With almost every starter on both sides of the ball returning from last year’s national championship squad, many feel that the Buckeyes don’t have many question marks coming into this season.
Coach Jim Tressel would not be in that group.
Instead of planning his trip to New Orleans for next year’s national championship game, Tressel sees a variety of areas his team needs to work on before the season opens up this fall.
“I think realistically we’ve got to continue to grow and understand the difficulty of the challenge we have ahead, and just how much better we’re going to need to get,” Tressel said. “I don’t see us any better than we were on January 3.”
Tressel also knows it’s the shadow of that Fiesta Bowl win which will hover over the Buckeyes all season long.
“Everywhere we turn, we will be reminded of what we did last season,” he said. “But we all have an understanding that we have a job to do this year. We can’t rest on what we did last season.”
So far, the players have seemed to embrace Tressel’s philosophy as many have become tightlipped when it comes to talking about last year’s accomplishments.
“This year’s a new year,” senior center Alex Stepanovich said. “Last year is in the past. Sure, we’ll always remember it – just not right now.”
This mindset has even trickled down to the younger players.
“It’s all about this year’s team now,” sophomore linebacker Mike D’Andrea said. “We can’t rest on what we did last year. We have to go into this season with the same heart and determination we had a year ago.”
The Buckeyes are fully focused on the task at hand, and for Tressel, that’s getting through spring practice and getting a look at some individuals who will be expected to contribute heavily in the fall.
“That’s what spring practices are all about – evaluating the talent you have and trying to find the holes you have,” Tressel said. “We use spring as a time for the players to hone their skills and get back into that football mode.”
Although the season is more than four months away, Tressel is already looking at younger players who will need to fill key roles, much like last year.
“Many people will say we have a lot of players returning, and that might be true of the starters,” Tressel said. “But in football, you have to rely a lot on your second- and third-string guys to step in when the normal wears and tears of a season begin to get to you.”
While the spring season is in its final days, Tressel and the rest of the Buckeyes know one thing: This is just the start to another long football season.
“There is so much more to be done before the season begins,” Tressel said. “That’s why I always tell people we don’t really have a break from one season to another. Once one ends, another begins.”
