Zach Boren, Etienne Sabino, John Simon To Represent Ohio State At Big Ten Luncheon

Meyer is ready to make his mark on the B1G 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Big Ten Conference released the list of student-athletes who will attend the 2012 Big Ten Media Days and Kickoff Luncheon on Thursday and Friday, July 26 and 27, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago.

Three players from every team will be in attendance, as well as all 12 head coaches. 

For the Buckeyes, fullback Zach Boren, linebacker Etienne Sabino and defensive lineman John Simon will be in attendance for Ohio State.

This comes as no surprise to Tressel fans, as often times the attendees would be seniors on the football team. Now it seems as if Urban Meyer will continue this trend for years to come.

As mentioned above, the event features all 12 conference head coaches and begins at 10 a.m. CT with the players and coaches autograph and photo session for fans attending the luncheon. 

The luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.The list of student-athletes scheduled to attend includes 21 returning All-Big Ten selections. The list also includes the last two Big Ten Offensive Players of the Year in Wisconsin’s Montee Ball (2011) and Michigan’s Denard Robinson (2010).

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

Ohio State Targeting Everett Withers For Co-DC?

Is Withers talking with OSU?

Rumors are starting to be put in motion that Urban Meyer and Ohio State are looking at another candidate for defensive coordinator. That person is Everett Withers, the interim head coach at North Carolina. 

This is coming after Mike Stoops to Ohio State was shut down by Stoops himself, claiming that he didn't want the title of co-defensive coordinator. While Luke Fickell hasn't even been announced as the other co-defensive coordinator, all signs point to that being just about true. 

Backing up to Everett being a targeted man for the job, this might be an even better hire than what Stoops would have been. This is Everett's 24th season as a coach and has experience not only at the collegiate, but the pro level as well. Let's take a deeper look into who Everett Withers is after the jump.

Urban Meyer And Ohio State Rumors: Latest Updates

Could this picture become reality?

Before I get started here, I'd like to take this time to fully credit to Eleven Warriors for breaking a lot of these rumors, and staying ahead of the game by a long shot. Sure, people had some "eh" rumors before them, but 11W has been on top of their game for the past year or so.

You probably haven't heard the news (Insert sarcasm font here). Many sites, pundits, reporters, and everyone else in the sports world are now reporting that Urban Meyer is headed to Columbus to coach the Ohio State football team. The rumors have been swirling since May 31st, when Jim Tressel was forced to resign and Luke Fickell stepped into the role of interim head coach. The rumor mill really started to set in motion on Monday of last week, when it was announced that Urban had met with Arizona University officials to discuss becoming the next head coach there. As we all know by now, Meyer declined the job, but did state his interest in returning to coaching in college football.

Things heated up even more when an online message board (Bucknuts forums) had tracked a plane headed to Columbus from Miami on Monday evening. Using a flight tracking website, rumors started to spread like wildfire that Urban was on his way to meet with Ohio State officials to discuss the job. Eventually the rumor was dismissed by many people, and was not looked at again.

Of course the following day, on Wednesday, things turned from message board rumors and quiet whispers to a random tweet that went completely insane. The tweet in question was from CBS's Mike Freeman, where he stated that Scout.com was reporting that Urban Meyer had agreed to coach Ohio State for 7 years, for a total of $35 million. Chaos ensued, and soon Twitter had turned into a horrible game of telephone, when people started to twist his words and take his thought as fact.

Twitter folk then lashed out, when Mike backtracked by saying that it wasn't even on the Scout page, and that it's not "official".

Michael Brewster To Return For Senior Season

Brewster comes back to anchor the line in '11.

Michael Brewster has announced that he will be forgoing the 2011 NFL draft to stay for his senior year.

"Leadership for the 2011 Buckeyes is in a state of flux at the moment, with five junior stalwarts -- quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, receiver DeVier Posey, left tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas -- facing a five-game suspension to start the season, though OSU is in the process of appealing those suspensions."

Leadership is a big key to winning at Miami and against Michigan State. Brewster will help defend whoever starts those games at quarterback.

A first team All-American this year, he was also selected as the #1 (out of 74) possible centers who could have joined the NFL draft. That's pretty impressive, and tough to turn down. His reason to come back? To get better at what he already does.

We're glad to have Brewster back, and we hope he continues the success of the past couple of years.

Monday Morning Bits

It's time to get caught up with all the news from the weekend.

On his way out

- Darrell Hazell, the WR coach for Ohio State, is reportedly going to Kent State to become the new Head Coach.

"A press conference has been called for 3 p.m. Monday at the Kent Student Center, and while Kent State officials would not confirm who will be named its 20th football coach, all signs point to Ohio State wide receivers coach and assistant head coach Darrell Hazell."

Buckeyes have been tweeting constantly about the move, which confirms it all the more. We wish him the best of luck, and we will also miss his talents.

- The UConn women's basketball team reached it's 88th straight victory, tying with the historic mens UCLA team for the most wins without a loss. The only reason I post it here is because it was in a shellacking of our Lady Buckeyes, in which they lost 81-50.

All over you

- The men's basketball team, on the other hand, dominated a 1 loss South Carolina team 79-57 that had some trouble shooting the ball. Jared Sullinger added a double-double and most likely earned another Freshman of the Week for the Big Ten.

- Finally, Mike Leach is going to coach again. He's taking his talents to Maryland, where the Terrapins could use some explosion on offense. I've always been a fan of Leach, his offense's are always high-flying and fun to watch. Plus, he got Texas Tech on the map for a National Championship game. I hope that he succeeds while he is at Maryland and will try his best to make the Terrapins rise again.

Buckeye News All Around

Yesterday, FOX announced that they would be holding the Big Ten Championship game from 2011-2016. I'm actually OK with this, because I honestly thought the Big Ten Network might take it, for some reason. Obviously would not have happened because not everyone has the Big Ten Network, but you get my point. Hopefully Ohio State will be in that first one at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game is set for December 3rd at prime time. That is awesome, because we will be competing with the SEC for ratings.

Also announced yesterday was that Tyler Moeller would receive his medical redshirt. This guy will be back next season as a senior, and we already know that he will be leading this defense. The guy is an outstanding tackler, and always looking to make a play, big or small. He gets the job done, and I can't wait until next year to see him flying around like a Silver Bullet that he is.

9 Days Left!

With only 9 days left until Sept. 2nd, the Buckeyes game continues to get closer and closer. During the Marshall week, we will have a preview, recap, and maybe even try and get an enemy blogger. We'll see.

Back in pads?

Maurice Clarett is out of jail and filed a motion with a judge asking to be allowed to travel to try out with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. He cannont travel out of the state without clearancefrom a Judge. I wish him the best of luck.

"Li-Ning, China's top athletic brand, has signed Evan Turner, the No. 2 pick in this year's NBA Draft to a multi-year deal that will make him the face of the brand."

Interesting, no doubt. CNBC 


Lastly, and sadly, I have to inform you that SB Nation has pretty much found they're new Ohio State blog. It's not us. Instead, they will start a blog from scratch. Here for more details

Tressel to stay..for now.

Word came out today that Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel had received a 2-year contract extension to his existing deal. Tressel's former contract was supposed to go until 2012, but the AD gave him two more.While increasing his time as Buckeye’s head coach, the university mentioned specifically that the deal fails to include any additional financial escalators, and that the 2 additional seasons will come at his current salary (believed to be in the neighborhood of $3.5 million per season or good for 4th highest nationally).

How long will he stay on the field?

This team of Tressel and the AD, has been a great relationship through the years. Eleven Warriors and some other people seem to think that at the end of 2014, Tressel will retire. Tressel has said time and time again that he will not being pulling a "Joe Pa, or Bobby Bowden". Once his teams are starting to turn around (which isn't anytime soon I'm sure), he will step down. The Dispatch also had this to report, if in fact Tressel steps down at the end of 2014.

If Tressel steps down before deal is done in Jan. 2015, OSU makes him an assoc. athletic director, pays 150k

This is pretty interesting, and I would be all for it, because no matter what coach comes in AFTER Tressel, Tressel's values will still be in place.

What are the odds...

Oregon got another one. This time it's the sensational running back LeMichael James getting arrested. He was arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident. I think it's intresting that Oregon, who just came off a loss to Ohio State, is falling apart once again. Of course, the first thing to happen was the punch heard 'round the world. Then they cleaned up in time for a Rose Bowl appearance. Now they go back to Jerimieah Masoli getting (almost) jailed, and now James has to step in for more face time. Oregon is making headlines, certainly, but not in the fashion they would have hoped to this offseason. I wonder what Chip Kelly must be thinking..Would he bench the best players on his team? He's a fairly young coach that is willing to take risks, so I don't see why not. If he does, then the NCAA will come a 'callin, just like they are now with USC. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I don't like Oregon. I actually like Oregon a lot. It shocks me what these guys do. The worst part for me, though, is that no one will do anything about it. After their jail time, they will go back to trying to win game and MNC's, and no one will say anything about it. I guess that, more than anything, frustrates me about College Football. These guys are given 5 chances, knowing they have it. Then they go to the NFL, and besides some (See Maurice Clarrett) don't get weeded out. That's the saddest part for me, watching football at the college level. Anyway, just some thoughts to ponder. What do you guys think about all this?