fact that the tight end is not going to see alot of balls come his way in our offense from internet research? Putting the thought in a recruits head that JT could be out because he won't get rid of his good friend Jim Bollman as the offensive coordinator will happen. I could see Jim Bollmans honor and integrity tell him that resigning is the right thing to do.


Sherman makes a very valid and logical point in the fact that this could be adding someone who fits in with the current staff, who just so happens to be a possible solution to a problem area, but I think it just as likely that we could be seeing the groundwork for a change in the near future. The tide is leaning to the fact that the offense needs an influx of new ideas, and I would say even more strongly to the fact that the offensive line is underperforming. A year, possibly two, to see how Uecker fits in, and if what he brings has made a positive impact, then Bollman retires. It is the kind of careful planning that Jim Tressel is known for.

I think this is such a positive hire even if Uecker is not on the football field. Note RyRobs comments about how much of an impression Uecker had on players in the weightroom and in the filmroom. We see the impact that college head coaches with NFL cache have with players. It can be the same with a position coach. 10 years in the NFL will help make sure these young linemen are listening to a guy that RyRob says does not have a hard time getting players attention in the first place. Love this hire.

I was looking at the Big Ten schools recruiting effort so far. I was going to rank the classes at this very early stage but I got distracted by the number of verbals the Buckeyes have so far. This goes against the recent trend with the last few classes being all but over by the end of June. The Buckeyes have 5 verbals, at least for now it is 5, as I believe that Jamel Turner being in this class falls into the near miracle category and maybe into the full on miracle category. I don't know exact numbers but I would not be surprised to find the Buckeyes had double digit verbals by this time in the last 3 classes. With the sputtering start to this recruiting class it is easy to jump to the conclusion that the staff is just off track. Recent offers tell me different. I think since spring we have seen the staff right itself. Get in on the right kids, with just a couple of glaring exceptions.

That makes me wonder if all this is not by design. It has nothing to do with the staff being distracted. Let me lay out the case. You decide. First, this is not a memorable class. The number of difference makers is not what it has been in recent years. There are a couple of kids, Andrew Donnal for example, that I would like to see offers to but for the most part this is not the kind of class you build championships on. On the other hand, next year is the kind of class you do build championships on. There are at least 2 offers out there for juniors to be at this very early stage, and no player received a thicker red carpet than superstar DE Steve Miller. About a month ago I put out a list of top players regardless of class. The best high school talent in Ohio. That list was dominated by players from the class of 2011. That we are seeing offers to national kids that we have little hope of landing is another sign as far as I'm concerned. Take a flyer on the best of the best. If you land any of them it is a major plus. If you don't you haven't lost anything. Nobody who would have for sure said yes was going to make a difference. It is a small class this year. Just take some kids that will fill needs and have another couple of scholarships for next year. The needs are OL, tight end, safety and quarterback. The only one I question if we are being aggressive enough is with OLs.

The staff has pushed the recruiting calendar forward. Maybe this year they are taking it to another level.

I have a mailbox full of questions about the 3-3-5. Mostly about personnel.I thought I would throw out a look at how the front 7 would look.

I still have to go with big guys in my front 3. I know this defense is about speed speed speed but I would at least try some bigger guys at first. I think the defense will do better in this conference trying to stay as big as possible.

Strong side DE - Cam Heyward.
Nose - Larimore. I would love to be bigger here. I am at least going to have a big nose no matter how big I am at the end spots.
Weakside DE - Doug Worthington. The more three-man front the better for Worthington. He will be a better player and maybe a shot at the Show out of either odd man or 3-3-5.

Strong side LB - Homan. Doesn't stand out because he is not on the field alot. Nobody makes more out of so few reps.
Middle LB - Spitler. I want to be as big in the middle as I can. My Mike does not need to be fast. He needs to be fast enough.
Weakside LB - Sabino. He wants to go go go. In this defense that can be more of an asset.

People wanted to see Hines and Moeller on the field at the same time. They will be in the 3-3-5.
Strong side Spur - Tyler Moeller.
Weakside Spur - Jermale Hines.

Moeller is the stronger of the two and a little bigger. Hines, the more athletic and faster, plays on the open side.

BOBBY HAINES  wrote:

<<<I have appreciated your insightful explains of SSE & WSE and the different
Hybrids and how JT has been recruiting the last 5 years. And if you have been
paying attention to my postings, I have disagrragreed with you in the fact that
i think JT has the flexibility to adjust on the field to just about any look he
wants to for Big10, SEC, Big12. Speed, Power, Spread, whatever. 3-3-5, 3-4, 4-3,
de to dt, dt to de to lb, ss to olb.
He has so many different hybrid athletes on this defense, that if any idiot doesn't think we dont have speed...Watch the spring game, and watch Moeller track down the run away RB at the end of that game. Beautiful! We are more flexible than we have ever been!<<<

I do believe that the staff wants flexibility. We were at our best with an elite Leo player on the roster. When Bobby Carpenter was here he was the key to the defense Heacock wanted to run. It was as flexible a defense as you will ever see. Being able to move between the 4-3 and the 3-4 without changing personnel is the ultimate in flexibility. The one downside to packages is they are a "tell". Who is coming on the field and who is going off is a tip-off to the opposition. With Carpenter being able to put his hand in the dirt and play both the run and the pass as a defensive end, as well as play in space as we well as cover as a linebacker was the difference. Finding another has been a long fruitless search. You may remember that Gibson first stepped on the field as a linebacker. They knew he could rush the passer. The experiment did not go well. Gibson is a go go go type of player. You need to put him at end and cut him lose. If you want a player like that again I think you have to go with a big linebacker and teach him what he needs to play defensive end. I think we may have seen at attempt at that with Mark Johnson. I know that was the plan with Walter Dublin. There are a couple of guys I find very intriguing as possibles. Etienne Sabino is a unique talent that is not adjusting to the scheme really well. He played linebacker in high school but played with the same go go go that Gibson played but Gibson was a high school defensive end. Sabino has the size. Unlike Gibson, he has the experience at linebacker that will allow him to handle the linebacker responsibilities better. The other I like in this role is David Durham. He might be an even better candidate as he played a much more disciplined linebacker than Sabino in high school. I saw linebacker film of him and wondered why anyone would project him as a defensive end, then I saw film of him a few weeks later as a defensive end and saw why.

I think we continue to recruit for the flexibility. John Newsome is not looking like a defensive end. Neither is Wells and Durham is not looking like an every down hand in the dirt 4-3 end. On the other hand Steve Miller is a prototype 4-3 weakside defensive end. When you think about it flexibility is the way to go. We are not going to have a heckuva time winning the Big Ten if winter comes early to the region and we end having to slug it out in games that see 10 passes per side, but we are not going to win bowl games against SEC and Big 12 opponents 6 weeks later with a defense that wins games against 45 running plays.

First, I want to talk about the offer to Jonathan Hankins. That is what I am talking about. A true nose tackle. He is as well conditioned a 325 lb kid as you will ever see. He is impossible to move and commands a double team on every play. He hustles and chases. Love the motor. The fact that Oklahoma has offered him seals the deal. We think  DT, we think SEC but nobody is producing better DTs than Bob Stoops right now. The top 2 tackles in the draft could come out of Oklahoma next year. I am really surprised Michigan has not offered. With their 3-3-5 he is a perfect fit. The best part is he favors the Buckeyes right now.

Speaking of the 3-3-5, I had a revelation yesterday. You may have seen some back and forth both here and on Bucknuts between me and a knowledgeable young guy with the screen name Dvo45. He had some access and was the first to report to me that he saw alot of 3-4 in camp, which is the basis for our discussion. I say it is a odd man 4-3. He thinks it is a 3-4. There are still 4 linemen on the field in the base set. That they are lined up where they are is a wrinkle, as in odd man front, not a basic change in defensive scheme to a 3-4. But that could be changing. We have not offered players like Hankins over the years. The fact that we are looking at Jibril Black, a player who is likely to fill out into a nose tackle, is another reason to think we could be looking at a change. We have run the 3-4 Leo when Carpenter and Hawk were here but that is still a 4-3 defense. Heacock is very comfortable with a front 3. He likes to 2-gap but we have not had 2-gap DTs. We recruit the smaller quicker DTs, 1-gap players, and ask them to play 2-gap. Drives me nutty. The 3 DTs who make up the base front are Heyward, Worthington and Larimore, with Larimore playing right in the middle of the threesome. Heyward and Worthington fit the mold of 3-4 defensive ends. Worthington has always been a 4-3 tweener. He was never quick enough to be a defensive end and not big enough to play tackle. That is a good basic description of a 3-4 defensive end. I think Heyward could be a great 4-3 tackle but I think he is an even better 3-4 defensive end. The thing that is missing is a nose tackle. That brings me to the 3-3-5.

I have always been a firm believer in the 4-3. The best defenses I have seen were built around a front four that could at least get a stalemate consistently against the 5 offensive linemen across from them. I have started to come around to the 3-4. I think this pass happy generation makes having a smaller quicker guy on the field a sound strategy. Yesterday I was talking about this on the Bucknuts board and it hit me. The way 4-3 defenses are having to play right now it is more like a 4-2-5. We see more of Jermal Hines and Tyler Moeller than we do Ross Homan. In the 3-3-5 you still have 3 linebackers on the field. After that revelation I went looking for information. I wrote off the 3-3-5 as a gimmick defense. I would run right at such an animal. Zone block it to death. I did not think it would work at all in a conference where the best teams still want to pound the ball. I said some time ago that we would find out about the read option and the 3-3-5 that Rich Rodriguez was bringing in here this year. I think it is going to show some results as early as next year or it was going to look like he was not going to be around long. I think with the right quarterback the read option is very scary. I did not have the same opinion of the 3-3-5. Smash mouth dinosaur that I am, I saw maize and blue bodies laying all over the field with Carlos Hyde cleat marks dotting their bodies. After taking a closer look I might be wrong about that, .....and maybe we see some of that here in Columbus.

Here is a great primer on the 3-3-5 from BuckeyePlanet

http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/news/609152-basics-3-3-5-defense.html