I have been seeing this trend for roughly two years as it's been a common discussion between Buckeye John and myself. Then this week an OSU blog called We will always have Tempe asked this question:
I'm not saying Jim Tressel is Lloyd Carr, but... what separates Lloyd Carr in say, 2002 or 2003, from Jim Tressel right now? This is a line of thought I've been seriously following for the better part of a year now. I'd like some input from Michigan fans on this.
Since I have been beating this drum for awhile, let me tell you why I feel Tressel is just like Lloyd Carr.
- Both men won National Championship early in their careers at their respective universities.
- Both men are very conservative.
- Both teams dominated the Big Ten and both teams continued to get "housed" in bowl games.
- Both men feel comfortable in their jobs and didn't/don't feel pressure to change the way they do things.
- Neither men had any professional experience and don't seem to watch any football outside their opponent this week.
- Both men are good recruiters and have developed solid NFL players.
- Both men coached Heisman Trophy winners.
- Michigan started to play "down" to their opponents and barley beat them. (that strategy caught up with Michigan as we all know). OSU had that experience just on Saturday.
- Both men had long win streaks over Ohio State and Michigan.
So there you have it. Is that enough proof for you? I would give a solid "yes" that OSU is heading in that direction. Of course, OSU has enough talent to change course, but will "The Vest" let them? This Saturday night will go along way in telling us which way they are heading this year.
Recruiting News:
- Rivals is reporting that Florida Offensive Lineman and formerly a strong Michigan lean, Torrian Wilson committed to Stanford. This is a big loss to the Wolverines if it's true.
- Michigan will again welcome a number of official visitors this weekend for the ND game, including LB Aramide Olaniyan a former Duke commit. Also visiting is Athlete/LB Josh Furman (think Dahani Jones) and Ohio safety/wr Bobby Swigert.
3 comments:
For a time Lloyd Carr had some amazing success playing regular season games against Top 10 and Top 20 competition. I'd be interested to know how this compares with Tressel's efforts at Ohio State so far.
Also, I remember a lot of Michigan fans praising Carr as being a tremendous team motivator for the feats above (beating Top 10 opponents in the regular season).
The last point I would make Bo lost 5 consecutive bowl games at Michigan between 1975-1979. But he had a .500 or so record vs. the Buckeyes by that time. That was enough to keep fans satisfied.
ARE Tressel's Buckeyes Turning into Carr's Wolverines?
Good points. We know OSU has had trouble recently against top 10 and your right, LC did do well vs regular season top 10 teams (many OSU).
Thanks for the grammer check, I did that post at midnight the night before.
Post a Comment