Unlikely Aid: Buckeyes Defend Wolverines in NCAA Allegations

An unlikely source of aid, the Ohio State Buckeyes have adopted the attitude 'If Michigan players are putting in the extra time, they're not alone.'

The Buckeyes are doing the same, and every other team that wants to be good, so they say.

As it stands, the coaching staff at Michigan has been accused - by former and current players - that players consistenly train over the NCAA maximum of 20 hours a week.

Join the club says Ohio State.

Jim Tressel and Ohio State captains Kurt Coleman and Doug Worthington said today (Tuesday) that it does take extra work to compete in division 1 football these days, and the players who want to be great recognize that.

Yeah the NCAA mandates 20 hours a week, but players at many schools work hard and far beyond that for a multitude of reasons.  Could it be that the players have been galvanized after putting the Michigan fanbase through its worse season ever?  Did anyone consider they just wanted to work hard to avoid another 3-9 season?

“I think Michigan is probably abiding by the rules,” said Coleman.  “But, you know, to be great you have to put in more than 20 hours. That’s just the minimum. In any great program, each player is putting in more than what they’re required to. And it’s all on their own. That’s what takes a program to the next level, when guys are going above and beyond the call of duty.”

“It’s hard to be a good football team giving 20 hours, but you know the rules and that’s why leaders and captains and seniors have to make sure we keep guys after and we watch more film,” the starting defensive lineman said. “Do it on our time, but make sure we know it’s nothing mandatory. But if you want to be good, it takes more than just 20 hours.”

“What makes it difficult is how good these kids want to be,” Tressel said. “Sometimes you have to chain the doors of the Woody Hayes (football) center, you know, to get them out of there. These kids want to be good. They want to train. They want to get their buddies in there and throw the ball around, those kinds of things.”

“It’d be like telling our med students, ‘We’re going to close the library,”’ he said. “You’ve got to let them train. There is a fine line, but the safeguards we have are we have set schedules and forms that we fill out, just like everyone.”

Rodriguez basically mirrored Jim Tressel's statements, and said that players routinely wanted to work out on their own that they would call him to open the weight room.  Rodriguez installed a new and rigorous conditioning regimen at Michigan, and the players that can stand the heat adapted, got more athletic, and now praise the program.  The players that could not stand the harder training went and complained to the Free Press.  It should be known that several ex-Wolverines currently in the NFL praised the new conditioning program as they trained at the school in the off-season.

Jim Tressel says that each time he started coaching - 1986 at Youngstown State and then 2001 at Ohio State, players have stated that under the previous regime they felt they had lost their discipline and needed to train harder.

"So I think deep down kids want to work hard,” Tressel stated. “I haven’t had anyone come in and say, ‘You know what, Coach? We spent too much time at it and that’s why we didn’t do as well as we wanted to do.”’