General

Terrelle Pryor’s HS Coach: ‘I See a Robot’

Oct 21, 2009, 7:26 PM UTC

â†µSo this happened last Saturday:â†µ

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â†µâ†µFour turnovers, one touchdown before things got out of hand, loss toâ†µ1-5 Purdue, extensive feature in Thisâ†µWeek In Schadenfreude, official end of Terrelle Pryor asâ†µ“Lebron In Cleats” and start of Pryor as “Darko Inâ†µCleats.” ESPN’s Joe Schad thought this might be a good time to callâ†µup Pryor’s high school coach and get a couple of dry-white-toastâ†µquotes like:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“They’ve put the reins on him and they need to let him go free.â†µâ‡¥When I watch Terrelle play right now, I see a robot.”â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥ â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µ... and ...â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“There is no question that Rich Rodriguez’s offense, forâ†µâ‡¥example, would be more apt to suit Terrelle’s skills,” [Ray] Reitzâ†µâ‡¥said.â†µâ†µâ†µ...which don’t really say --â†µ

â†µâ†µWha? He said that? Wow. Reitz confirms the Ohio Stateâ†µrecruiting pitch to Pryor: come to Ohio State and we will mold you intoâ†µan NFL quarterback like ... um ... Bobby Hoying. Go to Michigan or Pennâ†µState and they’ll just have you run around willy-nilly, never learningâ†µanything and dooming yourself to the life of a second-round draft pickâ†µin a cool, innovative offense.* â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s that pitch that gave Ohio State its man, and that pitch that’sâ†µdoomed their man. Pryor has one focus, the NFL, and wins can be damnedâ†µif they don’t come in a way that pleases Jerry Jones. As a result, Ohioâ†µState didn’tâ†µeven bother to roll out their 6-6 wonder-tank of a QB againstâ†µUSC and has been struggling along with a true sophomore with theâ†µmechanics of an eighth-grader when they should be treating him likeâ†µDenard Robinson after a power mushroom. You know, if they were trying toâ†µwin football games instead of have a guy hold up a jersey with a one onâ†µit. â†µ

â†µ

â†µThe thing is: even if Ohio State wants to change gears and startâ†µrunning a spread 'n' shred, or something closer to it, they might not beâ†µable to. Ohio State's linemen are huge, ponderous lurches ill-suited toâ†µthe zone stretch stuff that's the bread and butter play of the zoneâ†µread. The tailbacks are not the one-cut zippers that do well there. Andâ†µPryor's wasted a year and a half learning other stuff. Any transitionâ†µwould be long and painful, as Michigan fans found out when Ryan Mallettâ†µbolted for Arkansas a year ago. This uneasy marriage of player andâ†µscheme can either continue or be replaced by a rickety, improvisedâ†µsecondary scheme that the coaches at Ohio State are unfamiliar with.â†µ

â†µâ†µAs far as “you suck, go to the bench” guy above: Pryor’sâ†µhype aura destroyed all other options. Pryor arrived and drove his twoâ†µbackups to I-AA. No other QB would consent to come in with him thatâ†µyear. And Ohio State missed out on a half-dozen guys the year after,â†µfailing to acquire Tajh Boyd and then getting rejected by Miami (Notâ†µThat Miami) and Temple (!!!) commitments before scooping up a who-datâ†µtwo-star guy from Texas who was pondering whether to go to Baylor orâ†µKansas State. The only other option is a minor-leagueâ†µbaseball refugee who’s a walk-on. It’s Pryor or nothing. â†µ

â†µâ†µ* (Fun fact: Pat White was drafted 44th overall by Miami. The lastâ†µtime an Ohio State QB went higher than that was 1982, when Artâ†µSchlichter was the No. 4 overall pick.)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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