USA Today has named Jeannette (PA) quarterback Terrelle Pryor as its Offensive Player of the Year.
Pryor, who is still undecided about where he'll play his college ball, was Pennsylvania's first quarterback to throw and run for 4,000 yards in his career. Pryor, who is also a basketball standout, is reportedly considering Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon.
Pryor led Jeannette to Pennsylvania Class AA title.
The newspaper's Defensive Player of the Year is defensive back Patrick Johnson of Blanche Ely of Pompano Beach, Florida.
Coach of the Year honors went to Booker T. Washington's Tim Harris, who led his team to Florida's 4A championship and a #8 ranking in the final USA Today Super 25.
1 comment:
Jim Tressel will take care of Terrelle and once he shows what he can do to all the other coaches and players, he'll be starting at Ohio State as a Freshman AND playing basketball to. And, they will run the spread offense! No doubt about it!
'Dispatch' Ohio coach of year
Tressel easy pick for repeat selection
Sunday, January 27, 2008 3:51 AM
By Mark Znidar
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
As Lee Owens opened the ballot for The Dispatch Ohio college football coach of the year award, he had plenty of choices for his first-place vote.
Larry Kehres led Mount Union to the Division III championship game, and Greg Debeljak of Case Western Reserve, Jim Collins of Capital and Rod Huber of Mount St. Joseph got their teams into the Division III playoffs.
In NAIA, Dale Carlson of Ohio Dominican won a conference title and got the team into the second round of the playoffs in just the fourth year of the program.
There was no uncertainty for Owens, though. His vote was going to Jim Tressel of Ohio State.
Many other coaches had the same idea as Owens, who led Ashland into the Division II playoffs. Tressel won the award by a wide margin a second straight year and for the third time since 2002 for leading the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten championship and into the Bowl Championship Series title game.
"I've been in coaching 31 years in Ohio, 15 in high school and 16 in college, and I've never met a man who has done more for football in this state than Jim Tressel," said Owens, an Ohio State assistant under Earle Bruce. "Jim is always at high school banquets and fundraisers. He helps out teen boys who have no fathers. He does so many things for people that no one knows about. That's a man with class and dignity."
Owens said Ohio State fans who criticize Tressel for having lost a second straight national championship game don't realize what he accomplished.
The Buckeyes, he said, started from scratch after losing playmakers such as Heisman Trophy quarterback Troy Smith, running back Antonio Pittman and receivers Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn Jr. to the NFL.
"I'm sure Jim is kicking himself in the butt over that loss to LSU, but he did such an amazing job to get there," Owens said. "Guys who do this for a profession know all about Jim and how good he is."
Tressel said much credit should go to the senior and junior classes, and not just for their blocking, tackling and yards.
There was a leadership void, he said, and many players took it upon themselves to show the younger players the way.
"We knew we'd have a small senior class, and the juniors really picked it up for us with those seniors," Tressel said. "I thought we'd have adequate talent, but it was a question of how fast do we get experience? We had to become a true team. You could see those players wanted to be good. They paid attention to detail. They had fun meeting, they had fun playing and they had fun practicing. What it came down to was they didn't want to let each other down."
Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham watched Ohio State from afar with amazement. He said most teams that lose that much talent usually need a year to reboot before contending for even a conference championship.
Fincham said this is a golden age in Ohio State football.
"The thing is, Jim got them there this year when they weren't supposed to be there. It was a great job," Fincham said. "Getting to the championship game twice and losing it twice doesn't wash with a lot of fans, but I think Jim is the victim of his success. Hey, Michigan didn't look too bad on New Year's Day beating the heck out of Florida, did they? And Ohio State pretty much handled Michigan, didn't they?
"Jim did quite a job. There are 120 other programs in the country that would like to do what they're doing. No question, Ohio State is among the elite. The team is up -- way up -- thanks to Jim and that staff."
Much like two of his predecessors, Bruce and Woody Hayes, Tressel is a favorite of small-college coaches in the state. The feeling is mutual.
"The time we get to interact with those coaches comes during the clinics," Tressel said. "The Ohio High School Coaches Association has its big clinic in February, and I like going to that one. Then there's our youth camp in June. I was in Division II for four years at Akron. I played at Baldwin-Wallace. I know the divisions and I know the challenges. I enjoy being around those coaches."
mznidar@dispatch.com
Post a Comment